ITF President Paddy Crumlin’s video message on #WorkersMemorialDay
In their memory we will build a safer, better and more peaceful world.
ITF President Paddy Crumlin’s message on #WorkersMemorialDay pic.twitter.com/EqkXO1ZTAU
— International Transport Workers’ Federation (ITF) (@ITFglobalunion) April 28, 2024
Unions remember workers lost to negligent employers and safety standards
Today, the 28th of April, marks International Workers’ Memorial Day, when trade unions around the world remember and mourn the loss of the colleagues, friends and family who never came home from work.
Most of these tragedies were preventable. Yet the negligence of employers and a lack of adequate occupational safety and health standards continue to kill and injure transport workers across the world.
In the past year, many transport workers have lost their lives in the workplace and millions more have suffered life-changing injuries and ill health, including:
That’s why we fight to ensure workers’ have a seat at the table in setting occupational standards for safety and health in every transport sector.
International Workers’ Memorial Day is a day to mourn all the workers who have needlessly lost their lives to negligent employers. And it reminds us to organise so it doesn’t happen again.
We’re taking action today to honour the memories of colleagues and friends. Read on to see how you can take part.
In June 2022, unions secured the landmark decision from the International Labour Organization (ILO) to include ‘a safe and healthy working environment’ in its framework of fundamental principles and rights at work.
But words need action. This year, the ITF has outlined safety and health as the first priority in our annual report, and committed to keep working to put this right into practice.
These examples show our 2023 plans to be on front line of pushing for better health and safety standards:
Transport workers practise acts of health and safety with every shift, and often go far beyond. From the heroic tug crew Todd Dutton and Shaun Kirkpatrick who saved the life of a 14 year old girl from the torrents of the Fraser River, to the thousands of transport workers who support relief efforts of natural disasters, like the devastating earthquakes that hit Türkiye and Syria in February, and war zones from Palestine and Sudan to Ukraine and Yemen.
We look out for workmates in hazardous areas, spot each other when loading cargo, remind each other to ‘bend at the knees’, and are there for each other when the strain of the job is just too much for our body or mind.
Protecting workers’ lives, preventing injuries and demanding safe workplaces has always been at the heart of our movement – and always will.
We will keep fighting for safe and healthy workplaces – whether it’s securing freedom for abandoned seafarers, drawing up more safety agreements with airport operators, or campaigning to end gender-based violence in the workplace.
Organised workplaces are safer workplaces. That’s why we’ll continue to remember the dead, and fight hard for the living.
Today, workers around the world will be paying their respects to lost colleagues and friends. We invite you to attend an event, vigil or ceremony near you to honour their memories.
Use the 28 April global map to find an event near you.
Alternatively, attend a memorial event if your union is holding one.
Can’t attend an event in person? We’re also inviting you to put your work boots out in honour of workers who have died on the job.
Make sure to share a photo on social media with the hashtag #IWMD2023 to contribute to the record of remembrances on the day.
On 28 April 2023, the ILO will celebrate the decision to include safe workplaces in its fundamental principles, bringing together experts and constituents to discuss the implications it has for the world of work, as well as how to practically implement this right in the world of work.
Join the ILO global dialogue on from 13:30 to 15:00 CEST: How can we promote the fundamental right to a safe and healthy working environment?
To inform 28 April discussions, ILO has also produced a detailed report: ‘Implementing a safe and healthy working environment: Where are we now?’
On April 28th, International Workers’ Memorial Day (IWMD), the ITF remembers all those across the world killed at or around their place of work.
The ITF supports the campaign led by the International Trade Union Confederation calling on the International Labour Organisation (ILO) to recognise occupational health and safety as a fundamental right at work. This would fulfil a pledge made at the 2019 ILO Centenary Declaration, adopted unanimously, to ensure OSH for all workers.
#IWMD21 is especially poignant this year as it comes amid a devastating surge in global Covid-19 infections. Last week over 5.8 million new cases of Covid-19 were registered globally, the highest number to date. Many of these infections will have been caught at, or on the commute to or from, people’s workplaces.
But even before Covid-19, thousands of transport workers were vulnerable to injury or death in the workplace. The pandemic has simply exposed just how urgently occupational health and safety measures are needed.
“Every death at work is a death too many: the ILO, governments and employers must take greater action to halt preventable workplace deaths. Recognition of occupational health and safety as an ILO Fundamental Right at Work would be a strong step in the right direction.” – Stephen Cotton, ITF General Secretary
Governments and employers also have a responsibility to protect workers from violence and harassment in the workplace, which disproportionately impacts women workers. ITF affiliates, activists and Global Union Federations were instrumental in enacting global legislation against violence and harassment in the world of work.
ILO Convention 190, along with other recommendations, must be signed onto by government to protect all workers from violence and harassment at work including the commute.
The International Chamber of Shipping and its global network of national member associations and the International Transport Workers’ Federation and its 215 seafarers’ unions are calling on seafarers across the world to sound their ships’ horns when in port at 12.00 local time on International Workers’ Day on 1 May 2020.
International Workers’ Day – or Workers’ Day, May Day or Labour Day – is recognised in many countries around the world to celebrate and acknowledge the contribution made by workers across the world.
The ICS and ITF are encouraging the gesture of solidarity to recognise over 1.6 million seafarers across the world, the unsung heroes of global trade, who are keeping countries supplied with food, fuel and important supplies such as vital medical equipment not only through the Covid-19 pandemic, but every day. Prior to engaging in blowing the horns ships should ensure that appropriate clearance is sought where required.
Guy Platten, Secretary General of the International Chamber of Shipping said, “Our seafarers are the unsung heroes of global trade and we must not forget the contribution that they are making every day to keep our countries supplied with the goods that we need. The sounding of a ships’ horn in ports on the day that the world recognises the contribution of workers is an ideal way to remind us all of their sacrifice. They are all Heroes at Sea.”
Stephen Cotton, General Secretary, International Transport Workers’ Federation (ITF) said, “The ITF welcomes this initiative and call on seafarers to sound their ships’ horns in a global expression of solidarity, but importantly to also ensure that the spotlight remains on how critical seafarers are to ensure that essential goods continue to be transported around the world during this crisis. Governments should see this as a call to action to facilitate crew changes and the free movement of seafarers so that they can continue to keep supply chains moving in these unprecedented times.”
Shipping plays a fundamental part in global supply chains, but the issue of crew changes is posing major threat to the safe operation of maritime trade. Due to travel restrictions related to COVID-19, the industry has seen seafarers extending their time onboard ships after lengthy periods at sea. The current situation cannot last indefinitely for the safety and wellbeing of seafarers.
The ITF and ICS also repeated calls on governments to facilitate the free movement of seafarers, following on April 7, and a joint letter from ICS and International Air Transport Association (IATA).
Jointly, the ITF and ICS are calling on governments to:
ICS and ITF have also produced letters of authorisation to help seafarers and authorities recognise the key worker status of transport workers operating with legitimate authority. Shipping companies can the use the facilitation letter template, copy the text on company headed paper, fill in the seafarer’s individual details and share the filled in certificate with each of their affected seafarers, provided they have undergone the required medical screening. The letter states “This facilitation letter certifies that this seafarer should be allowed free passage to travel between their home and their vessel and has participated in a medical screening.” The letter can be downloaded here.
For more information please contact:
ITF: media@itf.org.uk
ICS: ICS@woodrowcommunications.com
In a special show about how the Covid-19 response is affecting working people in public transport, ITF urban transport director Alana Dave has spoken to Dan Mihadi.
Dan Mihadi is the general secretary of the Transport and Allied Workers’ Union (TAWU), Kenya, and he explains how daily life has changed in Nairobi and the challenges face by informal and formal public transport workers in his union.
But he has hope for the future: “We are demanding that this crisis leads to public transport coming into public hands, providing decent jobs, and training. This is an opportunity to make things better for working people,” he said.
As part of the ITF’s Our Public Transport programme, a statement and set of demands has been published in response to Covid-19, and a joint statement with employers.
https://www.itfglobal.org/en/news/podcast-covid-19-impact-informal-workers
The ITF has launched a map showing the effect of Covid-19 restrictions on countries and ports around the globe.
To put the recent deaths in perspective, there have been a total of 145 in the past 20 years, and alarmingly 28 in the past 16 months.
The massive rise in fatalities says everything about the callousness of those running the shipping industry today. Companies that choose to save a dollar rather than train and equip workers to labour safely in confined spaces or invest in an onboard safety culture in which workers are free to take the time they need to vent cargo holds, ensure sufficient good air or question a risk they are facing.
We know that maritime workers are generally aware of the risks associated with entry into confined spaces, but they may not be aware of the details and extent of the varied dangers posed by forest products, coal, iron ore, grains, gases and other cargo.
It is not enough for a worker to rely on opening the hatches for 30 minutes and hoping for the best, or to do the best they can to protect themselves on their own. It is not enough for workers to take all available precautions but sometimes still be caught without sufficient protection by pockets of gases and lack of oxygen. And it is absolutely not enough that workers are left to cope with an inhumane industry by doing what humans have always done for one other: risk their own lives to save their fallen colleagues.
Last November, two dockers died while unloading logs from the hold of a bulker in Montevideo, likely after exposure to an unexpected fumigant they were not told about. A crew member saw them in distress and entered the hold wearing a face mask, determined to rescue them. During his efforts, his mask was reportedly removed, and he passed out, eventually landing in hospital in an induced coma. A third docker required medical help before the tragic incident was over.
Shipowners have a duty of care for their crew and dockers employed to carry out their cargo operations. Education and procedures are not optional. The negligence of shipowners who disregard standard procedures and cost workers their lives must be met with a punishment proportionate to the lives lost.
The International Maritime Solid Bulk (IMSB) Cargoes Code governs the carriage of bulk cargo worldwide. The IMSB code:
• Identifies and groups cargoes based on hazard
• Provides guidelines for safe handling
• Sets procedures for testing
The ITF Dockers’ and ITF Seafarers’ sections will be at the International Maritime Organization (IMO) working with shipowners to ensure that the regulations governing confined space stand up and are strong enough to protect all maritime workers.
The ITF Dockers’ Section deplores operators who routinely force workers to choose between risking their lives or their jobs. We continue the fight against them and demand accountability.
We join our sisters and brothers from Australia and Canada and echo their call for industrial manslaughter laws for employers deliberately undermine safety a risk workers’ lives.
Kill a worker, go to jail!
