Acciona Group marked Workers’ Memorial Day across Spain, the Philippines, Brazil, Chile, Italy, Panama, Peru, the Netherlands and Mexico through a coordinated global safety initiative linked to BWI campaigns. Activities included minutes of silence, workplace training, awareness sessions and safety campaigns focused on occupational health, psychosocial risks, mental health and heat stress. The company also developed materials supporting the “Too Hot To Work” campaign, reinforcing prevention measures and safety culture across projects and construction sites in multiple countries.
Across Asia, members of the ANROEV network came together in different ways, but with one shared purpose: to remember workers whose lives were lost, and to keep fighting for those still at risk.
From tributes and testimonies to actions and collective calls for safer workplaces, these commemorations show that remembrance is not passive — it is a commitment.
Swipe through to see how each organization honored IWMD 2026 in their own countries.
Let these moments remind us: our work does not end with remembrance. We carry it forward.
On April 28, 2026, the Institute for Occupational Health and Safety Development (IOHSAD) marked this year’s International Workers’ Memorial Day with Tinig at Tindig: A Workers’ Memorial Program. Through art and testimonies, workers, youth, and communities collectively commemorated the lives of occupational safety and health (OSH) rights victims.
The program, held at Iglesia Filipina Independiente National Cathedral, began with a liturgical service by Reverend Irma Mepico-Balaba. Bereaved families, workers, and leaders, testifying against the government and companies’ cultural negligence of OSH, reaffirmed their commitment to fight for accountability, safe and healthy workplaces, living wage, and workers’ right to organize.
The Philippine Labor Movement Archive (PLMA), through the Pagkakaisa ng Mamamayan ng Tundo (PAMATU)—an organization composed of community members of Tundo, also exhibited Manggagawang Tubong Tundo: Binhi ng Militanteng Paglaban ng Kilusang Paggawa (Workers of Tundo: Seed of Militant Struggle of the Labor Movement) to pay tribute to the rich history of Tundo as an important site of the Filipino working-class’s militant struggle.
Photo Courtesy: Mayday Multimedia
The memorial program was part of IOHSAD’s build-up activity for May Day, pushing mainly the criminalization of OSH Standards violations.
In solidarity with workers across the globe, the National Union of Building and Construction Workers (NUBCW) marked International Workers’ Memorial Day (IWMD) with a powerful gathering centered on the theme: “Health and Safety is Our Right — We Work to Live, Not to Die.”
Held with solemn respect and passionate advocacy, the event featured distinguished guests: Dr. RJ Naguit of AKBAYAN Partylist, a long-time health rights advocate, and Atty. Sonny Matula, National President of the Federation of Free Workers (FFW) and a senatorial candidate known for championing labor rights.
Dr. Naguit delivered an urgent reminder that health and safety are not privileges but basic human rights. Drawing from his experience as a health advocate, he emphasized that no worker should be forced to choose between livelihood and life itself. “Every death due to unsafe workplaces is preventable,” he stressed. “It is a symptom of a system that values profit over people — a system we must change.”
Atty. Matula followed with a rousing call for stronger protections, sharing the ongoing struggles of labor unions nationwide. He reaffirmed the need to pass and enforce laws that ensure safe working conditions, regular employment, and just compensation. “We must fight for a future where workers’ lives are valued more than corporate greed,” Matula said. “NUBCW stands at the frontlines of this battle.”
In a unified statement, NUBCW reaffirmed its commitment to championing safe, healthy, and dignified workplaces for all Filipino workers. These commitments will result in the launching of new Department Order series of 2025 titled “Guidelines for the Standard Design and Specification for Temporary Welfare Facilities for Construction Workers”, a new law that will ensure not just the health and safety of construction workers in their respective accomodation but the said DO will also protect workers from abusive treatment, exploitation, harassment and discrimination of any form through creation of grievance redress mechanism inside the accommodation area.
The event closed with a collective pledge to intensify campaigns for occupational health and safety, union rights, and fair labor practices — echoing the call: “We work to live, not to die.”
The commemoration concluded with the NUBCW National Council Meeting, where council members convened to align their strategies in preparation for the upcoming 3rd Regular Congress scheduled on May 25, 2025. The meeting emphasized the organization’s renewed vigor to strengthen union work, broaden alliances, and advance the fight for workers’ rights nationwide.
As NUBCW Secretary General Santiago Nolla said, “Remembering is not enough. Organizing, mobilizing, and fighting for change — that is the true tribute to our fallen heroes and comrades.”
This April 25, let us unite in remembrance of the workers who have lost their lives, and stand in unwavering solidarity with those who continue to face inhumane and unsafe working conditions. Through the power of art and collective action, we invite everyone to SiKLab — an evening of remembrance, reckoning, and resistance.
In commemoration of the International Workers’ Memorial Day and the 10th Anniversary of the Kentex Factory Fire, this night of performances is dedicated to workers who, to this day, are denied safe workplaces, adequate protection, and dignified livelihoods.
Through art — from poetry and music to theater and visual expression — we amplify the voices of the oppressed and the abused. This night recognizes the power of culture not just as a vessel for creative expression but as a force for resistance and a call for collective change.
This gathering is a collaborative effort organized by the Institute for Occupational Health and Safety Development (IOHSAD), Concerned Artists of the Philippines, Kalinga ni San Jose Manggagawa Workers Center, LIKHA, Mayday Multimedia, Pahatid Kalatas, Tulos Baybay, and the Union of PUP Educators (UGPUP).
Venue: Polytechnic University of the Philippines – Amphitheater
Date: April 25, 2025 | Friday, 4:00 PM – 7:00 PM
This event will feature progressive cultural artists, workers, youth, and long-standing groups shaping the art of liberation.
Don’t miss it — let’s ignite the night with art, culture, and resistance!
“On this International Workers’ Memorial Day, amid record high temperatures, the Institute for Occupational Health and Safety Development (IOHSAD), a workplace safety NGO, is calling upon the Labor Department to take decisive action to protect workers’ health and safety in the face of intensifying heat conditions.” more
NUBCW and BWI will be holding jointly International Workers Memorial Day Celebrations (IWMD) with Philippine Affiliates in Quezon City. Additionally there will be a joint inspection with BWI of the Asian development bank’s Malalos Clark railway project focusing on worker safety with specific focus on heat stress.
Remembrance and Resistance: A Workers’ Memorial Day Solidarity Event and Open Mic Night
An evening of performances and solidarity to commemorate the lives of workers who died due to work and call for justice and action for workers’ health, safety, and rights. This event also aims to strengthen our resolve to take part and mobilize our ranks on May 1, International Workers’ Day.
The solidarity night will start off with its annual candle lighting activity to remember all the workers around the world who died due to work-related accidents and diseases. The program will highlight the different forms of cultural art and performance such as poetry reading, one-act play, short films and documentaries that express the long-standing calls of our workers.
Solidarity messages and performances will be shared by Tambisan sa Sining, Justice for Kentex Workers, Makabayan at Makataong Sining Obrero (MASO), Gabriela She Lang and leaders from local unions and federations. Mayday Multimedia and NSTP students from the UP Manila Political Science Program will also screen short videos and films on the labor rights situation in the country.
We invite you to join and share your works and talents as we creatively express our solidarity and resistance through the Open Mic event that will take place after the program. Open Mic will begin at around 8:30 PM onwards.
This solidarity event is presented by Institute for Occupational Health and Safety Development, Mayday Multimedia, and Human Rights and People Empowerment Center, with the help of UP Manila PolSci Program NSTP students, NAFLU KMU, Tambisan sa Sining, Balai Obrero Foundation Inc., Makabayan, Makatao Sining Obrero (MASO), Justice for Kentex Workers Alliance, and support of DAKILA, and Active Vista.
Photo Courtesy: Mayday Multimedia
