Victorian Trades Hall Council is marking International Workers’ Memorial Day with a ceremony in Victoria – sign up details can be found on their IWMD webpages
Canada: CCOHS activities and resources for 28 April
Marked annually in Canada on April 28, the National Day of Mourning is dedicated to remembering those who have lost their lives, or suffered injury or illness on the job or due to a work-related tragedy.
hashtagDayOfMourning
Observance
How to support
Beyond the statistics
History
In 1991, eight years after the day of remembrance was launched by the Canadian Labour Congress, the Parliament of Canada passed the Workers Mourning Day Act making April 28 an official Day of Mourning. Today the Day of Mourning has since spread to more than 100 countries around the world and is recognized as Workers’ Memorial Day, and as International Workers’ Memorial Day by the International Labour Organisation (ILO) and the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC).
It is the hope of CCOHS that the annual observance of this day will help strengthen the resolve to establish safe and healthy conditions in the workplace, and prevent further injuries, illnesses, and deaths. As much as this is a day to remember the dead, it is also a call to protect the living and make work a place where people can thrive.
Source: Fatalities, by Age and Jurisdiction 2019, Association of Workers’ Compensation Boards of Canada (AWCBC),National Work Injury/Disease Statistics Program (NWISP)
Source: Lost Time Claims, by Age and Jurisdiction, 2019, Association of Workers’ Compensation Boards of Canada (AWCBC),National Work Injury/Disease Statistics Program (NWISP)
For further statistical information visit the AWCBC National Work Injuries Statistics Program.
APR
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Show your commitment on social media
Show your commitment by sharing the following messages on your social media channels.
Day of Mourning postcard with ducks
Pause. Reflect. Remember.
At 11 a.m., I will honour workers who have died, were injured, or became ill from their job.
Day of Mourning postcard with dandelions and seeds
Pause. Reflect. Remember. Renew.
At 11 a.m., we will honour workers who have died, were injured, or became ill from their job, and will renew our commitment to health and safety in the workplace.
Day of Mourning postcard with candles
We remember workers who have died, were injured, or became ill from their job. We commit to protecting workers and preventing further workplace tragedies.
Day of Mourning postcard with worker wearing a mask
We honour the workers who have risked their health and safety to serve others, especially during these uncertain times.
Canada: CLC-CTC – Day of Mourning Ceremonies 2021
Canadian national trade union body CLC-CTC has published a comprehensive nationwide listing of activities planned to mark International Workers’ Memorial Day. More
Spain: UGT y CCOO reclaman la plena integración de la salud laboral en la salud pública
28 de abril: la salud y la seguridad, un derecho fundamental en el trabajo
Como cada año, UGT y CCOO recuerdan el 28 de abril, Día Internacional de la Salud y la Seguridad en el Trabajo, a los trabajadores y trabajadoras que han sufrido las consecuencias de los accidentes y enfermedades laborales y seguirán denunciando las precarias condiciones de trabajo que están en el origen de esta lacra social.
El 28 de abril es la fecha que eligió el movimiento sindical para recordar a las compañeras y compañeros que perdieron la salud y la vida en accidentes de trabajo o por enfermedades de origen laboral, y para denunciar las precarias condiciones de trabajo que están en el origen de estos daños.
Por este motivo, ambas organizaciones han elaborado un manifiesto en el que se hace balance de un año de pandemia de COVIC-19 y de sus efectos en la seguridad y la salud en el trabajo. Un año en el que se ha puesto de manifiesto de manera dramática la contradicción entre la salud y la vida y las presiones para mantener la actividad económica mucho más allá de lo que aconsejaban los expertos en salud pública.
Han sido las plantillas de los sectores ya conocidos como esenciales quienes han sufrido los estragos del virus de manera más directa y en muchas ocasiones sin el debido reconocimiento por parte de las autoridades. Recientemente se ha asimilado la COVID-19 a enfermedad profesional en el caso de los trabajadores sanitarios y sociosanitarios, en lugar de un accidente laboral, como se venía haciendo hasta el momento. Para CCOO y UGT esta medida es insuficiente, y exigimos que la COVID-19 se incluya en el listado español de enfermedades profesionales, extendiendo esta cobertura a un mayor número de profesiones expuestas al riesgo y sin limitación temporal.
2021 debe ser también el año que marque el inicio del fin del problema del cáncer de origen laboral. La falta de reconocimiento de los cánceres de origen laboral está privando a las personas afectadas de las prestaciones derivadas de la contingencia profesional. CCOO y UGT seguirán presionando para que las modificaciones de la Directiva Europea sobre protección frente a la exposición a cancerígenos y mutágenos sean traspuestas en tiempo y garantizando la máxima protección de la salud de los trabajadores. Asimismo, debería ser el año de la derogación de la reforma laboral, porque la precariedad mata. La precariedad laboral y la mercantilización de la prevención hacen que esta lacra siga presente.
La precariedad mata, por un trabajo decente
UGT y CCOO reclaman la plena integración de la salud laboral en la salud pública, con mayor convencimiento desde la experiencia de la pandemia, lo que exige una mayor coordinación entre los departamentos de sanidad y de trabajo tanto en la Administración General del Estado, como en las CCAA. E insisten en la necesidad de dotar de mayores recursos tanto a la Inspección de Trabajo y Seguridad Social como al Instituto Nacional de Seguridad y Salud en el Trabajo y los institutos regionales.
Porque el trabajo debe ser decente, digno y de calidad, libre de riesgo. Nadie debería tener que elegir entre trabajo y salud.
Ireland: For 28 April ICTU adopts the slogan ‘Workplace health and safety – it’s your right’
Workers’ Memorial Day 2021
Congress has taken the lead for many years in marking International Workers’ Memorial Day (IWMD) which is on April 28th. The day aims to:
- Commemorate all those who have been killed, injured, or made ill at work
- Recommit to safer workplaces
For 2021, Congress has adopted the European Trade Union Confederation slogan for IWMD: ‘Workplace health & safety – it’s your right’.
With Covid-19 restrictions continuing, the Health & Safety Committee has organised a number of online elements to occur on the lead-up to the day, and for an online broadcast at noon on April 28th. This broadcast, via the Congress website and social media, will include a wreath-laying at the Garden of Remembrance, an emotional poem about loss recited by front-line healthcare workers, and a message from Dr Mike Ryan of WHO.
A key part of our actions is to have a coordinated social media campaign commencing next Sunday, 25th April. Facebook Frames and Twibbons (overlays that can be used on social media profile pictures) are available at the following links:
We are asking all unions and partner organisations (DETE, HSA, Ibec, CIF) to activate these overlays from Sunday 25th April on social media accounts (Twitter/Facebook) and also to encourage members, companies and other organisations to adopt them. It is very simple to activate these, and we are hoping to build some momentum so that there are a significant number of social media accounts using the images by and on April 28th.
The online event at noon on 28th April will include a pause for reflection and we encourage all workplaces to hold a Minute’s Silence (including those working remotely) to remember those who have died or become ill.
Workers’ Memorial Day represents an opportunity to remember those we have lost, and to celebrate the contribution of those who continue to work to make us all safer. We ask all to support these efforts over the next few days, including using your own tweets and Facebook and other social media postings, using the hashtags
#IWMD21 and
#workersmemorialday
ICTU is organising an online ceremony which will include a contribution from Dr Mike Ryan of WHO, Executive Director of the World Health Organisation’s Health Emergencies Programme. ICTU will stream this meeting from www.ictu.ie at noon (Irish time) on April 28th.
ICTU has also designed some Facebook Frames and Twitter Twibbons and is encouraging its unions and supporters to use them on their social media accounts from 25 April. It is happy for others to use these resources.
Canada: 28 April is again taking place in the shadow of Covid-19
Day of Mourning is coming up on April 28 and, for the second year in a row, it will take place in the shadow of the COVID-19 pandemic. #bclab #canlab https://t.co/d7tjNGt9xh
— MoveUP (@MoveUPTogether) April 19, 2021
Latin America: 2.7 million preventable deaths
2,7 million people died out of work injuries. Those deaths are preventable. It is about labour rights, protection equipment, also about equality for black people. #SaveLivesAtWork is a union demand. We mobilize on April 28th, said @Owen4ituc from @ituc. #PreCongressWorkshopsTUCA pic.twitter.com/cxhSChuFBM
— CSA-TUCA (@CSA_TUCA) April 13, 2021
USA: Manifestación nacional de la Semana Conmemorativa de lxs Trabajadorxs – COSH Nacional
COSH Nacional lanzará las actividades de la Semana Conmemorativa de lxs Trabajadorxs con una manifestación virtual para destacar el activismo de salud y seguridad en todo el país y recordar a lxs trabajadorxs que han resultado heridxs o muertxs en el trabajo. Este evento participativo destacará a familias sobrevivientes, trabajadorxs y activistas que se organizan para detener esta pérdida tan masiva y evitable. Únase a nosotros para participar en esta lucha: traiga el nombre de unx trabajadorx que desea que se recuerde o alguien por quien lucha hoy, un marcador grueso y una hoja de papel. Se invita a la prensa a formar parte del evento.
27 de abril de 2021 | 2:00-3:30 PM ET/ 1:00-2:30 PM CT / 11:00-12:30 AM PT | Duración: 90 minutos
USA: US Workers’ Memorial Week national speak out – National COSH
National COSH will kick off Workers’ Memorial Week activities with a virtual Speak Out to spotlight health and safety activism around the country and to remember workers who have been injured or killed on the job. This participatory event will highlight surviving families, workers, and activists organizing to stop this massive and preventable loss. Join us to be engaged in this fight: bring the name of a worker you want to be remembered or someone you fight for today, a thick marker, and a piece of paper. Press are invited to be part of the event.
April 27, 2021 | 2:00-3:30 PM ET/ 1:00-2:30 PM CT / 11:00-12:30 AM PT | 90 minutes
