Tag Archives: pandemic

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 28thRSVP here!

 

USA: Protecting black workers in the time of Covid-19

To remember and raise just demands for workplace safety and health and freedom from all forms of discrimination, the Mississippi Workers’ Center for Human Rights invites you to attend their Webinar: Dark Work—Devalued and Unprotected: Protecting Black Workers in the Time of Covid-19, Wednesday April 29th 6pm CST/7pm EST.  Read their message below.

Dear Friends, Partners and Allies:

For the past 20 years, on or around April 28th (Workers’ Memorial Day), the Mississippi Workers’ Center for Human Rights, has held its Annual Workers’ Memorial Day Rally (WMD) to honor Workers who lost their lives, while trying to make a living. As Black “essential”  Workers continue to die at beyond alarming, disproportionate rates in the time of Covid-19, during this year’s memorials we must remember them and in their names, we must fight harder for all those forced to risk their lives to feed and house their families.   To remember and raise just demands for workplace safety and health and freedom from all forms of discrimination, we invite you to attend our Webinar: Dark Work—Devalued and Unprotected: Protecting Black Workers in the Time of Covid-19, Wednesday April 29th 6pm CST/7pm EST.

CLICK HERE TO REGISTER

Our program is part of a weeklong series of WMD events. Hear the stories of Black Workers, who are forced to work in life-threatening conditions with little or no protection. Hear from advocates and organizers who are standing in solidarity with them and their families.

Support WMD Week, April 25-May 2, 2020

I have attached two promotional flyers to this email (Flyer 1 and Flyer 2)

“No one should have to die to make a living”

Participating Organizations:

Mississippi Workers’ Center for Human Rights
Resist the Rona
National Employment Law Project
Concerned Citizens for Justice
National Domestic Workers Alliance
Black Alliance for Just Immigration
LA Black Worker Center
Southern Human Rights Organizers’  Conference (SHROC)
Stand With Dignity of the New Orleans Workers Center for Racial Justice

Stand Up KC

Featuring stories from the frontlines!

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.

Mauritius: Government urged to take measures to protect workers from Covid 19 risk | SEF/GSEA

The General President of the Mauritius government employees’ union SEF/GSEA, Radhakrisna Sadien, has written an open letter to the Mauritius Prime Minister urging the government to take appropriate measures to protect workers and their families with a view to prevent its propagation in the Republic of Mauritius.

Read the letter18 April update on Covid 19 in Mauritius 

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

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

 

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

Europe: Statement from ITUC’s Pan European Regional Council (OHS Network)

Dear colleagues, dear members of the PERC OHS Network,

We believe that all of you, as well as your countries face with the Covid-19 pandemic, and that your governments adopt appropriate measures aimed at protection of population and citizens, but also the response measures aimed at salvation of jobs and economic in your countries.

Given that all of your are affiliates of PERC OHS Network, it would be good if you could monitor the measures of your governments and, if possible, draft a brief review of the situation in this area, and submit it to us by e-mail. Considering that it cannot be predicted for how long this situation would continue, we shall try in the forthcoming period to organize an online meeting  (by way of some platforms) to talk about these matters. I have also though this could be a complicated, but I do have regular meetings this way with my colleagues from Brussels, and even some bigger meetings were organized this way. I can tell you that this form of communication in given circumstances is extremely relevant and necessary.

I hereby enclose the translation to BSCM language of the ITUC document “Workers’ Memorial Day – Stop Pandemic at Work”, in reference to the 28th April – International Workers’ Memorial Day or Workers’ Mourning Day of remembrance and actions for workers killed, disabled, injured or made unwell by their work. The link to the original text in English language is: https://www.ituc-csi.org/28April2020

We hope that you will use this document to mark the 28th April this year, although in these specific conditions.

To all Network members on OHS: We are also sending you attached the Draft PERC OHS Networks’ Statement on COVID –  for consultation with you about the final text.

We wish you a good health and in solidarity,

PERC updates re Covid-19

The Netherlands: FNV on International Workers’ Memorial Day

In response to the International Trade Union Confederation’s (ITUC) call to share plans and activities on Workers Memorial Day,  Dutch trade union federation Federatie Nederlandse Vakbeweging (FNV) has announced the creation of a dedicated 28 April webpage.

www.fnv.nl

UK: Hazards Campaign call to action

As normal public events for 28 April won’t be possible because of measures to contain coronavirus/Covid-19, the UK’s national Hazards Campaign has published its own 10-point plan for mostly virtual action. The national campaign says marking International Workers’ Memorial Day has never been more important.

“Some workplace events may still go ahead but we are taking #iwmd20 online, developing a social media campaign that we want everyone to join in,” The campaign says. “This will keep the day and its perennial aims on the public and political agenda with the slogan to ‘Remember the Dead and Fight for the Living’.

This year’s international theme has been changed by the global union confederation ITUC to ‘Stop the pandemic at work’.” The campaign’s 10-point plan includes displaying a series of print-off-or-order posters and other graphics in your window, posting selfies with the hashtag #iwmd20 and telling the campaign what you are doing and where.

The Hazards Campaign poster message is: “Whether the threat at work is another new virus, dangerous substances or heartbreaking demands, your life should not be on the line. Unions can make it better.” Tag lines for the union-led event, which has become the world’s biggest health and safety campaign day, include ‘Unions – Fighting for your life’.

The campaign is also supporting the ITUC’s call for people to light a candle (safely) in their window on the evening of 28 April.

Hazards Campaign 28 April call to action. Campaign materials can be downloaded for free, printed off, used online and in social media campaigns, as can a series of Hazards Campaign display boards.
TUC 28 April 2020 news and resources webpage.
Global action and resources: ITUC/Hazards 28 April website.