The BWI affiliate National Union of Building, Engineering and General Workers (NUBEGW) has reported plans to run occupational health and safety awareness activities in six separate organised workplaces.
28 April activities in Mozambique
In Mozambique the union SINTAICAF will join with the national centre to conduct a campaign stressing the importance of Occupational health and safety.
Mauritius: CMWEU campaigning and training actions for 28 April
On International Workers ‘Memorial Day the union and BWI affiliate Construction Workers’ Union of Mauritius (CMWEU) is planning training and campaigning activities with the national centre including pamphlet distribution.
Zimbabwe: Joint training and inspections between ZCATWU and Chinese employer
The Zimbabwe Construction and Allied Trades Workers’ Union (ZCATWU) is planning to mark 28 April through joint occupational health and safety training and inspections with a Chinese employer.
USA: USW Memorial Scroll 2023
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At the recent United Steelworkers Health, Safety and Environment Conference there were very few dry eyes when they remembered those who never made it home from work since the last conference.
Watch the video memorial showing a list of bargaining unit members, supervisors, and contractors killed in USW workplaces from August 23, 2019 to April 11, 2023.
May they rest in peace, power, and solidarity.
Tunisia: FGBB activities for 28 April
FGBB, a Tunisian affiliate of the global construction federation BWI has reported that safety campaigning actions will be held to mark International Workers’ Memorial Day, involving over 200 workers.
Tasmania: Remembering workers killed or injured by their employers
The 28th of April is #InternationalWorkersMemorialDay
Unions Tasmania will hold services in Launceston and Hobart to remember those killed or injured because of their work. We invite the community to join with us #politas #IWMD23
Global: Join the ILO ‘dialogue’ on 28 April
ILO ‘fundamental’ OHS dialogue on 28 April
A safe and healthy working environment is a fundamental principle and right at work
In June 2022, the International Labour Conference (ILC) decided to include “a safe and healthy working environment” in the ILO’s framework of fundamental principles and rights at work.
On 28 April 2023, the ILO will celebrate this decision, 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. It will also serve to present the findings of research on the implementation status of various provisions of the fundamental Conventions No. 155 and No. 187.
- Live on Friday, 28 April from 13:30 to 15:00 CEST
How can we promote the fundamental right to a safe and healthy working environment?
Join the ILO global dialogue on how to implement a safe and healthy working environment as a fundamental principle and right at work.
Global: Union organisation is a life or death issue
No-one should die to make a living. After all, occupational health and safety is now a globally-binding ILO fundamental legal right at work.
But a new report warns bad jobs still kill someone somewhere every six seconds, every day, round the clock. It notes that last year the UN’s International Labour Organisation (ILO) recognised occupational health and safety as a top rated ‘fundamental’ right at work.
“Politically, it’s a game changer,” it notes. “Practically, workers have continued to die, an estimated 3 million in the last year alone.”
The report, published in the union-backed Hazards magazine ahead of International Workers’ Memorial Day, argues union organising can make the difference. “Whether you describe it as the ‘union dividend’, ‘union advantage’ or ‘union effect’, there is a long-established, well-tested proof of the life-saving impact of union organisation at work. It shows walking out or being walked all over can be a life or death decision.”
Organising for occupational health and safety is the theme this year for the 28 April event.
Full story: Everyday heroes: The lifesaving union effect. Hazards, number 161, 2023.
Canada: Workers’ Day of Mourning | Canadian Union of Public Employees
Apr 28, 2023
Work must be healthy and safe. COVID-19 pandemic emergency measures are over, but workers still have the right to be protected from the dangers of respiratory illnesses in their work. It’s not just COVID-19. Infections can damage workers’ health and put their lives at risk.
Workers are facing increased pressure to “get back to normal” while still trying to recover from the pandemic’s intense work pace and emotional, physical, and personal demands. The impacts on mental health continue to emerge, impacts most workplaces aren’t equipped to deal with it.
Workers must keep pushing their employers to prevent exposure to communicable illnesses and to deal with the mental injuries caused by work. Employers must provide adequate sick time for workers to recover from all illnesses – health isn’t only from the neck down.
Unacceptable losses
Workers in Canada continue to be killed at a completely unacceptable rate. The most recent available statistics show that nearly 1,000 workers are killed on the job each year – a number that does not include claims rejected by compensation boards.
This year, we remember the following CUPE members who died because of work in 2022:
- Sherri Anne D’Amour, CUPE 5167, Ontario
- Michael Boulanger, CUPE 4705, Ontario
- Wilmer Gonzalez, CUPE 2740, Saskatchewan
Remembering your four rights
As trade unionists, it is our responsibility to continue this fight. We must ensure that all workers know about the four workers’ rights enshrined in every health and safety law in the country:
- The right to refuse work you believe is unsafe until an investigation can be carried out;
- The right to participate in deciding what is safe in the workplace and to report hazards;
- The right to information on any hazard in the workplace that may cause harm, and how to prevent that harm;
- The right to be free from reprisal for carrying out any of the other rights or any other requirement of health and safety law.
The role of health and safety committees
Employers across Canada must provide a healthy and safe workplace. Employers are legally obligated to collaborate with workers on health and safety committees to highlight issues and find safe solutions.
Let’s build capacity, document workplace hazards, keep careful records, and demand that workers be protected from hazards we can’t remove. It’s not enough to acknowledge danger, it must be addressed. When an employer fails to uphold their duty of care, we must take the next steps with government inspectors.
https://cupe.ca/event/workers-day-mourning