Helen Kelly Speech to International Workers Memorial Day

28 April 2011

Helen Kelly President of the NZCTU
Blackball West Coast NZ

Today is international workers memorial day. A day when workers around the world stop to remember those workers killed, disabled, injured or made unwell by their work. It is day to mourn the dead and to fight for the living.

In New Zealand today there will be services in many of the main centre’s and the memories of the workers killed at Pike River Mine will be at the forefront of those that attend.

I want to acknowledge the families of those miners here today, and their friends, workmates and community who are still suffering this unbearable tragedy.

This has been a bad year for New Zealand workplace deaths and accidents. But every year is a bad year actually. More than 200,000 workers are seriously harmed in New Zealand workplaces each year. And this is not just bad luck, in many cases it is bad management.

It is not bad luck that very year 149 of every 1000 workers in the construction industry suffer serious harm injuries or that this industry has 3 times the level of fatalities of any other sector.

It is not bad luck that although fishing, forestry and agriculture employ only 7% of the workforce they have 15% of the accidents.
And it is not bad luck that only 1 year into its operation, the Pike River Mine exploded killing 29 decent working men, or that since that explosion at least another 12 people have been killed at work excluding those killed at work in the Christchurch earthquake.

Our job is to change the story of work in this country and demand safety and accountability. And we have been sold a story that has made us complacent and scared of being angry about workplace accidents.

And those least able to take responsibility in this story are the workers. Workers are being consistently told that they are lucky to have a job, that they should not bite the hand that feeds them and that the employer/ employee relationship is akin to that of benefactor/ beneficiary.

The narrative is that employers are benefactors. There is a high trust model for them and a low trust model for workers and Pike River is an example of this. It was portrayed, most strongly after the blast, as providing a great service to the coast. Providing jobs where jobs were much needed. A good deed, a charity of sorts. The workers were portrayed as bravely taking risks in a dangerous industry, knowing the risks but prepared to take them to get the coal out.

Now jobs are important and strong industry is essential to all of our wellbeing but that is not the point.

The real story of Pike River is that a group of shareholders from around the world including some very big multinational companies, recognized the huge value of the coal in Pike River and decided to invest in mining it. That's fine. Whether they did this on the cheap and spent insufficient money on safety is a question on everyone's lips and a matter for the inquiry. There are many questions to answer. What we do know however is that those shareholders regardless of what the findings are of the inquiry will, and have already, walked away scot free leaving debts and death and accountability behind them as they move on to the next venture - this model is not charitable.

What is really happening in the employer/employee relationship is that an exchange of labour for wages is occurring. It is as simple as that. A fair day’s work for a fair days pay. Workers will mine the coal and be paid and the shareholders will get the excess profits.

Pike River was not 'feeding these families', as depicted by some, it was hiring workers to carry out the mining. A mutually beneficial exchange.

But Pike failed in its fundamental duty to provide a safe workplace

Until the true relationship at work is acknowledged honestly, things will not improve in workplace health and safety in this country. Until it becomes unacceptable that industries like mining, agriculture, and forestry continue to operate dangerously accidents will continue to be tolerated and deaths will continue.

While workers are depicted as beneficiaries in the relationship, any reduction in their rights and safety will be acceptable - beneficiaries should be grateful. Workers that make a fuss are depicted as ungrateful, biting the hand that feeds them. Unions in this story are even more unwelcome.

And we know some of the other factors that need to change.

Precarious employment arrangements - contracting, labour hire, casual employment are all known to contribute to accidents and as contractors know from Pike River, leave workers very vulnerable.

Tendering methods in this country drive safety standards down. No one wins a tender for building in a price for health and safety. Government is the biggest buyer of tendered services in the country and could lead the way on changing this.

There needs to be more inspection and enforcement from the Department of Labour. These are currently completely inadequate and Department of Labour prosecutions are at some of the lowest levels ever.

And workers rights need to be strengthened. New laws allowing easy dismissal including no protection for raising health and safety concerns will make raising these concerns a risk. Restricted union access will allow unsafe work to remain hidden and the continual story of deference to companies will make those that speak up look ungrateful for the charity they are receiving.

We need workplaces where the ones causing the trouble, speaking out, objecting to unsafe practices, those that fight for the living, are the heroes and only when that happens will things really change.

Pike River has shaken the union movement to its core. We are redoubling our efforts on health and safety and we are determined to make this our legacy to those that lost their lives in the Pike River Mine.

ENDS

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