Category Archives: 2025 North America

Canada: CUPE mourns workers’ killed on the job

Day of Mourning

On April 28 of each year, CUPE members across the country organize events to honour all workers who were killed or injured at work. This year, we mourn the loss of four members of our CUPE family:

  • Micheal Adams, CUPE 4705, Ontario
  • Dennis Lo, CUPE 718-05, British Columbia
  • Sara Sarabosing, CUPE 561-01, British Columbia
  • Jean-Eudes Doiron, CUPE 1190, New Brunswick

We are pleased to provide materials for this important day, including the annual poster, workers’ statement, and checklist. Day of Mourning flags, pins, and t-shirts can be ordered online at cupe.ca/store. Please order your materials early to ensure we can fulfill your order.

Putting up the posters, lowering flags to half-mast, and reading the workers’ statement at Workers’ Day of Mourning ceremonies are ways to promote awareness of CUPE’s role in fighting for health and safety improvements in the workplace.We hope that on April 28, you will join us and other workers around the world in reaffirming our commitment to demanding healthier and safer workplaces. For additional information or copies of materials, please contact your national representative or the Health and Safety Branch at National Office.

Canada: Find a 28 April event near you – CLC

Day of Mourning Ceremonies 2025

April 28 is the labour movement’s most solemn day, but also one to refocus our commitment to preventing future workplace injuries and deaths. Every year, thousands of workers, friends and families of fallen workers gather at ceremonies across Canada to recognize the National Day of Mourning for workers killed or injured on the job.

This year, we will gather in communities across the country. As we mourn for the dead, the Canadian Labour Congress continues to fight for the living.

Find an event near you – CLC listing

USA: New AFL-CIO report finds worker deaths on the job continue, will worsen under Trump administration policies

The AFL-CIO’s 34th annual ‘Death on the Job’ report provides a state-by-state analysis of threats to worker health and safety and policy recommendations for how the government can better protect workers

WASHINGTON, D.C.—Workers are dying and being injured on the job, and the Trump administration and DOGE are putting them at greater risk by enacting policies that will create deplorable working conditions, according to a new report released today by the AFL-CIO.

Ahead of Workers Memorial Day, the AFL-CIO released its 34th annual “Death on the Job: The Toll of Neglect” report, a comprehensive analysis of the state of workers’ health and safety at the national and state levels. Findings include:

  • Inadequate workplace safety laws and policies resulted in the deaths of 5,283 workers on the job in 2023, the latest year of data available, and an estimated 135,304 workers from occupational diseases.
  • Black and Latino workers are still disproportionately dying on the job, both at rates higher than the national job fatality rate.
  • The report shows 659 Black worker deaths, the second-highest number in more than two decades.
  • The report also shows 1,250 Latino worker deaths, making Latino workers the group at the greatest risk of dying on the job among all demographics.

The national job fatality rate was slightly lower in 2023 than in 2022, thanks to strong, pro-worker policies. But the Trump administration’s substantial cuts to—and in some cases, effective elimination of—federal agencies that protect the health and safety of 161 million American workers will likely increase mortality. These cuts include gutting the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH), the agency that delivers critical health and safety expertise for both workers and employers; eliminating 11 offices of the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) in states with the highest workplace fatality rates; eliminating 34 offices of the Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA), which protects coal miners from hazards like black lung disease, in 19 states, while simultaneously pausing a new silica rule that would prevent coal miners from acquiring silicosis; and allowing Elon Musk, whose companies are being investigated for dozens of workplace safety and health violations, to pursue access to sensitive OSHA data through his inquisition into the Department of Labor.

“Every worker has the fundamental right to come home safe at the end of their workday. But for too many workers, that basic right is under attack,” said Liz Shuler, president of the AFL-CIO. “Workers fought and died for generations for the health and safety laws and protections we have today, and this year’s report shows we need to do even more. The Trump administration and DOGE are gutting the federal agencies that hold bosses accountable for endangering workers, firing the federal workers who monitor and research health hazards, indicating that they will repeal crucial worker safety regulations, and giving billionaires like Elon Musk the power to access and even manipulate OSHA whistleblower records. We can’t bring back the thousands of workers lost each year, but we can fight to prevent more devastation to working families across this country and demand that the Trump administration reverse course.”

“This year’s ‘Death on the Job’ report once again shows that, as in every crisis, the crisis of worker mortality is hitting Black and Latino workers the hardest,” said Fred Redmond, secretary-treasurer of the AFL-CIO. “It is unacceptable that employers are continuing to fail all workers, and especially Black and Latino workers, by not providing them the safety measures and resources they need to stay safe on the job. Enough is enough. The AFL-CIO is fighting the scourge of workplace mortality, and we will not rest until the number of workers who die on the job is zero.”

The 2025 “Death on the Job” report comes just before Workers Memorial Day, the annual commemoration of workers who have died on the job and our fight to prevent these tragedies. The AFL-CIO, its state and local labor federations, and affiliated unions are raising awareness of the Trump administration’s threats to worker health and safety with events across the country this week and next, including a hearing about cuts to worker health and safety programs that took place on Monday, April 21. At the hearings, federal workers, union leaders and community members shared their stories about the impacts of the Trump administration’s actions.

Read the full report here.

AFL-CIO News release

 

USA: Death on the job report – 14 things you should know

Death on the Job graphic

Ahead of Workers Memorial Day, the AFL-CIO released its 34th annual “Death on the Job: The Toll of Neglect” report, a comprehensive analysis of the state of workers’ health and safety at the national and state levels. Workers are dying and being injured on the job, and the Trump administration and DOGE are putting them at greater risk by enacting policies that will create deplorable working conditions, according to the report.

“Every worker has the fundamental right to come home safe at the end of their workday. But for too many workers, that basic right is under attack,” said Liz Shuler, president of the AFL-CIO. “Workers fought and died for generations for the health and safety laws and protections we have today, and this year’s report shows we need to do even more. The Trump administration and DOGE are gutting the federal agencies that hold bosses accountable for endangering workers, firing the federal workers who monitor and research health hazards, indicating that they will repeal crucial worker safety regulations, and giving billionaires like Elon Musk the power to access and even manipulate OSHA whistleblower records. We can’t bring back the thousands of workers lost each year, but we can fight to prevent more devastation to working families across this country and demand that the Trump administration reverse course.”
This year’s ‘Death on the Job’ report once again shows that, as in every crisis, the crisis of worker mortality is hitting Black and Latino workers the hardest,” said Fred Redmond, secretary-treasurer of the AFL-CIO. “It is unacceptable that employers are continuing to fail all workers, and especially Black and Latino workers, by not providing them the safety measures and resources they need to stay safe on the job. Enough is enough. The AFL-CIO is fighting the scourge of workplace mortality, and we will not rest until the number of workers who die on the job is zero.”
Here are 14 things you need to know from the 2025 Death on the Job report:
  1. 385 workers died each day from hazardous working conditions.

  2. 5,283 workers were killed on the job in the United States.

  3. An estimated 135,304 workers died from occupational diseases.

  4. The overall job fatality rate decreased to 3.5 per 100,000 workers.

  5. Workers of color die on the job at a higher rate: Black and Latino worker job fatality rates are disproportionate compared with all other workers and they continue to remain high.

  6. Employers reported nearly 3.2 million work-related injuries and illnesses, a decrease from the previous year.

  7. At least 55 workers died from heat on the job, a 28% increase from 2022; fatal and nonfatal data are an undercount of the real problem.

  8. Workplace homicides continue to be a significant problem, even though they decreased 12.6% since 2022; workplace suicides increased 5.2% from 2022.

  9. Separately, unintentional overdoses at work decreased nearly 5% from 2022 to 2023, due to increased attention paid to and efforts to combat the opioid crisis.

  10. The rate of serious workplace violence injuries has increased to 4.3 per 10,000 workers.

  11. Musculoskeletal disorders from repetitive motion injuries continue to be a major problem, accounting for approximately 28% of all serious work-related injuries and illnesses in private industry.

  12. Underreporting of all workplace injuries and illnesses is widespread—the true toll of work-related injuries and illnesses is 5.2 million to 7.8 million each year in private industry.

  13. Chemical exposures continue to plague working people, leading to debilitating, life-threatening diseases that are totally preventable.

  14. The cost of job injuries and illnesses is enormous, estimated at $174 billion to $348 billion a year—an undercount of the real impact on society, families and communities.

The report also suggests solutions to these problems—actions that can be taken to improve these numbers.

Canada: Workers’ Day of Mourning | April 28, 2025 | CUPE Saskatchewan

On April 28, we gather to mourn workers who have been killed, injured, or made ill because of workplace hazards or incidents – and recognize the lasting impact on their families and communities. Attend vigils on April 28 in Regina (City Hall at 5:30 p.m.), Moose Jaw (Union Centre at 6:00 p.m.), Saskatoon (Civic Square at 6:00 p.m.), and Weyburn (T.C. Douglas Calvary Centre at 5:30 p.m.).

In 2024, 27 workers in Saskatchewan lost their lives due to work-related causes, not including farm-related fatalities or other workplaces that are not covered or reported by workers’ compensation. 10 fatalities were due to occupational disease and 17 fatalities were from traumatic incidents (four motor vehicle collisions, equipment contact and drowning).

The Workers’ Day of Mourning is a call to “Mourn for the Dead, Fight for the Living ”, created by CUPE members more than 40 years ago to remember those who lost their lives on the job and to inspire other workers to fight to prevent further tragedies. Visit the CUPE Saskatchewan health and safety hub for more resources.

 

 

 

 

 

 

As trade unionists, we also know the importance of holding employers accountable to recognize and address the impacts of systemic understaffing – including the resulting stress and over work on the health of public service workers, the need to address and prevent exposure to violence on the job, and the importance of a psychologically safe working conditions and the prevention of mental health injuries. The health and safety of workers includes the prevention of mental health injuries from work, the prevention of suicide, and recognizing psychosocial hazards.


Attend a vigil in your community:

Regina & District Labour Council

  • Where: Regina City Hall (2476 Victoria Avenue) * In the event of inclement weather, the ceremony may move indoors to the Regina Union Centre (2709 – 12th Avenue)
  • When: Monday, April 28th at 5:30 pm
  • Contact: Dee Wagner, President, wagnerdee5@gmail.com

Moose Jaw & District Labour Council

  • Where: Moose Jaw Union Centre (1402 Caribou Street West) * The event will be held outdoors, however, in the event of inclement weather, the ceremony will be held inside the main hall. Annual vigil, wreath laying
  • When: Monday, April 28th at 6:00 pm
  • Contact: Deidre Wilson, President, mjdlcpresident@gmail.com

Saskatoon & District Labour Council

  • Where: Civic Square (222 3rd Avenue North, Saskatoon)
  • When: Monday, April 28th at 6:00 pm
  • Annual vigil, wreath laying. *If you would like to present a commemorative to your fellow workers, please register prior to the ceremony starting at 6:00pm.
  • Contact: Don MacDonald, President, sdlc@sasktel.net

Weyburn & District Labour Council

  • Where: T.C. Douglas Calvary Centre (#400-10th Avenue, Weyburn)
  • When: Monday, April 28th at 5:30 pm
  • Annual vigil, wreath laying
  • Contact: Wanda Bartlett, President, wbartlett@sasktel.net

https://sk.cupe.ca/2025/04/15/workers-day-of-mourning-april-28-2025/

USA: AFL-CIO Workers’ Memorial Day 2025 toolkit online!

AFL-CIO has published its Workers, Memorial Day toolkit

This year’s theme is in the USA is “Fight for Our Lives: Safe Jobs Now!”  On our website, you can: 

USA: This Workers’ Memorial Day, report hazards says postal workers’ union

Each year, on April 28, we observe Workers’ Memorial Day. On this day, the labor movement remembers workers killed or injured on the job and vows to continue the fight for strong safety and health protections in the workplace. Without workers standing together and fighting for our safety, we would not enjoy the protections from the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) and our union contract.

This Workers’ Memorial Day, we are calling on our members to take part in collective action to make sure our workplaces are clean, safe, and healthy! On April 28, fill out and file a PS Form 1767 – Report of Hazard, Unsafe Condition or Practice. Whether something small like sticky floors, or a persistent problem such as a toxic workplace, stand up with your co-workers to shine a light on the hazards in your workplace. If we don’t look out for each other, no one else will.

How a PS Form 1767 Works:

  • To report a hazard, find and fill out the PS Form 1767. These must be readily available to you. If it is not, you can fi nd a form on apwu.org.
  • APWU recommends that you utilize the 4-copy NCR form provided by the USPS in your workplace. This way you can see what actions were completed or ignored.
  • File a report of the condition on PS Form 1767 with the immediate supervisor and request an inspection of the condition.

The immediate supervisor must promptly (within the tour of duty): Investigate the alleged condition; Initiate immediate corrective action; Record actions or recommendations on the PS Form 1767; Forward the original PS Form 1767 and one copy to the next appropriate level of management (approving official); Give the employee a copy signed by the supervisor as a receipt; Immediately forward the third copy to the facility safety coordinator. If the hazard is not fixed within 7 days, you can file a grievance to ensure action is taken.

https://apwu.org/news/magazine/workers%E2%80%99-memorial-day-file-ps-form-1767-report-hazard-unsafe-condition-or-practice

Remember the dead, fight like hell for the living