Tag Archives: iwmd

Global: la organización en favor de la salud y la seguridad –una parte crucial de la acción sindical

2023 será un año clave para los sindicatos y para los trabajadores y las trabajadoras. El año pasado conseguimos que se reconociera que un entorno laboral seguro y saludable es un derecho de los trabajadores. Esto ha dado un nuevo impulso a la organización en favor de la salud y la seguridad –una parte crucial de la acción sindical–. La Jornada Internacional de Conmemoración de los Trabajadores Fallecidos y Lesionados, el 28 de abril, está dedicada este año a esta prioridad sindical fundamental.

Owen Tudor, secretario general adjunto de la CSI.
Boletín de la CSI – Febrero 2023.

#iwmd23

Global: l’organisation des travailleurs en faveur de la santé et de la sécurité – un volet primordial de l’action syndicale

2023 sera une année cruciale pour les syndicats et pour les personnes qui travaillent. L’année dernière, nous avons obtenu qu’un environnement de travail sûr et sain soit reconnu comme un droit pour les travailleurs. Cette reconnaissance a donné un nouvel élan à l’organisation des travailleurs en faveur de la santé et de la sécurité – un volet primordial de l’action syndicale. Cette année, la Journée internationale de commémoration des travailleurs décédés et blessés, le 28 avril, sera dédiée à cette priorité syndicale essentielle.

Owen Tudor, secrétaire général adjoint de la CSI.
Bulletin d’information de la CSI – Février 2023.

#iwmd23

Ireland: ICTU supports the ETUC’s Zero work deaths campaign on 28 April

 

Thursday 28th April 2022 – Remember the dead, fight like hell for the living

Congress,  along with the Government, the Health and Safety Authority (HSA), Ibec, and the CIF will collectively mark Workers’ Memorial Day Ireland on April 28th  at the national and annual commemorative event to remember people killed, injured, made ill and bereaved through work-related accidents.

Congress President Kevin Callinan will be joined by Sharon McGuinness, CEO of the Health & Safety Authority, and Minister Damien English TD who will lay a wreath in Dublin’s Garden of Remembrance on behalf of the state to remember those workers we have lost. They will be joined by members of the Deasy family, whose son Lorcan died in a construction accident.

In Ireland in the ten year period between 2012 and 2021, 481 people were killed in work-related incidents and many thousands more were severely injured or made ill. In 2021, 38 people were killed in accidents. We know that in addition to these official figures, we have also lost many front-line workers to Covid-19 over the last 2 years.

Part of the tragedy of these losses is that we actually know how to stop workplace fatalities and injuries. The evidence is there. It involves workers and managers cooperating to create safe systems of work, to assess hazards and to reduce risks. It involves education and training for workers and management and support for the role of safety reps in our workplaces. It requires monitoring, prevention, protection, and reporting. And it also requires compliance measures including inspections, and penalties for those who do not take their legal and moral responsibilities seriously.

Congress will therefore be supporting a new campaign promoted by the European Trade Union Confederation for “Zero Deaths” at work. Zero death at work is not a utopian dream. The trend in fatal workplace accidents is down and eradication of fatal accidents is achievable. Every death at work is one too many.

The EU’s current health and safety strategy says “All efforts must be deployed to reduce work-related deaths as much as possible, in line with a Vision Zero approach to work-related deaths”. These are fine words, but the actions promised in it will not achieve zero deaths. However, we know that the tools exist to make this happen. It just needs commitment and political will. We need the EU, our own government, our partners gathered here today, and trade unions also, to “walk the walk” rather than “talk the talk”.

This means a concerted joined-up effort to

–   Prevent workplace accidents and occupational diseases, stopping exposure to hazardous and cancer-causing substances and being ready for further pandemics

– Making the physical and mental health of workers the point of departure when organising work and designing the workplace.

While fatal accidents are declining, occupational diseases are increasing. Some 100,000 workers in Europe die every year from occupational cancer due to exposure to hazardous substances. Long working hours and psychological pressure at work cause heart-disease, stroke, depression, and suicide. Bad posture, repetitive movement and heavy lifting cause backpain and other ‘musculoskeletal’ disorders and in turn cause depression and people being unable to work.

Source: ICTU

 

UK: Hazards Campaign resources for IWMD

The Hazards Campaign has produced a wide selection of resources to help  you mark International Workers’ Memorial Day effectively and visually including ribbons, car stickers, posters, bags, fabric face masks and t-shirts.

Download the order form here

Below is the poster – other resources can be viewed in the order form.

 

Global: 28 April social media graphics and image resources from ITUC

ITUC has published a package of Twitter and Facebook ready  images and infographic resources for 28 April – available in English, Spanish, Portuguese and French. Follow the links below to the language specific Trello boards

English Infographics
Spanish Infographics
Portuguese Infographics
French infographics

International Worker’s Memorial Day – #IWMD22


IWM22_ES. TW-3.png

IWM22_EN. TW-2.png

IWMD22_PT. IG-1.png

IWMD22_FR. IG-2.png

Australia: RSVP for International Workers’ Memorial Day, Melbourne, 2022

Every year, Victorian Trades Hall Council hosts a memorial service to remember those Victorians who lost their lives at work. This year’s memorial service will be held in person at 10:30AM at Trades Hall. RSVP here or by following the link below.

RSVP Here

Please join us on the 28th of April for International Workers Memorial Day 2022 to commemorate the workers we’ve lost in the past year. If you aren’t able to attend in person, the event will also be live-streamed through the Victorian Trades Hall Council Facebook page.

The ceremony will include a minute of silence at 11am and an opportunity to lay wreaths.

We hope to see you there.

Reece Gittins – We Are Union: OHS Reps
http://www.weareunion.org.au/

Global: RECONNAÎTRE LA SANTÉ ET LA SÉCURITÉ AU TRAVAIL COMME UN DROIT FONDAMENTAL À L’OCCASION DE LA JOURNÉE INTERNATIONALE DE COMMÉMORATION DES TRAVAILLEUSES ET DES TRAVAILLEURS

À l’occasion de la Journée internationale de commémoration des travailleuses et des travailleurs #IWMD22, les organisations syndicales font pression en exigeant que la santé et la sécurité soient finalement reconnues comme l’un des principes et droits fondamentaux au travail.

La CSI et ses organisations affiliées appellent les gouvernements à prendre des mesures pour :

  • ratifier et mettre en oeuvre les conventions fondamentales de l’OIT sur la sécurité et la santé ;
  • ratifier et mettre en oeuvre toutes les conventions sectorielles ou sur les risques professionnels ;
  • établir des instances nationales chargées de la santé et de la sécurité regroupant des représentants des syndicats et des employeurs ;
  • assurer des services de santé au travail pour tous et garantir des mesures d’indemnisation appropriées, notamment en reconnaissant la Covid-19 comme maladie professionnelle.

Global: Make safe and healthy work a fundamental human right this International Workers’ Memorial Day

Workers’ unions are pressing their demand this International Workers’ Memorial Day #IWMD22 to finally make health and safety at work a fundamental principle and right.

The ITUC and its affiliates are calling on governments to take action by:

  • ratifying and implementing core ILO health and safety conventions;
  • ratifying and implementing all sectoral or hazard-specific conventions;
  • establishing national health and safety bodies bringing unions and employer representatives together;
  • requiring occupational health services for all, and proper compensation including making Covid-19 a recognised occupational disease.

Global: Hacer de la salud y seguridad en el trabajo un derecho fundamental esta jornada internacional de conmemoración

Con ocasión de la Jornada Internacional de Conmemoración #IWMD22, sindicatos de todo el mundo presionan reclamando que por fin se considere la salud y seguridad como un derecho fundamental en el trabajo.

La CSI y sus afiliadas piden además a los Gobiernos que tomen medidas para:

  • ratificar e implementar los convenios básicos de la OIT sobre salud y seguridad;
  • ratificar e implementar todos los convenios sectoriales o sobre riesgos laborales específicos;
  • establecer organismos nacionales sobre salud y seguridad agrupando a representantes de sindicatos y patronal;
  • requerir servicios de salud laboral para todos y acordar la debida compensación, incluyendo el reconocimiento de la COVID-19 como enfermedad laboral.

Global: Health and Safety must be a fundamental principle and right at work | IndustriALL

IndustriALL news release – 14 March, 2022

As the 344th Session of the Governing Body of the International Labour Organization (ILO) commences on 14 March 2022, global unions are calling for an amendment to the 1998 Declaration on Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work that will lead to Occupational Health and Safety (OHS) being considered a fundamental principle and right at work.

The amendment would see OHS joining the four fundamental principles and rights at work that the Declaration currently recognizes: freedom of association and the right to organize and bargain collectively; the prohibition of forced labour; prohibition of child labour; and the elimination of discrimination in employment.

The Governing Body meets three times a year, in March, June and November. It takes decisions on ILO policy, decides the agenda of the International Labour Conference, adopts the draft programme and budget of the organization for submission to the conference, and elects the Director-General.

The call by global unions’ is consistent with the 2019 ILO Centenary Declaration on the future of work and a global campaign for OHS to be added to the fundamental principles and rights at work. In June 2019, UN experts urged the ILO to immediately recognize and adopt safe and healthy working conditions as one of its fundamental principles and rights at work. A follow-up to the resolution on the ILO Centenary Declaration for the Future of Work called for proposals, including safe and healthy working conditions, to be added to the ILO’s framework of fundamental principles and rights at work.

According to the first joint WHO/ILO monitoring report, released on 27 September 2021, at least 1.9 million workers lose their lives every year due to the work-related diseases and injuries. However, when adding causes of death by risk factors not included and filling in information gaps from poor record-keeping, the number is closer to a staggering three million deaths.

“Health and safety at work is neither a perk to be bargained for nor a favour to be asked. It is our right,” said IndustriALL mining director and OHS lead, Glen Mpufane.

“No wage is worth our health or our life, and no remedy can be granted by an arbitrator that will restore our health or our life, once it is lost.”

At the November 2021 meeting of the ILO Governing Body, global unions finally secured agreement that the agenda for the 2022 International Labour Conference would include an amendment to the ILO 1998 Declaration on Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work to achieve this.

On the back of this achievement, and to maintain the momentum and ensure that the  ILO Governing Body takes the decisions workers need on OHS, IndustriALL Global Union calls on its over 50 million members and affiliates to amplify the call by the ITUC to call on governments and employers:

  • To designate Convention 155 on OHS as a fundamental right at work, as it is the main convention setting out what governments need to do.
  • To designate ILO Convention 161 on Occupational Health Services a complimentary fundamental right at work. ILO Convention 161 on Occupational Health Services requires governments to ensure that workers have access to an occupational health service, either in their workplace or through the public health system.
  • To allow the broadest interpretation of health and safety, urge Governments to support the term “working environment” as reference in the fundamental principle and right at work.
  • To ensure that should be no international competition over OHS standards in trade agreements.

“The UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights include a duty and responsibility to protect the health and safety of workers. With the United Nations’ resolution recognizing access to a healthy and sustainable environment as a universal right, another historic moment awaits the Governing Body to make the correct decision,” said IndustriALL assistant general secretary, Kan Matsuzaki.

https://www.industriall-union.org/health-and-safety-must-be-a-fundamental-principle-and-right-at-work