Alors que partout autour du globe, des cérémonies ont lieu à l’occasion de la Journée internationale de commémoration des travailleurs morts et blessés au travail, la CSI met en garde les employeurs négligents qui, en mettant en danger la vie de travailleuses et de travailleurs, auront à en subir les conséquences. Dans le monde, un travailleur meurt toutes les 15 secondes d’une blessure ou d’une maladie professionnelle.
http://www.ituc-csi.org/un-travailleur-meurt-toutes-les-15
Brussels, 28 April 2016 (ITUC Online): As ceremonies around the world take place on the International Commemoration Day for Dead and Injured Workers, the ITUC has warned negligent employers of the consequences of putting workers’ lives at risk. Worldwide, one worker dies every 15 seconds due to occupational injury or illness.
Sharan Burrow, ITUC General Secretary, said “Over 2 million workers die needlessly every year because their workplaces are dusty, dirty and dangerous. The risks are as obvious as they are preventable, whether they are falls from height, crippling workloads or chemical exposure. Every single death represents an employer’s failure to act.”
Occupational cancers alone kill at a rate of one worker every minute worldwide, Burrow says. “Yet pressure from corporate interests means that even asbestos, one of the worst industrial killers, is banned in only a minority of countries. This is not legitimate business activity – it is criminal behaviour.”
Trade unions in more than 70 countries are marking the International Commemoration Day with a demand for ‘Strong laws, Strong enforcement and Strong unions’ as the only way to stop the carnage at work.
According to Burrow, “Many studies show that the presence of a union in any workplace has a strong positive effect on the health of the workforce and the economy. Combined with effective enforcement, active workplace participation delivers safer, healthier workplaces. Responsible businesses know this and benefit as a result – in retention of valued and trained staff, reduced costs and higher productivity. But there are still governments which are intent on removing “regulatory burdens” by weakening labour laws and safety requirements. They are putting lives at risk, and also jeopardising safety-related productivity gains. The best regulated economies are usually the safest and most successful.”
Public scrutiny of corporations, and their top executives, is now at an all-time high and will continue to increase, meaning that companies that seek to hide dirty and dangerous work down their supply chains can expect to suffer reputational damage. Repression of press freedom and curtailment of social media, evident in an increasing number of countries, is not stopping the world at large hearing of the tragic consequences of company negligence and disregard for workers’ lives.
“From the Rana Plaza garment factory disaster to the Deepwater Horizon oil rig explosion, the global firms responsible have been subjected to a previously unheard-of level of sustained criticism and public scrutiny,” Burrow said. “The jail term handed this month to former Massey Energy CEO Don Blankenship for the death of 29 miners in a US coal mine blast is a reminder that for irresponsible bosses, the boardroom may no longer be a safe haven. Unions would rather see safe and healthy workplaces than an irresponsible employer behind bars. But if workers don’t get prevention, they will seek justice. The right to come home safely from work, and live a full life without suffering occupation illness, is a permanent campaign for unions everywhere.”
There are over 2.3 million work-related deaths worldwide every year, over 6,000 every day or one every 15 seconds.
An estimated 660,000 workers die each year from occupational cancers, or over 1 every minute. www.cancerhazards.org
Academic studies have established a substantial union safety effect. www.hazards.org/unioneffect
A 2013 study confirmed union presence has a strong positive effect on the health of the workforce and the economy. Maureen F Dollard and Daniel Y Neser. Worker health is good for the economy: Union density and psychosocial safety climate as determinants of country differences in worker health and productivity in 31 European countries, Social Science & Medicine, volume 92, pages 114–123, September 2013.
On 6 April 2016, a US Federal District Court sentenced Donald L Blankenship, a former chief executive of the Massey Energy Company once known as the “King of Coal,” to one year in jail, with imprisonment to begin regardless of a pending appeal, and payment of a $250,000 fine.
Nous avons le plaisir de vous annoncer que le thème pour le 28 avril 2016, journée internationale de commémoration des travailleurs et travailleuses qui ont perdu leur vie ou leur santé au travail sera :
Au travail, la santé et la sécurité dépendent des lois fermes, de leur application stricte et des syndicats forts La raison pour laquelle ces concepts sont mis en évidence est claire pour ceux qui travaillent sur la santé et la sécurité au travail:
Des lois fermes parce partout dans le monde les travailleurs et travailleuses souffrent d’une protection légale insuffisante face à des risques potentiellement mortels pour leur santé et leur sécurité au travail, et là où la protection existe, elle est sous la menace de gouvernements qui cherchent à l’affaiblir. Il y a aussi des tendances qui se développent à vouloir «privatiser» la réglementation grâce à l’utilisation de normes de santé et de sécurité établies par des organismes privés tels que l’ISO.
Une application stricte parce que nous savons que, même si nous avons des lois de santé et de sécurité en place, ceux-ci sont de faible utilité si elles ne sont pas appliquées. Des nombreux pays soutiennent du bout des lèvres la législation, mais permettent aux employeurs d’ignorer leurs obligations et de mettre la santé et la sécurité de leurs employés en péril. La degradation des services d’inspection du travail fait partie de ces tendances inquiétantes.
Des syndicats forts parce qu’ils sont la meilleure protection pour les travailleurs. Les lieux de travail qui ont une forte représentation syndicale ont des taux beaucoup plus faibles de décès, d’accidents et des maladies que ceux qui ne les ont pas. Pourtant, des nombreux pays développent des lois antisyndicales, essayent de remplacer les syndicats avec des « associations de personnel » à la solde des employeurs ou d’introduire d’autres formes de «participation» comme moyen de garder les syndicats à distance.
Assurez vous de nous envoyer vos plans, affiches et matériaux pour ce 28 Avril 2016. Vous pouvez aussi le poster directement sur le groupe Facebook de la journée en écrivant sur la barre de recherche Workers Memorial Day ou en cliquant sur ce lien : http://www.facebook.com/groups/170025585213/
Vous pouvez aussi nous l’envoyer par mail à Anabella.rosemberg@ituc-csi.org<mailto:Anabella.rosemberg@ituc-csi.org>
Nous allons poster ces informations sur le site conjoint CSI/Hazards www.28april.org
Twitter : nous vous invitons à poster des photos, posters ou annonces sur vos activités en utilisant le hashtag
Tweet #iwmd16 (nous savons qu’il est un peu cryptique pour le grand public mais il nous est de grande aide pour pouvoir amener ces informations dans le twitterfeed du site web) La CSI développera des matériaux pour la journée. Si vous avez des expériences concrètes, relatives au thème choisi, n’hésitez pas à nous les envoyer dès que possible
Merci pour votre soutien et engagement,
Rory, Jawad et Anabella – l’équipe du 28 avril
Queridos compañeros, queridas compañeras Tenemos el placer de confirmar el tema que usaremos para la jornada del 28 de Abril, dia internacional de conmemoración de los trabajadores/as que han perdido su vida y/o salud en el trabajo:
“En el trabajo, tu salud y seguridad dependen de leyes firmes, su aplicación estricta y sindicatos fuertes”
La razón por la que decidimos destacar estos conceptos parecerá evidente a muchos de los que trabajamos en salud y seguridad en el trabajo:
Leyes firmes, porque millones de trabajadores y trabajadoras en todo el mundo carecen de una protección legal adecuada frente a riesgos potencialmente mortales para la salud o la seguridad en el trabajo, o cuando tienen protección, la misma está siendo amenazada por gobiernos decididos a debilitarla. También se están viendo tendencias a “privatizar” la regulación, por ejemplo a través del desarrollo de normas de salud y seguridad establecidas por organismos privados como la ISO.
Aplicación estricta porque sabemos que, incluso con leyes de salud y seguridad, las mismas no son de utilidad si no se hacen cumplir. Muchos países tienen hoy legislación, pero permiten que los empleadores ignoren sus obligaciones y pongan la salud y seguridad de sus trabajadores en riesgo. La degradación de los servicios de inspección del trabajo es parte de estas tendencias preocupantes.
Sindicatos fuertes porque son la mejor protección para los trabajadores. Los lugares de trabajo que tienen una fuerte representación sindical tienen tasas de mortalidad, lesiones y enfermedades mucho más bajas que las que no lo tienen. Sin embargo, muchos países están trayendo promoviendo leyes antisindicales, están tratando de reemplazar a los sindicatos con “asociaciones de personal” definidas a dedo por los empleadores o introduciendo otras formas de “participación” como una manera de mantener alejados a los sindicatos.
Asegurese de enviarnos información sobre sus actividades, materiales o posters para este 28 de Abril 2016. Lo invitamos a colgarla directamente en el grupo de Facebook del 28 de abril (buscando en la barra de búsqueda de Facebook “workers memorial day” o haciendo click aca: http://www.facebook.com/groups/170025585213/ )
También nos puedes enviar la información por mail a Anabella.rosemberg@ituc-csi.org<mailto:Anabella.rosemberg@ituc-csi.org>
Todos los materiales serán subidos a la página común CSI/Hazards del 28 de abril: www.28april.org
Twitter: los invitamos también a enviar fotos, posters o anuncios sobre sus actividades usando el hashtag
Tweet #iwmd16 (si, sabemos que es críptico para los hispanohablantes –también para los anglohablantes fuera de nuestro grupo) pero nos ayudaría a recolectar la información enviada en el twitterfeed de la pagina)
La CSI producirá materiales para la jornada. Si tienen casos concretos, experiencias relacionadas con el tema, no duden en enviárnoslas cuanto antes.Mil gracias una vez más por su compromiso
Rory, Jawad and Anabella (el equipo del 28 de abril)
Dear friends and colleagues
We are pleased to confirm the international theme for the upcoming 28th April, International Day of Commemoration of Dead and Injured Workers – or Workers’ Memorial Day,
“At work, your health and safety depends on Strong laws. Strong enforcement. Strong unions.”
The reason why these concepts are highlighted is clear for most of us working on occupational health and safety:
Strong laws
because across the world workers either have inadequate legal protection from potentially deadly risks to their health at work, or existing safety protection is under threat from governments intent on deregulation. There are also moves to “privatise” regulation through the use of health and safety standards set by private bodies such as ISO.
Strong enforcement
because we know that, even if we have health and safety laws in place, these are of no use if they are not enforced. Many countries pay lip service to legislation but allow employers to ignore their obligations and put the health and safety of their workforce at risk. The degradation of labour inspectorates is part of these worrying trends.
Strong unions
because they are the best protection for workers. Workplaces that have strong union representation typically have much lower fatality, injury and ill-health rates than those that do not. Yet many countries are bringing in anti-union laws, are trying to replace unions with in-house “staff associations” hand-picked by employers or introducing other forms of “participation” as a way of keeping out unions.
Please ensure you send details of your planned activities, any resources and artwork you produce for 28 April 2015. You are invited to post them directly in the 28th April Facebook group by typing Workers’ Memorial Day or clicking here: http://www.facebook.com/groups/170025585213/
You can also send them to us by email Anabella.rosemberg@ituc-csi.org
We will post all these materials in the joint ITUC/Hazards 2016 28th April website, www.28april.org
Twitter: you are also invited to post pics, posters or announcements of your activities using the hashtag
Tweet #iwmd16 (we know, it’s cryptic for the outside public, but it’s short and helps us for the twitterfeed in the website, and its 2015 equivalent [#iwmd15] proved a success, ‘trending’ at times in more than one country)
Background ITUC materials will be produced for the day. If you have concrete cases, experiences related to the theme that you would like to see in our materials, please send them as soon as possible.
Thanks again for your work and commitment!
Rory, Jawad and Anabella – the 28th April team