One year on, still no justice for Joel

Australand sites across Sydney were closed for 24 hours last 
Friday, October 15, to mark the first anniversary of the death of 
Joel Exner. Hundreds of building workers stopped work as a mark 
of respect for 16 year old Joel, who fell 15 metres to his death 
on only his third day of work at an Australand site in Eastern 
Creek last year.

The Construction, Forestry, Mining and Energy Union (CFMEU) 
called on union members and the general community to attend the 
memorial to support Joel's family and friends, as well as to 
continue the fight for industrial manslaughter laws so that 
bosses can be jailed if their negligence results in a worker 
being killed.

CFMEU State Secretary Andrew Ferguson said that politicians 
needed to be reminded of their responsibility to protect the 
lives of people in the workplace.

"No family in Australia should have to suffer the pain that 
Joel's family has gone through", he said.

"Workers and their families should expect to arrive home from 
work each day in one piece, and if the negligence and greed of 
bosses who put profits before their workers lives causes your 
death, your family should have the right to justice, and the 
bosses should pay for their negligence.

Fatality every two days

"Too many Australians still die at work, with one fatality every 
two days. This is unacceptable, and the CFMEU refuses to stand by 
and watch as workers continue to die and families continue to be 
torn apart, all for the sake of corporate profits."

Joel Exner's mother Sue Baxter still finds it hard to cope with 
the loss of her son, and is angry at how low a price the 
government puts on human lives because of their continued refusal 
to pass tough industrial manslaughter laws to protect workers 
lives.

"It is impossible to express the pain that comes from losing a 
child", she said. "It is even harder when your child's life was 
so tragically ended in his prime, while his whole future lay 
ahead of him.

"I want to thank the Construction, Forestry, Mining and Energy 
Union for their support in this hard time, and for their campaign 
to make building sites safer so that other mothers and fathers 
don't need to go through this horrible experience.

"One year on, we still haven't received justice for Joel, and the 
government still hasn't learnt anything from our pain and 
suffering. If a driver is negligent and kills someone, that's a 
crime, but for some reason they are still refusing to create 
industrial manslaughter laws so that bosses who are negligent and 
kill innocent workers like my son, can be jailed for it.

"I will continue to support the union campaign for industrial 
manslaughter laws so that Joel's death won't be in vain, and it 
might prevent other families from suffering the pain of losing a 
loved one."