Wales TUC Workers’ Memorial Day message on YouTube
The TUC is going to start listing events for the 28 April 2018 Workers’ Memorial Day. The theme is “Unionised workplaces are safer workplaces.” The national union body is urging organisation to send details of all local, regional or national events to be included on the online listing. According to the TUC: “As Workers’ Memorial Day is on a Saturday this year it may be that some workplaces will aim to have the two-minutes’ silence or other event on Friday 27 April. However other events should still be scheduled for 28 April.”
TUC 28 April 2018 webpages. Email details of events to the TUC health and safety office. Risks 833. 20 January 2018
This year’s International Workers Memorial Day will focus on inequalities in occupational health and the role unions play in narrowing the inequalities gap.
The TUC says this theme for the world’s largest health and safety campaign, held on 28 April each year, will allow unions to raise discrimination based on gender, race, origins and class, which have all been linked to higher rates of occupational disease and injury.
It also allows unions to emphasis the unacceptable risks facing workers in the ‘gig’ economy, where the combination of poor conditions and job fear can amplify risks.
International Workers’ Memorial Day – TUC and ITUC/Hazards 28 April webpages. The main twitter hashtag will be #iwmd17
Date and time of event:
Thu 28 Apr 2016 – 11:00 to 12:30
Venue and town/city: Cardiff
Costs: Free
About this event:
Every year more people are killed at work than in wars. Most don’t die of mystery ailments, or in tragic “accidents”. They die because an employer decided their safety just wasn’t that important a priority. Workers’ Memorial Day (WMD) commemorates those workers.
Workers’ Memorial Day is held on 28 April every year, all over the world workers and their representatives conduct events, demonstrations, vigils and a whole host of other activities to mark the day.
The day is also intended to serve as a rallying cry to “remember the dead, but fight for the living”.
In 2016 the theme for the day is “Strong Laws – Strong enforcement – Strong Unions” because across the world we are seeing growing attacks on health and safety protection, including in Britain where the Government have removed protection form millions of self-employed workers, and across Europe where the European Commission are pursuing a dangerous de-regulatory strategy. However strong laws are not enough if they are not going to be enforced. That is why we need proper inspections and enforcement action against those who break the laws. Here in the UK the number of inspections has fallen dramatically in the past five years, however in many other countries enforcement has always been non-existent. That is why we also need strong unions. Unionised workplaces are safer, yet the Government is trying to stop unions protecting the health and safety of their members by restricting the right of health and safety representatives to take time off to keep the workplace safer, and also trying to reduce our right to strike when things go wrong.
Information about the venue:
The event will be held at 1 Cathedral Rd, Cardiff at 11 am until 12.30. A small buffet will be provided.
Contact for further information:
UK national trade union federation TUC has published a regularly updated listing of Workers’ Memorial Day events across Wales, England, Scotland and Northern Ireland.
Over 20,000 people die in the UK every year because of their work. Most of these because of exposure to dangerous substances. This year the theme for the day is “removing exposure to hazardous substances in the workplace“ Hazardous substances are found in almost every workplace in the UK and many workers have no protection against the possible effects, despite the fact that tens of thousands of workers have their health destroyed by asthma, dermatitis, lung disorders and cancers because of exposures. They range from cleaning fluids in almost every workplace, silica dust in construction, tobacco smoke in prisons right through to blood and faeces in health and social care.
In addition to hazardous substances many unions and trades councils will be campaigning on the general theme of demanding better regulation, greater inspections and an end to the anti-health and safety rhetoric from the government and their allies in the press.
https://www.tuc.org.uk/WMD2015