No 13-year-old should have to go through what I did

Unions give a voice to those left behind, writes Jarrod Moran

THE death of my father has always been a very private matter for me. In my 17 years working for unions I had never spoken to workmates or publicly on the circumstances of Dad’s death.

But last year, at the ACTU OHS and Workers’ Compensation Conference in Adelaide, I felt the need to relay the experience of my family and I. I did this not seeking pity or some other gain but to reinforce why it is we do what we do.

My Dad died on Good Friday 1983. I had just turned 13.

Dad was a labourer who had gone on to be a grader driver and then to night school to get a ticket to be a foreman. At home was Mum, my younger sister and me. My older brother was the first of our family to go to university and was at uni in another city.

I remember Dad as a tall, handsome man. He had played Aussie Rules at the highest level and took his fitness seriously. Going into Church each Sunday he would make a sign of the cross on his legs with holy water. He said it was a habit he had gotten into when playing footy and had never had any leg problems or injuries.
It had started a normal day
Six weeks before Dad died he had gone to work on a normal work day.

An event happened that day that meant he came home a different person. Three weeks later he was in hospital suffering heart attack after heart attack. Two weeks after that the doctors told my Mum that they could do no more for Dad and he needed to be airlifted to Melbourne. Mum told Dad he was to be moved. He told Mum not to let the little kids see him (me and my sister).

Dad’s feet were black and his legs blue. His circulation was shutting down. He could no longer walk.

Despite the work of outstanding doctors and nurses, in the early hours of Good Friday my Dad passed away, alone in a hospital bed, 300km from home.

It was ultimately found that Dad had died because a company had failed to carry out routine and essential maintenance on its infrastructure.

This was a time before compulsory superannuation and no-fault workers’ compensation as we know it today.

I don’t know how my family got through it. I don’t know how Mum continued to put food on the table. The Salvos knocked on the door and offered help. Even as a 13-year-old I knew my Dad would find it unbelievable that his family, the family he had protected and provided for, would in a matter of weeks after his passing have the Salvos at the door.

The company who caused Dad’s death admitted their guilt and knew they would have to provide some assistance to our family for our future needs. These matters were determined months later in Court.

At home after being in Court my mum was quite upset. She told me that the company’s lawyer had asked her what the expression was on my Dad’s face as he had his heart attacks. Mum kept asking me over and over “Why would he ask such a thing?”

Unions give a voice to those left behind

It’s only recently that I worked out the company had conceded it would need to make payments on behalf of my brother, sister and me, but if they could put some doubt in the Court’s mind as to the strength of the relationship between my Mum and Dad maybe they could get away with reduced compensation for my Mum.

My Dad didn’t deserve to die in the way he did. My Mum didn’t deserve to have her commitment to my Dad questioned.

Years later my best mate’s Mum told me she had never felt so helpless than when she saw me after Dad’s funeral. She said she didn’t know what to say or what she could do to help me.

And that’s why we do the jobs we do. Unions give a voice to the 13-year-olds who aren’t at the table negotiating laws with governments, who aren’t in workplaces pointing out OHS risks to bosses, and who aren’t always agitating for something better.

Next Monday, 28 April, is International Workers’ Memorial Day. Find out about a memorial service near you, and if you are unable to attend, try to pause for a minute’s silence at some stage during the day in memory of workplace fatalities worldwide.

Jarrod Moran is the Senior OHS & Workers Compensation Officer at the ACTU

Published on 24 April 2014.