Asia: On 28 April AMRC demands “Real change. Justice must not end with remembrance”

May be an image of text that says "ขี COMMEMORATE WORKERS' MEMORIAL DAY AY-"

𝐖𝐨𝐫𝐤𝐞𝐫𝐬’ 𝐌𝐞𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐢𝐚𝐥 𝐃𝐚𝐲
𝐖𝐨𝐫𝐥𝐝 𝐃𝐚𝐲 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐒𝐚𝐟𝐞𝐭𝐲 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐇𝐞𝐚𝐥𝐭𝐡 𝐚𝐭 𝐖𝐨𝐫𝐤
Today, 𝟐𝟖 𝐀𝐩𝐫𝐢𝐥, we remember the countless workers who have lost their lives, health, and dignity due to unsafe and unfair working conditions, which come with occupational risks, injuries, and diseases.
From the 1993 Zhili factory fire in Shenzhen and Kader factory fire in Thailand, the 2013 Rana Plaza collapse in Bangladesh, to the ongoing struggles of the 2020 LG Vizag gas leak in India, the 2023 Morowali Park explosion in Indonesia, and asbestos victims across Asia, these tragedies remind us of the heavy cost of neglect, corporate greed, and the lack of government accountability.
We honor the voices of victims and survivors. We must listen to them, stand with them, and demand real change. Justice must not end with remembrance; it must drive action for safer workplaces and stronger protection for all workers.
𝐌𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐝𝐞𝐚𝐝, 𝐟𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐥𝐢𝐯𝐢𝐧𝐠.

Spain: Este #28Abril exigimos medidas urgentes y mayor protección para las víctimas | USO

Miles de trabajadores se enfrentan a violencia, agresiones y acoso en el trabajo.  Sara García, sec.

“Thousands of workers face violence, assaults, and harassment at work. Sara García, sec. This 28 April we demand urgent measures and greater protection for the victims.”

: Este #28Abril exigimos medidas urgentes y mayor protección para las víctimas. #StopViolenciaEnElTrabajo #IWMD25

Global: #IWMD25 – Unions unite for safe work in the digital age | UNI

This 28 April, International Workers’ Memorial Day (IWMD), the global trade union movement is focusing on technology and workplace health and safety.

UNI is bringing together content moderators from around the world for the first-time ever to Nairobi, Kenya, to build a shared strategy for making their jobs safe, sustainable and union.

Content moderators, who shield billions of social media users from harmful and traumatic material, are exposed to hundreds of videos, images and texts every day depicting extreme violence, sexual abuse, hate speech and other egregious behaviour. Depression, post-traumatic stress disorder, sleeplessness and suicidal thoughts as a result from this work is all too common.

 

African Tech Workers Rising organizer Sonia Kgomo, a former Facebook content moderator from Kenya, wrote earlier this year in the Guardian:

For two years, I spent up to ten hours a day staring at child abuse, human mutilation, racist attacks and the darkest parts of the internet so you did not have to.
You could not stop if you saw something traumatic. You could not stop for your mental health. You could not stop to go the bathroom. You just could not stop. We were told the client, in our case Facebook, required us to keep going.

Kgomo highlighted not only the disturbing nature of the content but also the intense pace demanded by her employer, the outsourcing firm Sama. Moderators’ performance was closely tracked, often given just seconds to evaluate each piece of troubling content.

Such precise and constant monitoring is increasingly  enabled by algorithmic management systems and artificial intelligence. The International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) is focusing this year’s IWMD on the consequences of digital surveillance and automation for workers’ health as part of their campaign ahead of important discussions at this year’s International Labor Conference.

Across nearly all economic sectors, this technology is squeezing workers to meet inhumane production targets and deteriorating workers’ mental and physical wellbeing with the extreme pressure of constant, real-time micromanagement and automated assessment.

For example, Amazon’s performance monitoring systems make workers feel “stressed, pressured, anxious, like a slave, robot and untrusted,” according to an international study of Amazon employees. Nearly 60 per cent of the over 2000 Amazon worker respondents from eight countries

UNI Global Union General Secretary Christy Hoffman said:

Job titles like ‘content moderator’ and the extreme surveillance workers now endure were unimaginable just a short time ago, but workers organizing for safe jobs and a real say about their conditions is as old as the labour movement itself. Unions have always fought and won protections against technological abuse. With every new form of workplace tech, the urgency grows to make it serve rather than hurt workers.

UNI has compiled many examples of unions pushing back against the expansion of bossware and digital surveillance in its report, Algorithmic Management: Opportunities for Collective Action.  Showing yet again that it is union workplaces that are safe workplaces.

International Workers Memorial Day is the day that the trade union movement unites to remember workers at home and across the globe who have paid the ultimate price, those who left for work and never returned, as well as those whose lives have been altered by workplace injury or harm.

#IWMD25: Unions unite for safe work in the digital age

Australia: Workplace fatalities claim 32 lives nationwide this year

Workplace fatalities claim 32 lives nationwide this year

ACTU Media Release – April 28, 2025

Thirty-two Australian workers have tragically died so far this year while they were at work.

The figure is a grim reminder of the unacceptably high number of individuals who go off to work on an ordinary day and don’t make it back home again.

The number of workplace fatalities last year was 168, slightly lower than the five-year average of 191 workers who have been killed each year at work nationwide.

These workplace fatalities do not include the thousands of workers who die each year from deadly work-related diseases, like asbestosis, mesothelioma and silicosis caused by their use of asbestos and silica containing materials like the now banned engineered stone.

Australian Unions will highlight workplace fatalities at a special service in South Australia today marking International Workers’ Memorial Day, one of many such events occurring in each state and territory and around the world.

The memorial services will take place almost a year since the Albanese Government enacted legislation to bring in new nationally consistent industrial manslaughter laws that ensure employers are held accountable for the deaths of workers.

From July 1, 2024, those operating in the Commonwealth WHS jurisdiction found to have recklessly or negligently cause the death of a worker face potential criminal liability and up to 25 years’ imprisonment for individuals and $18 million for companies.

At today’s Adelaide memorial service, ACTU Assistant Secretary, Liam O’Brien and SA Unions’ Secretary, Dale Beasley will join families, workers and safety advocates to remember the South Australians killed at work in the past year.

Since the industrial manslaughter laws were introduced, there have been prosecutions initiated in nearly all states and across diverse industries including construction and manufacturing.

The Coalition voted against the industrial manslaughter laws twice, including most recently in Parliament in 2023, and has yet to release a workplace relations policy, or work health and safety policies in the current federal election campaign.

Quotes attributable to ACTU Assistant Secretary, Liam O’Brien:

“Today, Australian Unions remember those who were tragically killed at work and reflect on the importance of protecting the health and safety of all workers.

“Preventing workplace tragedies means defending the laws that provide justice for victims and their families and corporate accountability for employers who fail in their duty to workers.

“The families of those who lost loved ones at work were instrumental in securing the new industrial manslaughter laws.

“As we approach a year since the laws came into effect, working people deserve clarity on whether the Coalition would support stronger industrial manslaughter laws beyond the election.”

Quotes attributable to SA Unions Secretary, Dale Beasley:

“Coming home from work safely isn’t just a priority; it’s a right.

“South Australia now has a nation-leading workplace safety system, empowering workers and their unions to address workplace safety issues before the unthinkable happens.

“Secure jobs save lives. You’re not going to speak up about unsafe work if you’re scared of getting sacked. All the laws and regulations on the books mean nothing if you’re too vulnerable to use them.

“Even one worker’s death is a tragedy, this many worker deaths is a choice. There is so much more work to be done. No worker can afford to risk losing any of their workplace rights.”

https://www.actu.org.au/media-release/workplace-fatalities-claim-32-lives-nationwide-this-year/

Indonesia: Launch of the ILO Code of Practice on Safety and Health in Forestry Work – KAHUTINDO

Indonesian Launch of the ILO Code of Practice on Safety and Health in Forestry Work.

🗓 Monday, 28 April 2025

🕐 1:00 PM – 4:45 PM (Jakarta time)

🔗 Zoom ID: 879 9536 7939 | Passcode: COPK3ILO

💬 English interpretation provided

BWI Asia-Pacific

Global: International Workers’ Memorial Day 2025: Protecting workers’ rights in the age of digitalisation and artificial intelligence – ITUC

The ITUC is using this year’s International Workers’ Memorial Day, 28 April, to call for urgent action to safeguard workers’ lives and rights in the age of digitalisation and artificial intelligence (AI).

AI is transforming the world of work at unprecedented speed. But behind the promise of innovation lies a darker reality: algorithmic management, constant surveillance, impossible productivity targets, and dangerous working conditions. Technology is being used not to improve working conditions and safety, but to exploit them — putting lives and health at risk.

  • AI-driven management is already intensifying pressure on 427 million workers worldwide.
  • 80% of large employers use AI to track individual worker productivity.
  • Workers are facing burnout, injuries and unbearable stress from non-stop monitoring, unrealistic targets and zero input on how technology is used.

“Too often artificial intelligence is being deployed not as a tool for progress but as a weapon against workers.”ITUC General Secretary Luc Triangle

“From warehouses to hospitals, delivery bikes to data labs, workers are under pressure like never before. The deployment of new technologies must respect the norms of any other changes in the workplace: workers have a right be consulted and included. This basic, democratic, workplace right will ensure the use of AI is designed with safety, fairness and dignity at is core. Workers and their unions must have a seat at the table for the benefit of all.”

Deployment of new technologies, such as AI, without proper consultation with workers and their unions is already causing serious problems around the world:

  • In the Philippines, 19-year-old delivery rider Jasper Dalman died while working for Foodpanda. His union, RIDERS-SENTRO, won recognition and insurance rights after his death highlighted the deadly consequences of algorithmic exploitation that set impossible productivity targets.
  • In Turkey, TikTok content moderators employed by Telus were sacked after organising against inhumane AI-managed workloads and trauma-inducing content.
  • In the US, nurses working through platforms face AI-controlled shift apps that bypass worker protections that create dangerous conditions for them and their patients.

The ITUC is calling for:

  • Full involvement of unions in the design and deployment of workplace AI.
  • Transparent, human-centred technology that upholds rights and safety.
  • A binding ILO Convention on platform work to protect all workers in the digital economy.

This 28 April, we remember the dead – and fight for the living. Technology should work for us, not against us.

The new ITUC report, ‘Artificial intelligence and digitalisation: A matter of life and death for workers’, identifies the physical and psychosocial harms at work when these technologies are introduced without consulting workers. Check out the campaign materials.

https://www.ituc-csi.org/International-Workers-Memorial-Day-2025

Global: Jornada Internacional de Conmemoración de los Trabajadores Fallecidos y Lesionados 2025: Proteger los derechos de los trabajadores en la era de la digitalización y la inteligencia artificial – CSI

Con ocasión de la Jornada Internacional de Conmemoración de los Trabajadores Fallecidos y Lesionados, que se celebra el 28 de abril, la CSI ha hecho un llamamiento para que se adopten medidas urgentes destinadas a salvaguardar la vida y los derechos de los trabajadores en la era de la digitalización y la inteligencia artificial (IA).

La IA está transformando el mundo del trabajo a una velocidad sin precedentes. Pero detrás de la promesa de innovación se esconde una realidad más oscura: la gestión algorítmica, la vigilancia constante, unos objetivos de productividad imposibles y unas condiciones de trabajo peligrosas. La tecnología no se está utilizando para mejorar las condiciones de trabajo y la seguridad, sino para explotar a los trabajadores, poniendo en peligro su vida y su salud.

  • La gestión basada en IA ya está intensificando la presión que soportan 427 millones de trabajadores en todo el mundo.
  • El 80% de las grandes empresas utilizan IA para controlar la productividad individual de los trabajadores.
  • Los trabajadores sufren agotamiento, lesiones y un estrés insoportable debido a la vigilancia constante, a unos objetivos nada realistas y a la falta total de información sobre cómo se utiliza la tecnología.

“La inteligencia artificial se suele utilizar no como una herramienta para el progreso, sino como un arma contra los trabajadores.”Luc Triangle, secretario general de la CSI

“Desde almacenes hasta hospitales, pasando por repartidores a domicilio y laboratorios de datos, los trabajadores se están viendo más presionados que nunca. El despliegue de nuevas tecnologías debe respetar las normas de cualquier cambio que se lleve a cabo en el lugar de trabajo: los trabajadores tienen derecho a ser consultados e incluidos en el proceso. Este derecho básico y democrático en el lugar de trabajo garantizará que el uso de la IA se diseñe considerando la seguridad, la justicia y la dignidad como aspectos fundamentales. Los trabajadores y sus sindicatos deben tener voz y voto en beneficio de todos”.

El despliegue de nuevas tecnologías como la IA, sin una consulta adecuada con los trabajadores y sus sindicatos, ya está causando graves problemas en todo el mundo:

  • En Filipinas, Jasper Dalman, un repartidor de 19 años, falleció mientras trabajaba para Foodpanda. Su sindicato, RIDERS-SENTRO, consiguió derechos en materia de seguros y reconocimiento después de que su muerte pusiera de relieve las consecuencias mortales de la explotación algorítmica que impone unos objetivos de productividad imposibles.
  • En Turquía, los moderadores de contenido de TikTok empleados por Telus fueron despedidos tras organizarse para protestar contra las cargas de trabajo inhumanas gestionadas por IA y los contenidos traumatizantes.
  • En EE. UU., los enfermeros que trabajan a través de plataformas tienen que lidiar con unas aplicaciones de gestión de turnos controladas por IA que eluden la protección de los trabajadores y crean unas condiciones peligrosas para ellos y sus pacientes.

La CSI reclama:

  • La plena participación de los sindicatos en el diseño y la implantación de la IA en los lugares de trabajo.
  • Una tecnología transparente y centrada en las personas, que respete los derechos y la seguridad.
  • Un Convenio vinculante de la OIT sobre el trabajo en plataformas para proteger a todos los trabajadores del sector de la economía digital.

Este 28 de abril recordamos a los fallecidos y luchamos por los vivos. La tecnología debe trabajar para nosotros, no contra nosotros.

El nuevo informe de la CSI, “Inteligencia artificial y digitalización: Una cuestión de vida o muerte para los trabajadores” (en inglés), identifica los daños físicos y psicosociales en el trabajo cuando estas tecnologías se introducen sin consultar a los trabajadores. Para descargar los gráficos y obtener mayor información, visiten aquí

https://www.ituc-csi.org/Jornada-Internacional-de-Conmemoracion-de-los-Trabajadores-Fallecidos-y-Lesionados-2025

Global: Journée internationale de commémoration des travailleuses et des travailleurs morts ou blessés au travail 2025 : protéger les droits des travailleurs à l’ère de la numérisation et de l’intelligence artificielle

À l’occasion de la Journée internationale de commémoration des travailleuses et des travailleurs morts ou blessés au travail, du 28 avril 2025, la CSI réclame des actions urgentes pour préserver la vie et les droits des travailleuses et des travailleurs à l’ère de la numérisation et de l’intelligence artificielle (IA).

L’IA transforme le monde du travail à une vitesse sans précédent. Mais derrière la promesse d’innovation se profile une réalité plus sombre : gestion algorithmique, surveillance constante, objectifs de productivité impossibles et conditions de travail dangereuses. La technologie est utilisée non pour améliorer les conditions de travail et la sécurité au travail, mais pour exploiter les travailleuses et les travailleurs, mettant leur vie et leur santé en danger.

  • La gestion par l’IA accentue déjà la pression s’exerçant sur 427 millions de travailleurs dans le monde.
  • Quatre-vingts pour cent des gros employeurs utilisent l’IA pour suivre la productivité individuelle au travail.
  • Les contrôles incessants, les objectifs irréalistes et l’absence de consultation sur les modalités d’utilisation de la technologie exposent les travailleurs à l’épuisement, à des blessures et à un stress insupportable.

« Trop souvent, l’intelligence artificielle est déployée non comme un instrument du progrès, mais comme une arme contre les travailleurs »le secrétaire général de la CSI, Luc Triangle

« Des entrepôts aux hôpitaux, sur les vélos de livraison ou dans les laboratoires de données, les travailleurs sont plus que jamais sous pression. Le déploiement de nouvelles technologies doit respecter les normes, comme tout autre changement sur le lieu de travail : les travailleuses et les travailleurs ont le droit d’être consultés et de participer. Ce droit fondamental et démocratique sur le lieu de travail garantira que l’utilisation de l’IA soit pensée en accordant une place centrale à la sécurité, à l’équité et à la dignité. Les travailleurs et leurs syndicats doivent avoir un siège à la table dans l’intérêt de tous. »

Le déploiement de nouvelles technologies, comme l’IA, sans consultation adéquate des travailleurs et de leurs syndicats pose déjà de graves problèmes dans le monde :

  • Aux Philippines, un livreur à vélo, Jasper Dalman, est décédé à 19 ans pendant qu’il travaillait pour Foodpanda. Son syndicat, RIDERS-SENTRO, a obtenu une reconnaissance et des droits en matière d’assurance après ce décès qui a mis en lumière les conséquences mortelles de l’exploitation algorithmique qui fixe des objectifs de productivité impossibles à tenir.
  • En Turquie, des modérateurs de contenu sur TikTok employés par Telus ont été licenciés après s’être organisés pour protester contre les charges de travail inhumaines imposées par l’IA et les contenus traumatisants.
  • Aux États-Unis, du personnel infirmier travaillant via des plateformes est confronté à des applications de gestion de planning contrôlées par l’IA qui passent outre la protection des travailleurs et créent des conditions dangereuses pour ce personnel et ses patients.

La CSI réclame :

Ce 28 avril, nous commémorons les morts et nous luttons pour les vivants. La technologie devrait travailler pour nous, et non contre nous.

Le nouveau rapport de la CSI, intitulé « Artificial intelligence and digitalisation : A matter of life and death for workers » (en français), identifie les dommages physiques et psychosociaux au travail qui se produisent lorsque ces technologies sont introduites sans consultation des travailleurs. Voir les matériels de campagne ici.

https://www.ituc-csi.org/Journee-internationale-de-commemoration-des-travailleuses-et-des-travailleurs-morts-ou-blesses-au-travail-2025

Europe/Belgium: Workplace stress epidemic killing 10,000 people a year | ETUC

Europe’s workplace stress epidemic is killing around 10,000 people a year, according to a new analysis which shows the urgent need for an EU directive on psychosocial risks at work.

There are 6,190 deaths annually through coronary heart disease which are attributable to psychosocial risks at work across the EU 27 and the UK. Another 4,843 people lose their lives through suicide caused by work-related depression. That means psychosocial risks are a greater danger to workers than physical accidents, which killed 3,286 people in the EU in 2022.

Women workers are disproportionately affected by psychosocial risks, such as long working hours, job insecurity and workplace bullying. There is also a geographic imbalance, with deaths linked to workplace stress more prevalent in Central, Eastern and South-Eastern Europe.

International Workers’ Memorial Day

The figures are based on research by the European Trade Union Institute (ETUI) being presented on International Workers’ Memorial Day (April 28) which emphasises that these deaths are preventable and tackling them would save companies and governments tens of billions a year.

That is why the European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC) is today calling again on the European Commission to urgently bring forward a directive on psychosocial risks as part of a Quality Jobs Package. It should set binding obligations on employers to identify psychosocial risks through proper risk assessments, with the involvement of workers and trade unions.

EU data shows a legal obligation is the motivator of nine in ten European companies to take action on health and safety at work, but currently there is no EU legislation dedicated to psychosocial risks at work. The mission letter of Roxana Mînzatu, the Commissioner responsible for social rights, says she “should work on improving Europe’s approach to occupational health andsafety, ensuring healthier workplaces and mental health at work.”

Addressing the issue at a joint ETUC-ETUI conference in Brussels on Monday, ETUC General Secretary Esther Lynch will say: 

“Today, is a call for decisive, transformative action. If the EU is truly committed to building a future of fair, inclusive, and sustainable employment, then the Quality Jobs Package must include a robust Directive on preventing work-related psychosocial risks.

“The world of work is changing—rapidly, profoundly, and permanently. Digitalisation, AI robotics, platform work, the green transition, are reshaping how we labour and live. But while these transformations offer new opportunities, they also bring new dangers. Chief among them are the increasing psychosocial risks faced by workers: stress, burnout, anxiety, harassment, isolation, and emotional exhaustion. These are not fringe issues. They are systemic, and they are escalating.

“The EU has long been a global standard-setter in workers’ rights. We led the way on physical safety. Now we must lead the way on mental safety.”

ETUC Confederal Secretary Giulio Romani said:

The world of work is changing rapidly and the laws protecting people’s health at work must keep pace. The huge rise in telework and digitalisation since the Covid-19 pandemic has further blurred the boundaries between work and personal life, leading to longer working hours and an always-on-call culture that has taken a severe toll on workers’  health.

“If over 10,000 people a year were killed at work because of physical risks, the Commission would rightly be taking urgent action to make workplaces safer. They cannot sit on their hands because people are losing their lives due to psychosocial risks.  

“On International Workers Memorial Day, trade unions remember the dead and fight for the living. Today that means ensuring we have laws which protects people’s mental and physical health.”

Full ETUI study on The costs of cardiovascular diseases and depression attributable to psychosocial work exposures in the European Union

Sources for ETUI estimates of deaths caused by cardiovascular diseases and depression attributable to psychosocial work exposures in the European Union:

Coronary heart disease

Attributable to four psychosocial work exposures (PWE) for the year 2015 in 28 European countries. Annual number of deaths due to coronary heart diseases attributable to PWE in 2015: 6 190 deaths (5 092 men, 1 098 women). This means 201 359 years of life lost in 2015 (166 331 men, 35 028 women), based on the age at time of death and the average life expectancy. Four relevant PWE : job strain, effort-reward imbalance, job insecurity, long working hours. Source: Sultan-Taïeb H et al (2022) European journal of public health 2022;32:586-592

Depression

Attributable to 5 psychosocial work exposures (PWE) for the year 2015 in 28 European countries. Annual number of deaths due to depression (suicide cases related to depression) attributable to PWE in 2015 : 4 843 deaths (3 931 men, 912 women). This means 211 689 years of life lost in 2015 (172 885 men, 38 805 women), based on the age at time of death and the average life expectancy. Depression cases attributable to PWE are higher among women than men but there is a higher number of years of life lost because of a higher prevalence of suicide among men than women. Five relevant PWE : job strain, effort-reward imbalance, job insecurity, long working hours and workplace bullying. Source: Sultan-Taïeb H et al (2022). European journal of public health 2022;32:586-592.

https://www.etuc.org/en/pressrelease/workplace-stress-epidemic-killing-10000-people-year

UK: Unite members to remember the dead on April 28

Unite members are being urged to get involved with this year’s International Workers Memorial Day (IWMD), with plans well underway for country wide commemoration events to “remember the dead and fight for the living” later this month.

The annual event is held around the world every year on April 28 as workers gather to reflect on fellow workers lost or injured while just doing their jobs.

This year Unite members are organising memorials around the country, and joining in many others and the union has produced lots of resources and guides to help branches get involved.

For 2025 the International TUC theme is “Occupational health and safety: A fundamental right at work” including an explicit additional focus on the impact of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and digitisation on occupational health and safety.

Events will be happening across the country. In London construction workers will gather at the Building Workers memorial at Tower Hill, in Somerset workers from Hinkley Point C will mark the day at a memorial in Bridgwaters’ Blake Gardens and in Glasgow workers will gather at the memorial in the People’s Palace.

The central Birmingham event will highlight the safety-critical factor behind Unite’s local bins dispute, and remember David Carpenter, a binman for Coventry City Council, who died after being crushed in a bin lorry in 2023.

There are also events at the Unite Memorial in Liverpool, Lincoln Square in Manchester and many many more.

Global partners that Unite works with also have themes for the day of remembrance, for example BWI will highlight its “Too Hot to Work” campaign around the dangers of heat stress, as well as launching its “Stop Deadly Dust” campaign.

Read moreUnite 28 April resources

Remember the dead, fight like hell for the living