Workers Memorial

MOURN for the Dead
FIGHT for the Living

PROTECT WORKERS NOW!

DECADES OF STRUGGLE by workers and their unions have resulted in significant improvements in working conditions.Unions have won laws and protections such as the Occupational Safety and Health Act and the federal Mine Safety and Health Act and numerous standards that have made workplaces safer for all workers. Union contracts have given workers a voice on the job. Nonetheless, the toll of workplace injuries, illnesses and deaths remains enormous. Millions of workers are killed or injured every year.

On April 28, the unions of the AFL-CIO observe Workers Memorial Day to remember those who have suffered and died on the job. As we remember workers who have died in workplace catastrophes, suffered diseases due to exposure to toxic substances or been injured because of dangerous conditions, we rededicate ourselves to the fight for safe workplaces.

Each year, nearly 6,000 workers are killed at work, 50,000 die from occupational diseases and millions more are injured. Many long recognized hazards have not been addressed and new workplace hazards emerge. Ergonomic hazards cripple and injure more than 1.8 million workers each year and remain the nation’s biggest job safety and health problem. Immigrant workers are being killed on the job in record numbers. Millions of workers have no Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) protection.

We will honor the victims of workplace injuries and illness by holding employers accountable for protecting workers’ safety and health. We will demand that the Bush administration stop putting corporate interests over the well-being of workers. We will call for action on needed job safety protections. We will demand stronger enforcement of the law and protection from known workplace hazards and from new safety and security threats. We will fight for OSHA coverage for all workers and the freedom of workers to form unions and, through their unions, speak out and bargain for safe jobs, respect and a better future. On April 28, we will honor fallen workers. And we will keep on fighting until the promise of safe jobs is a reality

THIRTY-TWO YEARS AGO, Congress passed the Occupational Safety and Health Act, promising every American worker the right to a safe job. Unions and our allies have fought hard to make that promise a reality winning protections that have saved hundreds of thousands of lives and prevented millions of workplace injuries. But the fight to protect workers is getting harder as the Bush administration has joined with business groups to roll back, block or stall many needed protections. After repealing the Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s (OSHA’s) ergonomics standard, the administration halted work on dozens of new safety and health standards and ignored important hazards. The administration has proposed cutting OSHA’s budget and slashing funding for job safety research. Meanwhile, the Bush administration continues its pro-business stance, stacking advisory committees with management representatives and even shutting workers and unions out of OSHA’s voluntary programs. On this Workers Memorial Day, join us in honoring the workers who have been killed or injured by continuing the fight for safe jobs.
What You Can Do on Workers Memorial Day

Hold a candlelight vigil, memorial service or moment of silence to remember those who have died on the job and to highlight job safety problems in your community and at your workplace.

Organize a rally to highlight the job safety and health problems in your community or at your workplace and how the union is fighting to improve protections.

Create a memorial at workplaces or in communities where workers have been killed on the job.

Distribute workplace fliers and organize a call-in to congressional representatives during lunchtimes or break times. Tell your members of Congress to support stronger OSHA, Mine Safety and Health Administration and worker safety and health protections.

Hold a public meeting with members of Congress in their home districts.
Bring injured workers and family members who can talk firsthand about the need for strong safety and health protections. Invite local religious leaders and other allies to participate in the meeting.

Write a letter to the editor of your local paper. Talk to reporters you know and encourage them to write a story about how the threat to job safety protections endangers workers in your community.

WORKERS MEMORIAL DAY • APRIL 27 • 2006-2007

WORKERS MEMORIAL DAY -- APRIL 27^th