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At the recent United Steelworkers Health, Safety and Environment Conference there were very few dry eyes when they remembered those who never made it home from work since the last conference.
Watch the video memorial showing a list of bargaining unit members, supervisors, and contractors killed in USW workplaces from August 23, 2019 to April 11, 2023.
May they rest in peace, power, and solidarity.
28 April: Did you know you can help honor workers who have lost their lives or been injured on the job?
Did You Know?
In the days leading up to Workers Memorial Day (April 28), family members, workers, labor unions, and advocates will gather in Washington, D.C., and communities across the country to honor and remember our fallen and injured workers. To participate, you can join the April 27 Department of Labor ceremony online, find or share local events, or submit a photo of a loved one to add to our Workers Memorial Wall.
¿Sabías?
En los días previos al Día de Conmemoración de los Trabajadores (28 de abril), familiares, trabajadores, sindicatos y defensores se reunirán en Washington, D.C., y en comunidades de todo el país para honrar y recordar a nuestros trabajadores caídos y heridos. Para participar, puede unirse a la ceremonia del 27 de abril del Departamento de Trabajo en línea, encontrar o compartir eventos locales, o enviar una foto de un ser querido para añadirla a nuestro Muro Conmemorativo de los Trabajadores
OSHA Workers’ Memorial Day page
AFL-CIO, the US national union federation, says its Workers’ Memorial Day toolkit is now available! You can find state by state safety and health facts, talking points, sample event advisories and press releases and some informational fliers on occupational heat exposure and workplace violence in HC/SS. Please feel free to send us feedback on how you’re using it and what else would be helpful in future years. Direct link is here.
aflcio.org/workersmemorialday.
AFL-CIO’s Workers Memorial Day web page is live! – and available for you to order materials and download artwork to use for your events, trainings, conferences, newsletters, and more. aflcio.org/WorkersMemorialDay
Each year since 1989, we commemorate this day to honor those we have lost on the job and we will organize to make the fundamental right of a safe job a reality for all workers. This year’s theme is “Organize! Safe Jobs Now.” focusing on dignity at work, the growth of the labor movement and equity through safe workplaces.
Please join us this April 28 to honor the victims of workplace injury and illness and the call to organize safe jobs for all workers. As we do every year, trade unionists around the country and globe will organize our communities and workplaces to observe Workers Memorial Day. We will highlight the toll of job injuries and deaths; demand that elected officials put workers’ well-being above corporate interests; and demand safe jobs for all. This year, and every year, the labor movement will defend the right of every worker to a safe job and build collective power to make that right a reality.
We can’t do this alone, and together, we need to organize all workers in this fight for safer working conditions. We are building campaigns leading up to the end of April and throughout the year to mourn and fight.
Please use the resources below when planning for this year’s Workers Memorial Day and reach out to us with any questions, concerns, comments along the way.
Materials and Artwork:
Please visit this page to view and download this year’s materials and artwork. These include posters, stickers, and fliers in English and Spanish. Stickers are available for “Organize! Safe Jobs Now” and for “Mourn for the Dead. Fight for the Living.”
Please place your order for materials here. You can either pick up materials in person at our Washington DC headquarters or have them shipped to you.
Workers Memorial Day Events:
We want to hear about your Workers Memorial Day plans! Please share your event with us so that we can include it on our map of events across the country. Plan events, actions, activities and observances with suggestions in our flier.
Toolkit Coming Soon:
We are working expediently to distribute more materials to help you plan your commemorations and advocacy efforts. These include talking points, sample materials for media outreach, worker safety and health facts, state-by-state safety and health data, fact sheets, digital resources, infographics and more.
How to reach out to us about Workers Memorial Day:
oshmail@aflcio.org or 202-637-5047
Hashtags you can use to build solidarity online around Workers Memorial Day:
#iwmd2023 #WorkersMemorialDay #1uSafety
Please note: Our annual report, Death on the Job: The Toll of Neglect, will be published at the end of April. You can place orders now for a hard copy of the report, and it will be shipped later. It will also be available electronically.
Come organize with us!
In April, we will say their names.
The names of the mothers and fathers, sisters and brothers, sons and daughters who are killed each year in U.S. workplaces. Sadly, we can’t say all of them because there are too many.
At least 5,000 U.S. workers die each year from acute workplace trauma, like drowning in a trench or falling from a height. And nearly 100,000 more die from long-term exposure to highly hazardous working conditions, like repeated exposure to toxic chemicals.
We all know that behind the devastating statistics about worker deaths are real people who leave behind grieving families and shattered co-workers. Their lives will be honored with vigils, rallies, memorial services and other events during Workers’ Memorial Week this year from April 23 through April 30th.
When we say the names of workers who can and should have gone home safely, we want to make sure we are heard loud and clear. By families who deserve better. By workers who can join together to improve their workplaces. By opinion leaders and policymakers who can make a difference.
In solidarity,
Jessica E. Martinez and Marcy Goldstein-Gelb
Co-executive directors, National COSH