Category Archives: 2023

2023, 2023 Europe, 2023 Moldova, Events listing, News

Moldova: Munca în condiții sigure și sănătoase – un drept fundamental al salariaților la locul de muncă – CNSM – #iwmd23

Ziuă mondială pentru securitate și sănătate în muncă, marcată de Organizația Internațională a Muncii din 2003, constituie ocazie, cu care, prin acțiunile organizate, se atrage atenția întregii lumi asupra problemelor din domeniul securității și sănătății în muncă (SSM); numărului mare de accidente de muncă și boli profesionale; necesității îmbunătățirii permanente a condițiilor de muncă și a stării de securitate și sănătate a salariaților la locul de muncă; faptului că promovarea unei culturi a securității și sănătății în muncă poate contribui la reducerea numărului anual de decese la locul de muncă. Sloganul din acest an al acestei zile este „Un mediu de lucru sigur și sănătos – un principiu fundamental și un drept la locul de muncă”.

La eveniment au participat conducerea CNSM, lideri ai centrelor sindicale național-ramurale, reprezentanți ai Guvernului Republicii Moldova, Confederației Naționale a Patronatului din Republica Moldova, Organizației Internaționale a Muncii.

Obiectivul mesei rotunde a fost de a promova prevenirea accidentelor și a bolilor profesionale, sensibilizarea și focalizarea atenției partenerilor sociali, responsabililor de domeniul securității și sănătății în muncă (SSM), asupra tendințelor din domeniul SSM, precum și atenționării asupra situației în domeniul dat la nivel național.

În discursul său, Igor Zubcu, președinte al CNSM, a subliniat că sindicatele, în permanență, au plasat securitatea și sănătatea în muncă printre obiectivele de bază ale activității sale și au depus eforturi pentru îmbunătățirea condițiilor de muncă și a stării de securitate și sănătate a salariaților la locul de muncă. CNSM își propune să militeze în continuare pentru îmbunătățirea condițiilor de muncă și a stării de securitate și sănătate a salariaților la locul de muncă.

„CNSM se alătură campaniei „Zero decese la locul de muncă” promovate de sindicatele europene. Prin aceasta se promovează creșterea instruirii în domeniul securității și sănătății la locul de muncă, a inspecțiilor și a sancțiunilor pentru a pune capăt deceselor la locul de muncă până în 2030. De asemenea, în această zi, odată cu comemorarea victimelor accidentelor de muncă, dorim să atragem atenția angajatorilor și salariaților asupra necesității de a schimba abordarea vizavi de securitatea și sănătatea la locul de muncă”, a accentuat liderul sindical.

Tematicile abordate în cadrul panelurilor de discuții de către vorbitori au cuprins următoarele: asigurarea securității și sănătății în muncă – un drept primordial pentru salariați; controlul și prevenirea în domeniul SSM – un element esențial pentru a asigura un mediu de muncă adecvat; rolul organizației sindicale primare în asigurarea drepturilor salariaților în domeniul SSM.

În cadrul mesei rotunde a fost adoptat un Apel care conține un șir de recomandări ce vizează îmbunătățirea situației în domeniul SSM. Apelul participanților la masa rotundă „Munca în condiții sigure și sănătoase – un drept fundamental al salariaților la locul de muncă” poate fi accesat aici.

De asemenea, precizăm că evenimentul a fost transmis live pe pagina de Facebook a CNSM și poate fi accesat aici.

Potrivit datelor Biroului Național de Statistică, anual în Republica Moldova se produc peste 500 de accidente la locul de muncă. În anul 2022, s-au înregistrat 562 de accidente. Totodată, între anii 2011-2021, în Republica Moldova, au fost înregistrate mai mult de 30 de cazuri de boli profesionale, în urma cărora au fost afectate peste 40 de persoane. Cei mai frecvenți factori nocivi care provoacă îmbolnăvirea profesională sunt vibrațiile (42%), substanțele chimice toxice (25%) și germenii patogeni (20%), iar cei mai expuși la acest risc sunt: mecanizatorii, lucrătorii medicali și muncitorii de la întreprinderi.

Data de 28 aprilie la nivel internațional este o zi dedicată comemorării celor care și-au pierdut viața în urma accidentelor de muncă și bolilor profesionale, de asemenea este o zi dedicată promovării securității și sănătății în muncă. Din 2010, la inițiativa mișcării sindicale, și în Republica Moldova ziua de 28 aprilie este oficial recunoscută ca „Ziuă mondială pentru securitate și sănătate în muncă”.

2023, 2023 Asia-Pacific, 2023 Bangladesh, Events listing, Gallery, News

Bangladesh: IUF observes minute’s silence on 28 April – #iwmd23

IUF Food & Beverage Workers Council in Bangladesh observed minute silence to recall tragic death of workers due to unsafe working conditions and resolved to fight for safe workplaces. Remember the dead and flight for the living. Stop the Killing.

IUF Asia-Pacific 

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2023, 2023 global, Events listing, News

GLOBAL: Health and safety at work is neither a perk to be bargained for nor a favour to be asked – IndustriALL – #iwmd23

28 April is International Workers’ Memorial Day, a day to remind us that health and safety at work is neither a perk to be bargained for nor a favour to be asked. It is our right in the workplace. #iwmd23 #genderbasedviolence #SexualHarassment

IndustriALL @IndustriALL_GU

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2023, 2023 Europe, 2023 UK, Events listing, News

UK: USDAW says a trade union organised workplace is a safer workplace on 28 April – #iwmd23

Date: 28 April 2023
Every year April 28 is International Workers’ Memorial Day (IWMD). It is the international trade union day of remembrance and action for workers killed, disabled, injured or made unwell by their work.
Every year April 28 is International Workers’ Memorial Day (IWMD). It is the international trade union day of remembrance and action for workers killed, disabled, injured or made unwell by their work.

For #IWMD23 retail and distribution trade union Usdaw is promoting the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) theme of ‘Organising health and safety within the workplace’. Making the case for strong laws, strong enforcement and strong unions to help Health and Safety Reps organise, inspect and protect.

  • Organise: Usdaw workplace reps have the tools, support and training they need to help keep members healthy and safe.
  • Inspect: Usdaw Reps can use their legal functions to inspect the workplace, investigate accidents and consult with the workers they represent.
  • Protect: Usdaw uses its bargaining strength to make sure that workplace health and safety policies are functioning properly. National campaigns, like ‘Freedom from Fear’ and a ‘New Deal for Workers’ give all workers a voice and to secure new legal rights.

Paddy Lillis – Usdaw General Secretary says: “International Workers’ Memorial Day is when the labour movement remembers those who have been killed or injured at work and those who have died from occupational diseases. So on 28 April we ‘remember the dead and fight for the living’ by highlighting our all year round campaigning for better health and safety.

“Health and safety at work is a right not a privilege. Keeping members safe is one of the key aims of Usdaw. This involves ensuring safe working practices and environments, safety training, ensuring the supply of personal protective equipment, and advising members and reps on all other aspects of safety at work.

“Usdaw has thousands of trained Safety Reps across the UK who are instrumental in maintaining a safe workplace and who work with management to prevent accidents. Usdaw also has experts in its health and safety section at head office who, along with the Union’s network of area organisers, offer important advice and support to reps and members.

“The Health and Safety Executive brings unions and employers together, but funding cuts and Government policies have weakened its effectiveness. That is why Usdaw is calling for a reversal of the HSE cuts. We also want to see more HSE and local authority inspectors to enforce health and safety law and for the inspectors to work with Union Safety Reps when they do workplace inspections.

“Usdaw Reps across the country will be bringing Workers Memorial Day into their workplaces, publicising the importance of health and safety and in some areas participating in public ceremonies and events. I wish them well in their commemorations and campaigning.”

Notes for editors:

Usdaw (Union of Shop, Distributive and Allied Workers) is the UK’s fifth biggest trade union with over 350,000 members. Most Usdaw members work in the retail sector, but the union also has many members in transport, distribution, food manufacturing, chemical industry and other trades www.usdaw.org.uk

For Usdaw press releases visit: http://www.usdaw.org.uk/news and you can follow us on Twitter @UsdawUnion

2023 Europe, 2023 UK, Events listing, News

UK: NASUWT encourages mass participation at #iwmd23

International Workers’ Memorial Day allows us to remember the dead and fight for the living

On International Workers’ Memorial Day, we remember all those who have died at work and reconfirm our commitment to fight for the living.

This Thursday 28 April, we encourage our members to take part in remembering all those who have died at work or as a result of their workplace environment.

All workplaces should be healthy and safe environments. Organised workplaces are safer workplaces and having an active union in a workplace:

  • helps reduce injuries at work;
  • leads to a reduction in the levels of ill health caused by work;
  • encourages greater reporting of injuries and near misses;
  • makes workers more confident and productive;
  • helps develop a more positive safety culture; and
  • saves the economy many millions of pounds.

Ways you can get involved with Workers’ Memorial Day

NASUWT
  1. Become a Health and Safety Rep or recruit another Rep – does your school/college have a Health and Safety Rep? If not, why not consider becoming one? If it does, recruit someone else.
  2. We’ve produced a range of Wellbeing Tools for Teachers that include advice on identifying and dealing with stress, mental health problems and violent behaviour in the classroom, as well as ways to access support and training.
  3. A key revelation found in our latest Teacher Wellbeing Survey was that workload is still the main factor responsible for creating work-related stress.
  4. Activists can use our Wellbeing at Work Audits (login) to help assess wellbeing in their workplace.
  5. Take advantage of our free Health and Safety training programme – Health and Safety Reps save lives and prevent illness and injury because they have specialised training.
TUC International Workers Memorial Day

  1. Find a local event near you or if you’re organising one add it to the TUC list.
  2. Hold a one-minute silence – join other union activists taking part in a one-minute silence at 12 noon to remember those who have died because of their work.
  3. Share images – raise awareness of Workers’ Memorial Day at work with the TUC poster and images on social media.
28april.org/ITUC A New Social Contract
ILO World Day for Safety and Health at Work 2023

2023, 2023 Europe, Events listing, News

Europe: Asbestos victims urge EU to stop workplace cancer scandal – ETUC – #iwmd23

Victims of occupational cancer and their families are today, on International Workers Memorial Day, calling on EU leaders to give workers the highest possible level of protection from asbestos.

Around 90,000 people lose their lives to asbestos-related cancer in the EU every year, making it the leading cause of workplace fatalities.

Between 4 and 7 million workers across the EU are exposed to asbestos and that number is expected to grow by 4% over the next decade as a result of building renovations as part of the EU Green Deal.

The EU is currently reviewing the asbestos exposure limit but the European Commission and European Council want to keep it at a dangerously high level in order to minimise costs for businesses.

To show the consequences of such a decision, trade unions are publishing the testimonies of those whose lives have been blighted by cancer caused by exposure to asbestos at work. 

Read more here:
https://www.etuc.org/en/pressrelease/iwmd-asbestos-victims-urge-eu-stop-workplace-cancer-scandal

 

2023, 2023 Europe, Events listing, News

Europe: A grave reminder from ETUI

The decline of the fatal accident rate in Europe has levelled off. ETUI says this is a stark reminder that the trade union can never become complacent in its fight to protect workers.

2023, 2023 Europe, 2023 sweden, Events listing, News

Sweden: Candle lighting ceremony to honor and remember fallen victims of work

Today on Workers’ Memorial Day, we light a candle for all our comrades who have left us due to work, to remember and honor them, whether it is through a work accident or work-related illness.

Workers’ Memorial Day

CYRENE MARTINSSON WAERN

27 apr 2023

Så var då den 28 april här igen – en dag då vi särskilt minns och hedrar de som förlorat sina liv på grund av sitt arbete. Tyvärr har redan 16 personer mist sina liv i arbetet i år. 16 personer som lämnade sitt hem på morgonen och inte kom tillbaka till nära och kära efter arbetets slut. Men det är viktigt att komma ihåg att detta bara är en del av bilden – det finns också de som dör i förtid på grund av arbetsrelaterade sjukdomar och denna siffra är betydligt högre. Enligt Arbetsmiljöverket beräknas att cirka 3000 personer dör i förtid varje år, på grund av arbetet. Vi kan därför aldrig lägga ned kampen för att ingen ska riskera sitt liv eller sin hälsa på grund av arbetet. Varje arbetsrelaterat dödsfall och varje arbetsrelaterad sjukdom visar hur viktigt arbetsmiljöarbetet är. De kan undvikas genom aktiva och preventiva insatser för en god arbetsmiljö. Om ett effektivt arbetsmiljöarbete vore självklart oavsett var i världen, skulle vi aldrig ha kunnat läsa om sådana allvarliga olyckor som exempelvis branden vid Rana Plaza, där fler än 1 100 arbetare dog.

EU-statistik visar att 78 procent av all arbetsrelaterad cancer beror på exponering av asbest, något som är totalförbjudet i EU sedan 2005 (Sverige 1982), för att ge ett exempel. Totalt dog 3 355 människor på jobbet i EU 2020 (den senast tillgängliga statistiken) varav mer än en femtedel ägde rum inom byggindustrin, enligt Eurostat.

Tittar vi vidare på Eurostats statistik från 2019 så ser vi att i jämförelse med övriga EU, så ligger vi “bra” till. Men kan vi verkligen “nöja oss” med att vi har få dödsolyckor i jämförelse? Absolut inte, om ni frågar mig eller vem som helst inom fackföreningsrörelsen. Tanken att ditt arbete skulle kunna riskera ditt liv är oacceptabelt, arbete ska alltid utföras med noggranna och väl genomförda riskanalyser, så att det kan utföras utan att riskera ditt liv eller din hälsa. Oavsett var eller med vad du arbetar! Systematiskt arbetsmiljöarbete på varje arbetsplats, tillgång till skyddsutrustning och säkerhetsanordningar, välutbildade skyddsombud och chefer i arbetsmiljöfrågor, samt tillgång till expertis från t e x företagshälsovård vid behov, är a och o för att skapa en trygg och säker arbetsmiljö för alla arbetstagare. För det har väl inte gått någon förbi att sedan ILO:s arbetskonferens 2022, är en säker och hälsosam arbetsmiljö en grundläggande rättighet i arbetslivet? Det betyder att du har rätt att inte bli sjuk eller omkomma på grund av ditt arbete.

Därför, mina vänner, tänder vi idag ett ljus för alla våra kamrater som har lämnat oss på grund av arbetet, för att minnas och hedra dem. Samtidigt knyter vi näven i fickan och lovar att tillsammans ställer vi krav för en arbetsmiljö där ingen riskerar sin hälsa eller sitt liv!

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2023, 2023 North America, 2023 USA, Events listing, News

USA: A Proclamation on Workers Memorial Day, 2023 | The White House – #iwmd23

“Nearly every law protecting workers’ rights passed because unions fought for it.  That includes the Occupational Safety and Health Act, which took effect 51 years ago today, laying the groundwork for foundational health, safety, and whistleblower protections that continue to protect workers nationwide.

A Proclamation on Workers Memorial Day, 2023

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A record 160 million Americans get up and go to work every day to provide for their families, build their communities, and earn a piece of the American Dream.  But too many are exposed to unsafe working conditions, injured, or even killed in preventable accidents on the job.  And millions of firefighters, police officers, and other first responders put their lives on the line as a matter of course to keep the rest of us safe.  We need to have their backs.  On Workers Memorial Day, we honor every American worker who has sacrificed their own life or well-being; we stand with the unions that fight for them every day; and we recommit to protecting the fundamental right to a safe and healthy workplace.

I ran for office to restore the backbone of America — the middle class — and I am proud to be the most pro-labor President in history.  The middle class built this country, and union workers built the middle class.  Nearly every law protecting workers’ rights passed because unions fought for it.  That includes the Occupational Safety and Health Act, which took effect 51 years ago today, laying the groundwork for foundational health, safety, and whistleblower protections that continue to protect workers nationwide.

My Administration has built on that legacy from the start, securing $200 million in American Rescue Plan funding to help keep workers safe and guarantee paid sick leave during the COVID‑19 pandemic.  We protected pensions for millions of workers and retirees so that hardworking Americans can enjoy the healthy and stable retirement they worked their whole lives to secure.  The historic infrastructure, manufacturing, and clean energy laws that I signed as part of our Investing in America agenda are spurring billions of dollars in private investments and helping to create millions of good-paying jobs while requiring strong labor practices like prevailing wages, expanding Registered Apprenticeships, and protecting benefits for coal miners with black lung disease.  Throughout, we have stood against union busting and supported striking workers, who fight for better pay and safer conditions.  We have cracked down on wage theft and worker misclassification so employers cannot avoid paying fair wages or full benefits.  We are making it easier for workers to report abuses and unsafe working conditions, even if they are undocumented — improving safety, boosting pay, and raising standards for everyone.

At the same time, my Administration has strengthened workplace safety enforcement and training, hiring hundreds of new workplace inspectors and increasing site visits by 30 percent.  We launched a program to inspect workplaces for extreme heat, which can harm construction, farm, factory, warehouse, delivery, and other workers.  We have invested more than $100 million in training farm workers to avoid injuries.  And we have fought for first responders by cracking down on toxic PFAS — the so-called “forever chemicals” that have been used for years to produce firefighting equipment and fire suppression agents, making firefighters sick — and funding research into PFAS alternatives.  I also signed bills qualifying more than 10,000 Federal firefighters for critical workers’ compensation and extending tax-free retirement benefits to firefighters permanently disabled on the job and to families of late firefighters who faced trauma.  My latest Budget would invest $430 million more to help Federal agencies promote safe worksites, protect benefits, increase penalties for labor violations, and end child labor for good.  Our Administration has worked across the board to expand access to health care through the Affordable Care Act and Medicaid, saving millions of families $800 a year each on premiums.  Today, more Americans have health insurance than ever before in our history.

We have more to do.  For starters, the United States is still one of the only countries in the world that does not guarantee paid sick leave, forcing too many workers to have to choose between a paycheck and caring for a sick or injured loved one or for themselves.  The Congress needs to pass sick days for all and a national paid leave program right away to change that.

A safe and healthy workplace is fundamental.  In the United States of America, no one should have to risk their lives just to make a living.  Today, we honor those workers who put it all on the line, and we keep their families in our hearts.  We celebrate the whistleblowers and union organizers whose courage and persistence has saved countless lives, and we join them in standing up for all American workers, who are the best in the world.

NOW, THEREFORE, I, JOSEPH R. BIDEN JR., President of the United States of America, by virtue of the authority vested in me by the Constitution and the laws of the United States, do hereby proclaim April 28, 2023, as Workers Memorial Day.  I call upon all Americans to observe this day with appropriate service, community, and education programs and ceremonies in memory of those killed or injured due to unsafe working conditions.

IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this twenty-seventh day of April, in the year of our Lord two thousand twenty-three, and of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and forty-seventh.

https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/presidential-actions/2023/04/27/a-proclamation-on-workers-memorial-day-2023/

2023, 2023 Asia-Pacific, 2023 Australia, Events listing, News

Australia: Remember the dead, fight like hell for the living – ACTU – #iwmd23

Every year on April 28, the trade union movement unites around the world to mark International Workers’ Memorial Day. We mourn those who have died at work or because of their work, and we fight like hell for the living.

We welcome the extension of Industrial Manslaughter laws that will hold negligent and reckless employers to account. These new laws mean negligent employers can be punished with substantial fines and imprisonment. With the Federal and South Australian Governments now committed to introducing these laws, it is only in Tasmania that employers will not be held to account.

We also take today to mourn; we mourn the 36 workers who have lost their lives to workplace incidents so far this year and remember the thousands who will lose their life through occupational diseases.

We take time to think of the Australian workers who have been devastated by the impacts of the deadly dust released from working with engineered stone, with the shocking revelations that as many as one in four stonemasons who work with engineered stone products have contracted silicosis.

The threat of asbestos is also still with is. Australia has one of the highest measured incidence rates of mesothelioma in the world: between 700 and 800 people are diagnosed with mesothelioma each year. On average, two people are diagnosed with mesothelioma in Australia each day.

For these reasons, and many more, unions will continue to fight for improved health and safety laws and better enforcement.

Quotes attributable to ACTU Assistant Secretary Liam O’Brien:

“On 28 April 2023 our message is simple: every worker has the right to a safe and healthy working environment and every employer must ensure they eliminate risks at work.

“Employers who cut corners that result in the death of a worker should face serious consequences, including jail. Industrial manslaughter laws must be introduced in every state and territory.

“Silicosis is a debilitating, incurable and sometimes fatal disease. With as many as one in 4 stonemasons working with engineered stone contracting silicosis we must move quickly to ban the use of this deadly product. There are many safe alternatives – no one should die for a fashion item.

https://www.actu.org.au/actu-media/media-releases/2023/remember-the-dead-fight-like-hell-for-the-living

Remember the dead, fight like hell for the living