Mateship never out of fashion

The OZ Help literature makes the point well that it is men’s inability to talk about their personal problems (and in our “tough guy” industry the problem would be well and truly exacerbated) as a root cause of the high suicide rate. Females by comparison will open up and reach out and it is undoubtedly a major factor in the lower suicide rate among women.

Oz Help aims to have up to 80 per cent of on-site workers trained to be aware of what to look for in a workmate. They could then  pass on their concerns to a “Connector” who has been further trained to speak to the worker and get him the professional help he needs starting with field officers directly employed by OZ Help.

I welcome this initiative, and training will begin soon for me and many other thousands of workers Australia wide. Again, it is the ideal combination of union and employer co-operation that will see this worthy cause succeed with most of the major building companies signalling their strong support. The payoff for the employers is, (apart from it simply being the right thing to do) increased productivity down the track through improvements in the overall mental health of their workforce.

Summing up, my challenge to those people who would see the union movement either destroyed or rendered useless through repressive legislation is this; without the framework, how would you implement something like this? Who would know if no one did a study? Where would the money come from if not through the union fund? Who would actually care if not for the union movement, and if no one actually does give a damn, what sort of society do we wish to live in?

It might be fashionable again to believe the market rules our lives and if everyone leaves everything to someone else it’ll all work out “efficiently” and we’ll all live happily ever after; without too much thought about anything or anybody but ourselves. But to me that’s anathema and, once again, it is the union movement which has re-affirmed my faith in my fellow human being. We might be small in numbers but we’re still an extremely important factor in the underlying social fabric of Australia, as this initiative clearly demonstrates. “Every man for himself” may be society’s present mantra but that’s hopefully a passing trend. Looking out for your fellow worker is what made this country what it is; for committed union members that ethos will never go out of fashion.