25 November 2004
Ex- and current waterside workers, their families, politicians and other workers this week attended the unveiling by The Hon. Peter Batchelor (Minister for Transport) of a memorial to wharfies killed by asbestos disease at the Central (Finger) Pier, Docklands. Guest speakers included Geoff Swain, a former secretary of the Waterside Workers Federation and Peter Gordon, from Slater and Gordon, who has been representing workers affected by asbestos diseases for over 20 years.
Mr Batchelor praised the very important role played by the union movement in helping protect workers from asbestos. 'It was union members who recognised the dangers of asbestos years before anyone took action to remove this hazardous substance from our workplaces,' he said. 'They took the issue of asbestos demolitions and removals seriously in the 1970s and 1980s - a time when many others were not, and clearly should have been.' The Minister acknowledged that Australia has the highest per capita incidence of mesothelioma in the world, with thousands of Australians every year contracting an asbestos-related disease.
'Waterside workers were conned. They were told it was safe,' Geoff Swain told the gathering. Then, when the workers fought for better conditions, governments and employers vilified and abused them, and accused them of 'industrial sabotage' and of 'holding the country to ransom'. Waterside workers were exposed to a large number of hazards, not only extremely high levels of blue asbestos, but fumigation chemicals, lead, working in confined spaces, and more. What they fought for, and continue to fight for are basic conditions and their battles have been vindicated. The great concern now, however, was that in the face of a federal government whose industrial relations agenda includes attacking the rights of unions and union members, keeping what they had achieved much less improving conditions was going to get harder. With so many workers now being classified as 'self-employed' or being forced to sign individual contracts, he was afraid that union efforts and activities in OHS would be stymied.
Peter Gordon, speaking over the howling wind, reminded the gathering of what it must have been like for whafies in the 40's, 50's and 60's, unloading tonnes of blue asbestos from Wittenoon which had arrived on the dock in hessian bags. The fibres were whirling around them and settled in the bottom of ships. He spoke of Brian Crimmins, a waterside worker he knew as a boy in Braybrook and represented when he contracted mesothelioma. After a three-week court case, Brian proved that the Australian Stevedoring Authority was negligent - they knew the dangers of asbestos, and didn't tell the workers, they did nothing to protect them. In a landmark decision he won - only to have the Authority take the case to the Victorian Court of Appeal, which reversed his win. He died soon after, but his family took the case to the High Court of Australia where in 1999 that decision was reversed. This meant that Brian's family and the families of many waterside workers were eligible for compensation.
Finally, Pat Webster, who had been Trish Crimmins, the little girl who sat in the same primary school classroom as Peter Gordon, remembered the struggle of her father, Brian. He was diagnosed with mesothelioma in 1997, and when asked why he participated in treatment that was experimental, he answered 'I'm doing it for the others'. And when he asked why he persevered in his battle against the Australian Stevedoring Authority, he said the same thing, 'I'm doing it for others.' And he did - the judge in the appeal case had said, 'If this case is successful, it open up the floodgates.' Pat's final words to the gathering were: 'I understand your anger, your pain and your grieving. I also understand your courage. Don't give up hope. Brian Crimmins didn't - we are fighting for a cure.'
- Minister for Transport Media Release Banner to commemorate asbestos victims
- Peter Gordon: Fighting for asbestos victims' rights
- Report: Latrobe Valley Community Perspectives on Asbestos Issues