We See You, Gerard Hayes
And We’re Naming the Betrayal Injured Workers Were Never Meant to Survive
They say unions are built on solidarity.
But what happens when that solidarity is weaponised to protect power instead of people?
Today, I’m calling on every injured worker, every whistleblower, and every person who believes in workplace justice to join me in demanding accountability from someone who should have been on our side:
Gerard Hayes - Secretary of the Health Services Union (HSU) NSW/ACT/QLD.
📍 What This Is About
While the NSW Government quietly pushed through one of the most dangerous attacks on workers’ compensation in a generation, Gerard Hayes remained silent.
The NSW Workers Compensation Amendment Bill 2025:
Strips rights from workers with psychological injuries
Excludes cumulative trauma, systemic bullying, and organisational injustice from valid claims
Raises evidentiary burdens
Introduces legal hurdles that many vulnerable workers simply cannot overcome
And while all of this unfolded, Hayes - a powerful union leader - said nothing.
Worse: testimonies from whistleblowers and internal union documents suggest his silence was not passive. It was strategic.
📣 The Petition
This isn’t just a call-out. It’s a call to action.
✍️ Sign the petition now:
🔗 Gerard Hayes: We See You. Injured Workers Deserve Better.
We’re calling for public accountability, transparency, and an end to the complicity that has allowed this betrayal to fester in silence.
👥 Who’s Impacted Most?
Health workers exposed to trauma and burnout
Whistleblowers punished for speaking up
Women already denied justice in a gendered system
Psychologically injured workers, dismissed as “less valid” than physically injured ones
If you see yourself in this list, you are not alone.
This petition is part of a broader reckoning.
We will not be silenced.
And we will not be sidelined.
🤐 And the Silence Doesn’t Stop With Hayes
The question remains: Where is Unions NSW in all of this?
While psychologically injured workers are being legislated out of their own recovery, the peak union body in this state has remained noticeably silent.
Let’s name names:
Mark Morey is the Secretary of Unions NSW
→ Unions NSW Official Profile
He also sits on the Board of icare, the very body that oversees the workers’ compensation scheme now pushing through regressive reforms
→ icare Governance ProfileLauren Hutchins is the President of Unions NSW
→ And simultaneously the Assistant Secretary of HSU NSW/ACT/QLD, under Gerard Hayes
→ ACTU Branch Listing
But when it came time to speak up for:
Women denied recognition for psychological injury
Health workers burning out in a broken system
Whistleblowers abandoned by union silence
…they had nothing to say.
This isn’t just about individual failure.
This is about a culture of loyalty that protects power, even when it betrays the very people unions exist to serve.
When leaders hold power across multiple platforms - unions, governance boards, public advocacy events - and remain silent, that silence is not an accident.
It’s a strategy.
It’s systemic.
This is not just about Gerard Hayes.
It’s about a culture that shields those in power while injured workers are told to be resilient, quiet, and grateful.
That culture must be confronted.
💬 What You Can Do
✅ Sign the Petition
✅ Share it with your networks
✅ Call on your local MP to oppose the Bill
✅ Speak out - even when they want you silent
This is what reckoning looks like.
We are not disposable.
We are not invisible.
We are not done.
With resolve,
Jeanine Orzani
Founder, The Reckoning Room
Survivor. Whistleblower. Unrelenting witness.
And I did challenge them, at every turn. Hence why I became a target. More fool them.
We see the silence. We name the betrayal. And we’re not done yet.