Unite the union Gibraltar has posted photographs from the International Workers Memorial Day Ceremony at the Gibraltar lobby of parliament. The theme for this year was “Dangerous Substance get them out of the Workplace.” Facebook
Category Archives: News
Scotland: International Workers’ Memorial Day 2019 – remember the dead, fight for the living
Staff at UNISON Scotland gathered on Monday 29 April to mark International Workers’ Memorial Day 2019.
Each year on International Workers’ Memorial Day (April 28) we remember the dead and fight for the living. This year’s theme is ‘dangerous substances – get them out of the workplace’.
Around the world one worker dies every 15 seconds. Up to 50,000 people die each year in the UK. Although few UNISON members die in workplace incidents many suffer injuries and work related ill health, from stress or back pain to RSI, bullying, harassment, and workplace violence. These affect them and their families.
Health and safety in our workplaces protects those at work. It also protects those in the wider community. Whether it is a hospital, school or care home, our elderly and vulnerable relatives, our children and our communities are also protected by measures intended to keep everyone safe from harm.
UNISON knows that the key to providing a good and safe service is well-trained employees who have the time and protective equipment to do their job properly.
Today we remember all those killed through work and at the same time continue to work to ensure that such tragedies are not repeated. We will do that by building trade union organisation, and campaigning for stricter enforcement with higher penalties for breaches of health and safety laws. It is a day to remember those who have died or been injured at work.
USA: USW on The Leslie Marshall Show – Safety is every worker’s right
Ashlee Fitch from the USW’s Health, Safety and Environment department joined The Leslie Marshall Show to talk about Workers’ Memorial Day, as well as the rolling back of many critical Obama-era worker protections and the risk that places on America’s work force.
“A lot of workers’ rights have been coming under the microscope and coming under attack, and health and safety is no different,” Fitch said regarding the Trump administration’s slashing of OSHA staff and regulations.
“We fought for almost 40 years to even get a beryllium standard pushed through,” she said, “and once we did, the [Trump] administration quickly rolled back those protections for workers who are in the construction industry and in the maritime industry.”
Each year, 11,500 shipyard and construction workers, including Steelworkers at Newport News, Va., are exposed to beryllium, a toxic element laced through the coal waste often used in abrasive blasting grits. Beryllium inhalation has long been known to cause lung cancer and berylliosis, a debilitating and often fatal respiratory illness.
Workplace violence is also a major health and safety issue for all working people, but particularly health care workers, and the union is currently working in Washington to urge Congress to pass the Workplace Violence Prevention for Health Care and Social Service Workers Act. The vital bill would issue an occupational safety and health standard that requires covered employers within the health care and social service industries to develop and implement a comprehensive workplace violence prevention plan.
“When you look at the rates of violence against health care workers, the rates are 12 times higher than the overall work force,” Fitch said. “We saw this and recognized that we have a lot of things going on in our workplaces that don’t align with the Occupational Safety and Health Act.”
One of the hopes for the bill is that it will strengthen workers’ ability to report acts of violence they experience on the job, especially immigrant workers, who often fear punishment via harassment and even deportation.
Listen to the full Leslie Marshall interview on Soundcloud
USA: AFL-CIO releases yearly worker safety report – Death on the job
In 2017, 5,147 workers lost their lives on the job as a result of traumatic injuries, according to fatality data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Each day in this country, an average of 14 workers die because of job injuries—women and men who go to work, never to return home to their families and loved ones. This does not include those workers who die from occupational diseases, estimated to be 95,000 each year.
Violence is also a growing threat to workers’ safety, especially in the health care industry. Rates of violence against health care workers are reported to be up to 12 times higher than rates for the overall workforce.
The cost of these injuries and illnesses is enormous—estimated at $250 billion to $330 billion a year, according to the AFL-CIO report.
To access the entire report, click here.
2019 Death on the Jobs Report release video, AFL-CIO Latino
USA: Worksafe Releases Report for Workers Memorial Day 2019
Workers Memorial Day is a day to remember and honor workers who have died on the job.
Joel Perales was a 30-year veteran of the East Los Angeles U.S. Postal Service. He was also a beloved community pastor, husband, father of five, and diehard Dodgers fan.
On December 3, 2018 Perales decided to pick up an extra shift on his day off — the holidays were coming and he wanted to have a little extra money to purchase gifts for his grandchildren. Tragically, he was killed that morning when a car struck his mail truck in the city of Commerce. Perales had a large and loving family; he is survived by his wife, children, grandchildren, and several siblings.
Despite decades of progress, the human toll of workplace tragedies continues to be unacceptably high. 376 California workers were killed at work in the last annual count, about one per day. Thousands more were injured or made ill from preventable workplace hazards. When employers fail to protect workers, the public health suffers.
Dying at Work in California 2019 is Worksafe’s eighth annual report on the state of safety and health protections for California workers. In it, we remember the lives that have been lost, and we highlight opportunities for improving worker health and safety in California. Be sure to check out the contributions of the UC Berkeley Labor Occupational Health Program (LOHP), the Healthy Work Campaign, and National COSH.
Attention Bay Area: Please join us today at noon in Downtown Oakland for our Workers Memorial Day event. We are cohosting with LOHP and are hoping for a big turnout. Let’s gather – please come out if you can.
We hope that you will read and share Dying at Work in California 2019.
In Solidarity,
Doug Parker, Executive Director, Worksafe
Global: ILO’s Guy Ryder – ‘All countries should ratify health and safety conventions’
ILO’s Guy Ryder – ‘All countries should ratify health and safety conventions’
Speaking in Russia ahead of the World Day for Safety and Health at Work, ILO Director-General, Guy Ryder, said the well-being of workers continues to be a priority for the ILO as the world of work undergoes rapid change.
https://www.ilo.org/global/about-the-ilo/newsroom/news/WCMS_689373/lang–en/index.htm
Guy Ryder, l’OIT: «Tous les pays devraient ratifier les conventions relatives à la sécurité et à la santé au travail»
https://www.ilo.org/global/about-the-ilo/newsroom/news/WCMS_689942/lang–fr/index.htm
“Todos los países deberían ratificar los convenios sobre seguridad y salud”, afirma Guy Ryder, OIT
https://www.ilo.org/global/about-the-ilo/newsroom/news/WCMS_690048/lang–es/index.htm
USA: Laborers’ International Union of North American (Northwest region) 28 April message
Laborers’ International Union of North American North West Region has issued a video message to mark International Workers’ Memorial Day. Facebook page
Holland: EU youth election marks 28 April
United Kingdom: Unite highlights helicopter asbestos scandal
Unite, the UK’s largest union, has accused the Ministry of Defence (MoD) of shamelessly hiding behind ‘commercial interests’ in refusing to provide information about the asbestos scandal involving the maintenance of its Sea King helicopter fleet.
It said it was highlighted the ‘absolute scandal’ of the MoD’s failure to inform workers that they could have been exposed to asbestos as part of its activities around International Workers’ Memorial Day (IWMD) on Sunday 28 April, as the theme for this year’s event is dangerous substances – get them out of the workplace.
Zimbabwe: 28 April construction union message of zero tolerance for work hazards
The BWI affiliates in Zimbabwe (CLAWUZ, GAPWUZ, ZCATWU, ZEWU) commemorated IWMD at RIO DOURO with a campaign for zero tolerance for workplace hazards.