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Issue No. 139 | 07 June 2002 |
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With Prejudice
Interview: Class Action Safety: A Mother's Tale Unions: The Hottest Seat in Town International: Defensive Enterprise Economics: A Super Deal? History: A Radical Life Media: Cross Purposes Review: When the Force Is Unconscious Poetry: Wouldn't It Be Loverly
The Soapbox The Locker Room Bosswatch Week in Review
 Romeo and Juliet?Robbo's RaveLatham Ad NauseumOur Home Is Girt By WireHands Off Hooligans!
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Safety A Mother's Tale
*************** On January 4, 2000, Dean McGoldrick and a friend hitched to Sydney to live out a dream fired by junior athletics trip to the big city. Less than one month later Dean returned to Tamworth in a coffin, another victim of the building industry's callous disregard for human life. His parents, Robyn and Tim, still struggle to understand how they lost their youngest son. Criminal convictions and a $20,000 fine on an employer who failed to carry out safety induction or supply safety harnesses did little to ease their pain. This week Robyn McGoldrick insisted on telling her story to Building Industry Royal Commissioner Terrence Cole, forcing him to reverse an edict which would have relegated the dead and injured to discussion papers. The McGoldrick's told Workers Online that Dean's death had changed their lives forever. Robyn prefers to leave the phone off the hook because it was the telephone that brought the fateful news. The television in their Hilton St home is rarely switched on because hospital programs, news bulletins and WorkCover adverts bring memories of that awful day flooding back. But you can't program everything. The sound of an ambulance or sight of scaffolding still fill the eyes with tears and the minds with unanswered questions. It's those questions that haunt the McGoldricks two and a half years down the track. Why did their son have to die? Why wasn't he supplied with a safety harness or provided with training? How come, as a rookie, he was on the roof without protection? Why were ropes recovered from the site worn and frayed? What will become of Dean's childhood mate, Andrew, who hitched down from Tamworth with him, was sacked after the accident, and hasn't worked since? How can a court return seven convictions against an employer and impose only a $20,000 fine, given union estimates that he saved $8000 every time he failed to provide proper scaffolding? Why doesn't NSW enact industrial manslaughter laws to protect the innocent? The McGoldricks' pain has cost them friends of 20 years. Tim explains: "Some people just don't have the courage to come up and express their sympathy, just a handshake from an old friend can make a difference. They leave you for months and then it's too late. "On the other hand, you get flowers and cards from people you didn't even know. Other people who have been through similar situations come into your lives and fill the gaps. "I would say we've lost some friends but we've gained better ones." They were especially moved when the publican from nearby Curububula and his wife arrived for Dean's funeral on a Harley motorcycle to represent people from a township where their son had camped and tramped the hills since childhood. Another new friend came in the unexpected form of the CFMEU, long-time battlers for building site safety. Their son, having just arrived in Sydney hadn't even joined the union, but that didn't prevent a call from safety officer, Brian Millar. Robyn McGoldrick, a nurse, and her brickie husband agree the CFMEU's concern and understanding has gone way past the professional. It has become personal and helped them through coroner's court and WorkCover investigations, along with criminal hearings. "We didn't understand any of those things, they were new to us," Robyn explains. "I suppose we have something in common with building workers. A lot of them know what we are going through. They have lost friends and workmates and can relate to our situation." She contrasts the CFMEU attitude with that of other agencies. "Dean's bosses knew about the accident but didn't come near us until after the hospital rang. They said the police told them not to come and tell us." Tim adds: "The police still haven't informed us to this day." Other than the CFMEU, they say, no person or organisation had the time or inclination to help them through a maze of intimidating experiences. Robyn lists Miller, state secretary Andrew Ferguson and organiser Phil Davey amongst new friends the tragedy has brought into their lives. She was incensed by Cole Commission reports painting the unionists as villains and wanted to tell her side of the story. On Thursday she spoke to a rally of injured workers, pressured Cole into granting her her day in the Commission, then tired, weary and needing a drink, turned up to Labor Council to thank delegates for their ongoing support. Robyn concedes that some in her hometown think she should let the matter rest, while others wonder if her sorrow and anger aren't being manipulated. She rejects both suggestions. The matter won't be left to lie because she insists "Dean is still with us" and deserves to have his case heard. As for being used, forget it. "If we can help the union then I am very happy because they have helped us but, more importantly, we want to help other mothers and fathers around Australia," she says. "We are committed to exposing the shocking things that happen on building sites because we don't want other parents to go through the pain that we suffer every day."
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