The mother of an 18-year-old boy who was persistently bullied and died after his first shift on a CFMEU construction site has said she is heartbroken, saying his death shows the kind of people behind the “aggressive” construction union.
Tammie Palmer says her son Ben Nash was thrilled when he got his dream job with a Melbourne construction company in January.
However, when he came home after his first day, he told her that he had been bullied, humiliated, insulted and even locked in a shed.
“They locked him in a shed for three or four hours — a young boy with mental health issues,” she said in an interview with 60 Minutes.
The next morning, on his 19th birthday, he was found in bed after a fatal overdose of prescription drugs.
Although the CFMEU denies the allegations of bullying, Palmer claims her Aboriginal son was continually targeted for turning up to work wearing the shirt of a small Indigenous construction company where he had previously worked.
She said the CFMEU did not like the company because it had ties to a rival union, the AWU.
“If Ben had been wearing a different shirt, none of this would have been a problem,” she said.
Ben, who had mental health issues, died of an overdose after being relentlessly bullied at a government CFMEU workplace
Tammie Palmer claims 18-year-old Ben was bullied to death
Tammie says CFMEU officials have visited her and tried to downplay the role of workplace harassment in Ben’s death, but she does not accept any attempt by the union to avoid responsibility.
“Where was the duty of care for my son? Why was he locked in a shed for so long? Why didn’t they tell him to turn his shirt inside out?” she told The Age.
“Children can’t go to work and be dead the next day. No family should have to go through this.”
Despite her concerns for her safety, the mother says she will not give in to the methods of fear and intimidation she says are common within the CFMEU and which took her son away.
“They can’t hurt me any more than I already do,” she said.
‘People should be able to go to work and be treated with kindness and respect. That’s not difficult.
“He just wanted to work.”
Ahead of her shocking interview with 60 Minutes, CFMEU union leader John Setka resigned on Friday following a series of allegations of misconduct within the organization, including ties to underworld figures and biker gangs.
On Sunday it was reported that Setka had made a threatening night-time visit to the family home of Leo Skourdoumbis, who was also a senior CFMEU official.
Former Victorian CFMEU leader John Setka (left) has resigned following investigations into the powerful branch
Ben was in bed after a fatal overdose of prescription drugs
The CFMEU’s Victoria branch has been referred to the state’s anti-corruption watchdog IBAC, following allegations uncovered by Nine’s 60 Minutes program.
Prime Minister Jacinta Allan called the alleged behaviour “vile and appalling” during a press conference on Monday.
Before becoming Prime Minister and succeeding Dan Andrews, Ms Allan had been Minister of Transport and Infrastructure since 2014. In that capacity, she had extensive dealings with the CFMEU during the period of alleged corruption.
The ALP received millions of dollars in financial support from the CFMEU at the time.