Void and loss: the sculpture unveiled on International Mourning Day

Memorial dedicated to workers who never came home

By Kerri Carr

A memorial in recognition of workers who have lost their lives at work was unveiled near Darling Harbour on April 28.

The memorial was unveiled on April 28 to mark International Mourning Day.

NSW Labor Council commissioned the sculpture in recognition of workers who have lost their lives at work or as a result of work related disease. WorkCover and the Labor Council jointly funded the project.

"Memory Lines" is located in Little Pier Street Park, between the Sydney Entertainment Centre and the Sydney Novotel and is intended as a place to rally and contemplate.

Industrial Relations Minister John Della Bosca unveiled the memorial with artist Ingrid Skirka.

Ms Skirka said the hole in the sculpture represented void and loss and was a place to lay flowers.

"The bonze body of the sculpture represents a working life, a life cycle," she said.

"The bronze is unpredictable and will change colour."

Ms Skirka said the 'memory lines' of the sculpture reach up to heaven.

"It a celebration of life and of sacrifice," she said.

Mr Della Bosca said the day was about the past and the future.

"The past is something that motivates us...[to] secure a better future."

Mr Della Bosca said workers had a fundamental right that someone who needs to go to work can work safely and return home.

He said since the memorial was located outside a cultural venue (the Entertainment Centre) it would attract a lot of people who could think about the positive things that can be done to prevent deaths in the workplace.

NSW Labor Council Secretary John Robertson said the International Day of Mourning was in recognition of the tragic loss of life that continues in workplaces and to encourage everyone to focus on reducing deaths in the workplace.

WorkCover chief executive officer Jon Blackwell said the memorial would be a constant reminder of the tragic deaths of the past and a reminder that everyone must work towards preventing further deaths.

"Without the vigilance of WorkCover, unions and workers, more deaths would occur," he said.

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