Category Archives: Resources

2020, 2020 Global, Events listing, graphics, News, Resources

Global: Stop the pandemic – Safety and health at work can save lives | ILO

Recognising the challenge that governments, employers, workers and whole societies are facing worldwide to combat the COVID-19 pandemic, to mark International Workers’ Memorial Day – World Day for Safety and Health at Work – the International Labour Organisation (ILO) will focus on addressing the outbreak of infectious diseases at work, focusing on the COVID-19 pandemic.

The day will focus on addressing the outbreak of infectious diseases at work, focusing on the COVID-19 pandemic. The aim is to stimulate national tripartite dialogue on safety and health at work. The ILO is using this day to raise awareness on the adoption of safe practices in workplaces and the role that occupational safety and health (OSH) services play. It will also focus on the medium to long-term, including recovery and future preparedness, in particular, integrating measures into OSH management systems and policies at the national and enterprise levels. More

2020, 2020 USA, Events listing, graphics, News, Resources

USA: AFL-CIO Workers Memorial Day Toolkit/Resources

OBSERVE WORKERS MEMORIAL DAY APRIL 28

OBSERVA EL DÍA CONMEMORATIVO DEL TRABAJADOR CAÍDO 28 DE ABRIL

The AFL-CIO has released two new resources to help workers, unions and others prepare for commemorating Workers Memorial Day, April 28 — on the day itself and the weeks before and following:

1) Our Workers Memorial Day toolkit now can be found at: http://aflcio.org/2020-wmd-toolkit. This includes talking points, information on WMD events and actions, the Trump administration’s record on COVID-19 and other S&H issues, COVID-19 facts, national and state level data and other S&H facts, a flyer on emergency infectious disease standards, sample OpEds, LTEs, advisories and event releases…

2) Digital graphics for sharing around Workers Memorial Day: go.aflcio.org/-2020-graphics

As a reminder, all of the WMD artwork and other materials for download can be found here: aflcio.org/workersmemorialday

And please encourage everyone to submit their WMD events and actions here: go.aflcio.org/wmd2020

Please continue to distribute these widely — to lift up worker safety protections against COVID-19 and other safety hazards this year as we mourn for the dead, fight for the living.

2020, Events listing, News, Resources

USA: Massachusetts Worker Memorial Day Commemoration

MassCOSH, the MA AFL-CIO, the Greater Boston Labor Council, Jobs with Justice, and Community Labor United are hosting a Virtual Workers’ Memorial Day Commemoration on April 28 at 12pm.

The bilingual event (Spanish and English) will include a special tribute to our frontline and essential workers who continue to risk their lives in the battle against the Covid-19 pandemic, including five essential workers who  passed away from Covid-19 and were likely exposed to the virus on the job. Our event will close with a call to action for stronger workplace health and safety protections so that one day we will no longer need to hold this event.

The event will be broadcast via Facebook Live from the MassCOSH Facebook page. To be notified when the livestream begins, please RSVP on Facebook. And please invite your friends, families, coworkers and comrades to join with workers across the world in honoring all who needlessly died on the job.

Resource: Covid-19 Tool Kit for Essential Workers: Health and Safety Protections and How to Make them Happen

English: https://bit.ly/workertoolkitCOVID19

Spanish: https://bit.ly/derecholaboralCOVID19

Worker Memorial Day is April 28th – RSVP here!

 

2020, 2020 Europe, Events listing, News, Resources

Europe: ETUI coronavirus podcasts – voices on the world of work

New perspectives, debates and conversations about ongoing research and education on social Europe, worker participation, health and safety, the wider labour movement and the world of work.

freely available on :

2020, 2020 Global, Events listing, graphics, News, Resources

Global: BWI Action Alert – International Workers Memorial Day ‘Protect Workers! Stop COVID-19’

The COVID-19 pandemic has changed our lives and that of the workers in our sectors, with new risks and fears not only for health and safety but for our overall wellbeing and that of our families and communities. Given that the pandemic is affecting all workers worldwide, including building and construction workers and wood and forestry workers, our work as a Global Union to be united has never been as relevant as it is today. International Workers Memorial Day (IWMD) is on Tuesday 28th of April 2020 and the BWI will campaign theme is year is “Protect Workers! Stop COVID-19” We encourage all affiliates to incorporate our theme in your respective campaigns so that your members can be part of the global campaign.

There are other serious health and safety issues continue to be important and should not be put aside this IWMD. We know that more than 100,000 construction workers die each year in preventable “accidents” on site. Forestry workers are also confronted with dangerous conditions that are notorious in the sector. Health and safety are undermined by the reliance of the forestry sector on informal and subcontracting work to boost their profits. The cement industry is also highly hazardous and accounts for hundreds of deaths in worksite accidents, and thousands of workers in the sector contract occupational diseases each year. The heavy use of outsourcing is also largely responsible for the lack of coherent management of hazards at work.

Precarious work in the sectors organised by the BWI affiliates is being paid for by workers with their health and their lives. Thus, the BWI supports IWMD campaign actions taken by affiliates on the need to prevent the loss of lives in these sectors. For example, affiliates active on our Lafarge Holcim campaign are likely to protest together on worker deaths at the company and outsourcing which is a contributing factor. Also, the BWI Youth Committee is organising its IWMD campaign under the sub theme “Life before Profit”.

The BWI also supports continued campaign actions on our longstanding Ban Asbestos campaign; meanwhile, two million tons of chrysotile asbestos is being put into the built environment every year – guaranteeing a deadly legacy for building workers and the public.

We encourage all IWMD campaign actions by affiliates to be shared with the BWI. Please send photos, statements/messages and videos to info@bwint.org

The BWI has put together seven-point 28 April 2020 action list  that affiliates can consider which we will be able to incorporate under our global campaign theme. We suggest that campaign actions are carried out between 20 to 28 April 2020.

BWI has developed posters that can be printed and shared online in various languages

2020, 2020 UK, Events listing, graphics, News, Resources

United Kingdom: 28 April social media campaigning graphics | Hazards Campaign

As a part of their International Workers’ Memorial Day 2020 call to action the Hazards Campaign has produced a series of social media graphics (below) for you to share in your networks. The Campaign wants trade unions and activists  to flood Twitter, Facebook  and  other social networks with these images and,  include the hashtags  #iwmd20, #covid19 and tagging @hazardscampaign

Sample graphics scaled for Facebook

 

Sample graphics scaled for Twitter

2020, 2020 Spain, Events listing, News, Resources

Campaña 28 Abril USO España STOP a la pandemia en el trabajo

Un año más, desde USO conmemoramos el Día Internacional de la Seguridad y la Salud en el Trabajo, denunciando que, en 2019, tenemos que lamentar y denunciar que  621 trabajadores y trabajadoras perdieron la vida en su jornada laboral o en el trayecto de ida o vuelta del trabajo en nuestro país.

Debido a la crisis sanitaria que estamos sufriendo, en la que los trabajadores y trabajadoras están en primera línea expuestos al contagio del COVID-19 en condiciones precarias y de carencia de equipos de protección, desde USO nos unimos al llamamiento de la Confederación Sindical Internacional (CSI) y dedicamos nuestra campaña del Día Internacional de la Seguridad y la Salud en el Trabajo, con el lema “STOP a la pandemia en el trabajo”  a los que están exponiéndose en sus puestos de trabajo haciendo que todo funcione y para recordar a todas las personas que han enfermado, lesionado o muerto realizando su trabajo.

Adjunto el cartel, manifiesto (páginas 1 y 2) y guía de PRL ante el COVID-19.

Recibe un cordial saludo

 

2020, 2020 UK, Events listing, News, Resources

UK: Organising through the coronavirus crisis – TUC

Here are the UK national union confederation TUC’s top organising tips. The TUC says “whether it’s saving workers’ jobs or protecting their health and safety, it’s essential we organise. Social distancing measures just mean we need to do it a little differently.”

Read the full article here.

 

2020, 2020 Europe, Events listing, News, Resources

Europe: COVID 19 i Zaštita sigurnosti i zdravlja na radu Izjava PERV Mreže za zaštitu zdravlja i sigurnosti na radu

COVID-19 prijeti zdravlju i životima radnika globalno. COVID-19 će takođe rezultirati ogromnim ekonomskim i posljedicama po zapošljavanje. Milioni preduzeća širom svijeta se suočavaju sa opasnošću da se ugase, što će imati teške posljedice po zaposlenost. To će devesti do liberalizacije zakona o radu i radničkim pravima.

Već i prije ove krize, PERV Mreža za zaštitu sigurnsoti zdravlja na radu pomenula je u svojim Memorandumima (Tirana i Baku, 2016.) da će se pogoršanje situacije sa zdravljem i sigurnosti radnika dešavati paraleleno sa promjenama oblika zapošljavanja i porastom broja nesigurnih radnih mejsta, dok se u isto vrijeme usvajaju izmjene i dopune zakona o radu u velikom broju zemalja, čime se smanjuju radnička prava; da je veliki broj radnika žrtva nezgoda i bolesti povezanih sa radom, dok broj smrtnih slučajeva ostaje visok – što uzrokuje ne samo siromaštvo i bol velikom broju porodica, već nameće visoku cijenu društvu u cjelini. Neprihvatljivo je pogoršanje situacije sa zaštitom zdravlja i sigurnosti na radu i prije krize; smatramo da su ulaganje u prevenciju i otvaranje radnih mjesta bez opasnosti ključno pitanje za sve.

Mreža za zaštitu zdravlja i sigurnosti na radu Panevropskog vijeća potcrtava kritičnu važnost socijalnog dijaloga na nacionalnom i multilataralnom nivou, gdje bi se odredile mjere za prevazilaženje ovih negativnih uticaja.

Naglašavamo, najsnažnije što možemo, važnu ulogu socijalnog dijaloga i socijalnih partnera u kontroli virusa na radnim mjestima, ali i šire, ali i u vezi sprečavanja masovnog gubitka radnih mjesta, kratkoročno i srednjoročno. Potrebna je zajednička odgovornsot za dijalog da se ojača stabilnost.

Snažni i funkcionalni zdravstveni sistemi su ključ za borbu protiv pandemije. Pozivamo vlade da iskoriste sve raspoložive resurse; hitno je potrebna podrška vladama da učinkovito koriste zdravstvene ustanove i resurse.

Covid-19 se mora pobijediti preventivnim mjerama, zajedno sa ljekarskom pomoći. Sindikati moraju raditi na podizanju svijesti, boriti se za socijalna prava radnika i pregovarati sa vladama o mjerama socijalne zaštite.

Pozivamo na političku volju potrebnu za potpunu provedbu odredbi MOR konvencija, naročito Konvencije br. 81 o inspekciji rada i Konvencije br. 155 o zaštiti sigurnosti i zdravlja na radu. Pozivamo na širu ulogu unapređenja sindikata u oblasti sigurnosti i zdravlja na radu i prevencije. Pozivamo na strogo uvođenje higijenskih mjera na svim radnim mjestima koje se zahtijevaju nacionalnim zakonima.

 

Energični sistemi različitih tipova inspekcije i provođenje zakona, putem saradnje između vlasti, poslodavaca i sindikata su ključni za održiva poboljšanja. Potencijal sindikata da unaprijede sigurnost i zdravlje na radnim mjestima treba se koristiti na svim nivoima, naročito u vrijeme smanjenja resursa i trenutne pandemije. Smatramo da je od ključne važnosti jačanje institucije tehničkih inspektora radnika, kojima sindikati mogu osigurati svoju podršku.

Smatramo da je imperativ da sindikati imaju ne samo veću ulogu u nadzoru nad pitanjima zaštite sigurnosti i zdravlja na radu, već oni moraju ojačati i svoju ulogu praćenja i pregovaranja, obrazovanja, podizanja svijesti uz pomoć odgovarajućih zakona, ako se želi ostvariti napredak.

Sindikati u regionu vide ključne greške u procjeni rizika u velikom broju preduzeća, što rezultira potcjenjivanjem opasnosti sa kojima se suočavaju radnici. Izloženost radnika tradicionalnim opasnostima, ali i novim poput psihosocijalnih rizika pandemije COVID 19, opasnih supstanci koje povećavaju broj tumora vezanih za rad i okolinske opasnosti su ogromne. Stoga pozivamo na hitno djelovanje!

Ukratko, moraju se poduzeti svi napori da se pomogne radnicima i preduzećima da se izbore sa ovom krizom, da sačuvaju radnike na njihovim radnim mjestima, da ih zaštite od nezaposlenosti i gubitka prihoda, te da se ublaži finansijsko propadanje.

PERC updates re Covid-19

2020, 2020 Europe, Events listing, News, Resources

Europe: COVID 19 and Occupational Health and Safety – PERC OHS Network statement

COVID 19 and Occupational Health and Safety – PERC OHS Network statement

COVID-19 is threatening the health and the livelihoods of workers globally. COVID-19 will also have major economic and employment impacts. Millions of companies worldwide are in danger of being forced out of business with grave impacts on employment. It will push on liberalisation of workplace legislation and workers’ rights.

Already before the crisis the PERC OHS Network had mentioned in its Memorandums (Tirana and Baku,  2016) that the deterioration of health and safety of workers ran parallel to changes in forms of employment and growth of precarious employment, while at the same time labour legislation had been amended in many countries, reducing workers’ rights; still a high number of workers had been victims of work-related accidents and diseases, while the number of fatal accidents remains also high – bringing not only misery and pain to many families but also exacting a high price for society as a whole. OHS-related cutbacks made before the crisis are unacceptable; we consider more investment in prevention and the development of hazard-free workplaces is vital for all stakeholders.

The OHS Network of the Pan European Regional Council underline the critical need for social dialogue at national and multilateral levels to design measures to overcome this impact.

We stress in the strongest terms the important role that social dialogue and social partners play in the control of the virus at the workplace and beyond, but also to avoid massive job losses in the short and medium term. Joint responsibility is needed for dialogue to foster stability.

Strong and functioning health systems are key to combatting the pandemic. We urge governments to deploy all possible resources; support to Governments in their effective use of health facilities and resources, are urgently needed

Covid-19 must be beated by prevention measures together with medical aid. Trade union should raise awareness, to fight for social rights of workers and negotiate with governments on social protection measures.

We call for the political will to fully implement the articles of the ILO Conventions, namely Labour Inspection Convention No 81 and Occupational Safety and Health Convention No 155. We call for broader promotional role of trade unions in the area of safety and health of workers and prevention. We call for strict introduction of hygiene measures requested by national legislation at all workplaces.

Vigorous systems of different types of inspection and enforcement of legislation through the cooperation of authorities, employers and trade unions are crucial to any sustainable improvement. The potential for trade unions to promote workplace health and safety should be used at all levels, especially in times of shrinking resources and pandemic situation. We consider the strengthening of the institution of workers technical inspectors, to whom trade unions provide wide support, to be of key importance.

We consider it imperative that trade unions not only play a greater role as supervisors on OSH matters, but must also strengthen their monitoring and bargaining, educational and raising awareness role through appropriate legislation if progress is to be achieved.

Trade unions in the region see critical failures in risk assessment at many companies which lead to underestimating of hazards the workers are facing to. The exposure of workers to traditional hazards but also to new ones like COVID 19 pandemic psychosocial risks, dangerous substances with effects of work-related cancers and environmental hazards is enormous. Therefore, we call for action!

In short, all efforts need to be undertaken to help workers and companies to go through the crisis, to keep workers in their jobs, to protect from unemployment and loss of income, and to alleviate financial devastation.

PERC updates re Covid-19