A Melbourne mum is demanding change after her son died following his first shift on a CFMEU government worksite.
Tammie Palmer claims 18-year-old Ben, who had mental health issues, was bullied to death.
In January, the Ringwood North man went to work his first day on a CFMEU site.
That night, before his 19th birthday, he died of an overdose.
“They locked him in a shed for three or four hours – just a young boy, with mental health issues,” Palmer said.
While the CFMEU denies the claims, Palmer claimed her son, a proud Gunditjmara teen, was relentlessly bullied because he was wearing the shirt of a small Indigenous construction firm he’d previously worked for.
She said the CFMEU didn’t like the firm because it was aligned with a rival union, the AWU.
“If Ben had another shirt on, none of this would be an issue,” Palmer suggested.
9News obtained videos showing Ben’s former boss from the same Indigenous firm receiving similar treatment from a CFMEU official, at another site.”You’re a f—ing rat. I declared you a dog in front of the boys, what are you going to do about it?” somebody can be heard saying.
“He would have felt worthless, useless, like he’d done something wrong,” Palmer said.
Toxic workplace culture starts at the top
Security vision shows ex-CFMEU boss John Setka dumping a suitcase with the words “Leo the dog” written on it outside the home of fellow senior union official Leo Skourdoumbis.
“I think the message is quite clear and that was – you speak out against us, we know where you are – and we can get to you,” Skourdoumbis told 60 Minutes.
Setka said the claims were “more false allegations”, adding “once again youse have put sauce on everything”.
Palmer wants change, that’s why she’s speaking out, despite safety concerns.
“They can’t hurt me more than I’m already hurting,” Palmer said.
“People should be able to go to work and be treated with kindness and respect, it’s not hard.
“All he wanted to do was work.”
Already at the footy club, mental health has become a major priority.
“We’re starting to find that a lot of the families are starting to engage directly with us, because the football club is a place of sanctuary for them,” Chris Leahy from North Ringwood Junior Football Club said.