MASZSZ (Hungarian Trade Union Confederation) action for International Workers’ Memorial Day
April 25, Budapest – Conference on the role and function of workers safety representatives. Authorities, employers, unions together for better prevention and OSH management. Lighting the candle commemorating the victims of work accidents.
April 26, Budapest – Laying wreath at the Memorial of workers victims of work accidents. This year 79 pairs of protective boots with candles will commemorate the 97 colleagues died at work in 2017.
Media interviews, articles for awareness raising in public (based on information sheet and infographics on OSH, workers safety reps situation).
We will mark this year’s Workers’ Memorial Day in the Philippines together with Hanjin shipyard workers. On April 28, a candle lighting program will be held in a workers’ community in Zambales located near the Hanjin shipyard to remember the workers who died due to work.
We will post photos in our social media accounts on the actual day of the WMD activity.
Thank you! Warm regards, IOHSAD Team in the Philippines
WORKERS’ MEMORIAL DAY (Philippines)
We remember, organize and fight for safe workplaces!
On April 28, Filipino workers will commemorate Workers’ Memorial Day by amplifying their call for safe workplaces and the enactment of a pro-worker occupational safety and health (OSH) bill. For the first time, IOHSAD, a workplace safety NGO will hold its WMD activity together with Hanjin shipyard workers in Zambales.
WE REMEMBER.
We remember the more than 40 Hanjin shipyard workers who have died due to work since 2006. They were victims of grave violations of OSH standards committed by Hanjin and its neglect of workers’ safety. On April 28, we remember their names and pledge to fight for safe workplaces for all workers.
WE FIGHT.
Countless workers all over the country confront various workplace hazards that put their lives at risk. On April 28, we demand for the immediate passage of a pro-worker occupational safety and health (OSH) bill that will help prevent workplace accidents and deaths. We reiterate our call for an OSH Bill that pushes for the criminalization of OSH standards violations and government’s mandatory inspection of all types of workplaces in the country.
WE UNIONIZE.
We will unionize and consolidate our organizations to fight for our right to safe workplaces! Unions serve as the workers’ most reliable shields against employers who disregard workers’ safety and put workers’ lives in constant danger at work. On April 28, we will pledge to build strong and militant unions to fight for our occupational safety and health rights.
Safe Workplaces Now!
Criminalize OSH Violations!
Pass a Pro-Workers Occupational Safety and Health Bill NOW!
Institute for Occupational Health and Safety Development 406 Ramagi Building, 1081 Pedro Gil Avenue Paco 1007, Manila, Philippines + 63 2 521 1216
Web: http://www.iohsad.org/
In response to this International Workers’ Memorial Day, Local Initiative for OSH Network (LION) together with the union conducted an agenda in several cities in Indonesia.
In Jakarta, together with the Federation of Indonesian People’s unions (F-SERBUK), Federation of Transportation and Ports Union(F-SBTPI) and other union federations that joined the Confederation of Indonesian Labor Union (KPBI), and victim organizations (OSH survivor forum), will conduct rallies and art performances, which will take place in the Landmark Jakarta to the office of the ministry of state-owned enterprises;
In this momentum, the issues that are encouraged are:
In response to the rampant workplace accidents in Indonesia that cause workers to die and injury, especially in the construction sector where the Indonesian government is actively undertaking infrastructure development such as toll roads, ports and airports. by 2017, there were 3,173 workers who died at work, higher than in the previous year ie in 2016, 2,383 workers, and in 2015 as many as 2375 workers.
The absence of strict policies against the use of hazardous toxic materials in the workplace such as asbestos and other chemicals so many workers, currently exposed to occupational diseases. poor diagnosis and lack of adequate health facilities for workers, leaving sick workers unidentified as occupational diseases.
as another key issue, OSH issues in Indonesia lead to lack of policy and weak government role, so in this action, we also encourage to revise the OSH law which is now considered expired.
IWMD activities will also be conducted in the Bekasi city, the largest industrial area in Indonesia. LION together with the union KEP-SPSI took action to commemorate the 27 workers who died in accidents in PT Mandom Bekasi in 2015. the participants of the action do sow flowers, pray and strike to remind workers and labour unions in the industrial area in Bekasi for struggling together to build decent working conditions and pressuring the government to change policies on OSH and punish offenders with criminal penalties. and in the same series, in Bekasi will also conduct the photo and poster exhibitions about OSH and discussions on health and safety policy advocacy in Indonesia.
On 28 April, International Commemoration Day for Dead and Injured Workers, trade union events around the world will underline the vital role that unions play in protecting workers from work-related accidents and disease. More than 2.5 million workers lost their lives to workplace injuries and illness in 2017, with many more deaths going unrecorded.
“Worldwide, poor working conditions kill a worker every 11 seconds. All these deaths are avoidable, yet the body count is increasing. Unions, and laws which are effective and enforced, provide vital protection to workers, and with labour laws being weakened and workers’ right to organise being undermined in every region of the world, it is little surprise that the death toll is so high. That is why global unions are launching a reinvigorated and urgent organising campaign to demand safety, justice and accountability,” said ITUC General Secretary Sharan Burrow.
This year, unions will also be focusing on the scourge of occupational cancer, which is responsible for a large proportion of the 2.4 million deaths due to occupational disease annually. More than 10 per cent of cancer cases are a result of workplace exposure to hazards.
“Cancer caused by work is a major killer, and where workers are not allowed to organise and governments fail to regulate effectively and ensure compliance, the risks skyrocket. There are too many examples like the case of Samsung in Korea, which has used ‘trade secrets’ as a way to hide the toxicity of chemicals which production line workers have to use,” said Burrow.
The union movement is also calling for occupational health and safety to be recognised as one of the Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work of the International Labour Organization, alongside existing fundamental standards on forced labour, child labour, discrimination at work and freedom of association and the right to collectively bargain.
28th April is the annual day of remembrance and action for workers killed, disabled and injured by their work. It serves as a timely reminder to workers across the world that they are not alone, that others have suffered at work and have been engaged in a long struggle to improve conditions in the workplace. It is also a time to reflect on how far we still have to go and the steps we must take to protect the lives of future generations of workers.
This year the ETUC is focussing on how ‘Unions make workplaces safer’. The best way to secure the health, safety and wellbeing of all workers is for every workplace to have a dedicated workers’ health and safety committee backed by fully-trained and fully-engaged safety representatives appointed by independent trade unions.
The need for more trade union safety reps is highlighted by the fact that in the EU, more than 3,700 workers die in occupational accidents each year and there are more than 200,000 deaths as a consequence of work-related diseases.[1] Behind each of these statistics is a life cut short, a family bereaved.
Making all EU workplaces safe demands that workers be informed, consulted and allowed to take part in discussions on all questions relating to occupational health and safety. But we know that where worker involvement happens in non-unionised workplaces, it is much more likely to follow the employers’ agenda, whereas unionised safety representatives are more likely to be empowered to set the safety agenda and challenge employers when they put workers at risk for whatever reason.[2]
Union safety representatives know the workplace realities. They are better informed and more aware of what really goes on at a day-to-day basis and they identify risks long before management. There have been many examples of this, from highlighting risks of dangerous substances, concerns about stress, violence and harassment in the workplace, RSI, and the effects of passive smoking. Union safety reps can also function as a channel for individual workers to raise their concerns. Not only do workers become more aware of safety issues but the presence of union safety reps also gives workers confidence to speak up and raise health and safety concerns.
Yet, this critical role that we play continues to be overlooked by both policymakers and employers. It’s clear we need more tools at our disposal to make workplaces as safe as they can possibly be. On the occasion of International Workers Memorial Day 2018, the ETUC stresses that unions – and union safety representatives – really do make workplaces safer. And we call on EU to improve the recognition rights that trade union safety representatives are entitled to and to renew the commitment to genuinely empower them to act decisively in all workplaces.
Today we remember those killed by work and rededicate ourselves to fight for safer workplaces.
National Workers’ Memorial Day in KENYA started on 26 April in Kenya, with a conference on the theme ‘’ improving the safety and health at work: Do you know your role?’’ The event was opened by the Principle Secretary of Ministry of Labour and Social Protection Dr K. Kassachoon, CBS. Trade unions, the employers’ federation, the Ministry of Labour, Educational Institution and private sector organisations attended.
One 28 April, 2018 national union federation COTU has organised a procession in Machakos Country. It will be followed by a gathering at a technological development center in Athi River, Machakos County where awards will be given to oganisations encouraging more institutions to observe occupations safety and health standards in workplaces.
COTU reports that the numbers participating in a competition showcasing good workplace practices is higher than in 2017.
Rebecca Okello Abongo Office of the Secretary General Central Organisation of Trade Unions, (KENYA) Website: www.cotu-kenya.org Email: info@cotu-kenya.org
On 25 April, union federation UATUC and its occupational health and safety coordinating group organised a public debate on the theme ‘Organized Workplaces are Safer Workplaces’ in a fertilizer factory Petrokemija, based in Kutina, Croatia.Petrokemija factory was chosen as a host of the debate as a positve example of implementation of occupational safety and health measures, and also as there is a special collective agreement signed there related to occupational health and safety issues.
The panelists included UATUC President Mladen Novosel, members of UATUC OSH Coordination, Petrokemija CEO Đuro Popijač, senior advisor of the Ministry of Labour and Pension System Branimir Mutnjaković, and Vitomir Begović, director of OSH improvement Institute. We shared the experience and best practices in OSH – by OSH reps coordinator, OSH Deparment director, OSH specialist and EKN Trade Union chief shop steward: Zdravko Mašala, Tomislav Cesar, Mario Klaus and Davor Rakić. A visit to factory plants was also organized.
The Federation of Trade Unions of Macedonia regarding the International Day for Occupational Health and Safety at Work shall organise a Conference on the topic: “Promoting OHS activities”, which will be held on April 27, 2018, (Friday), in the premises of CCM, starting at 11 am.
The Conference shall be attended by representatives of the social partners, the Ministry of Labor and Social Policy, the State Labor Inspectorate, representatives of employers’ organizations, trade unions, as well as relevant international and domestic organizations and institutions that target the issues of safety and health at work in the Republic of Macedonia.
Also, on this Conference, the activities of the Federation of Trade Unions of Macedonia in the direction of providing health and safe working conditions shall be presented, as well as the activities of trade unions affiliated in CCM.
Unions Christchurch and BWI affiliates E tū and FIRST Union will commemorate International Workers’ Memorial Day on 28 April. FIRST will write privately to the Labour Minister raising concerns about forestry safety. The union wants to ensure planned ‘fair pay agreements’ for forestry have a strong focus on occupational health and safety. Union events are planned for Napier on 27 April and Christchurch , Otago (Dunedin), West Coast (Blackball) and Manawatu (Palmerston North) on 28 April.
MASZSZ (Hungarian Trade Union Confederation) action for International Workers’ Memorial Day
April 25, Budapest – Conference on the role and function of workers safety representatives. Authorities, employers, unions together for better prevention and OSH management. Lighting the candle commemorating the victims of work accidents.
