The CTSP and affiliates were on the streets of Mauritius today, hundreds of migrant workers, women and youth participated in the demonstration to mark the world safety day and to denounce all violations of labour and human rights. A new page of history was written today.
International Workers’ Memorial Day (IWMD) 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.
International Workers’ Memorial Day is on the 28th April 2024.
We “Remember the Dead, and Fight for the Living” by pledging to fight for healthier and safer workplaces. Scottish Hazards research indicates that, in Scotland, more than 10 people die each day as a result of work-related incidents and illness. Many of these deaths are caused by health & safety failures.
Events take place across Scotland to commemorate those who lost their lives at work:
Irvine: Memorial Garden, Kilwinning Road: 1pm
Aberdeen: Aberdeen City Council Trade Unions, Duthie Park: 10.30am
Aberdeen: Action on Asbestos, Johnstone Gardens: 12 noon
Alloa: Memorial Stone, Kilncraigs (adjacent to Clackmannanshire HQ): 10.30am
Bathgate: Bathgate Sports Centre, Torpichen Road: 11am
Greenock: Clyde Square, Greenock: 11am
Inverness: Workers’ Memorial, Friar’s Shot, Huntly Street (provisional): 12 noon
Kirkwall: Memorial Tree, Orkney Island Council Offices: 12 noon
South Ayrshire: Rozelle House, Monument Road, Ayr 10am
Stirling: Memorial Tree, Old Viewforth: 10.45am
Alexandria: Memorial Tree, Christie Park: 1pm
Clydebank: Truth and Justice Square, Hume Street: 1pm
Falkirk: Bandstand, Callendar Riggs, Falkirk: 11am
Glasgow: Workers Memorial, People’s Palace/ Winter Gardens, Glasgow Green: 12 noon
Kilmarnock: Memorial Tree, Dean Country Park: 11am
Kirkcaldy: Memorial Tree, Beveridge Park: 11am
Aberdeen: Persley Walled Garden, Bridge of Don: 1pm
Bonnyrigg: Michael McGahey Memorial, George V Park, Bonnyrigg: 12.30pm
Coatbridge: Summerlee Industrial Museum, Heritage Way, Coatbridge: 12 noon
Dundee: Memorial Tree, adjacent to Discovery Point, Riverside Drive: 12 noon
Edinburgh: Memorial and Tree, West Princes Street Gardens: 12.30pm
Forfar: Forfar Community Campus, Kirriemuir Road: 11.30am
Hamilton: Townhouse, Beckford Street: 11.45am
Paisley: Workers Memorial , Renfrewshire House, Cotton Street: 12 noon
Renfrew: Workers Memorial Cairn, Robertson Park, Paisley Road: 11am
https://www.stuc.org.uk/about-iwmd/
The National Day of Mourning, observed annually in Canada on April 28, pays tribute to those who have lost their lives, been injured, become ill or suffered tragedy at work. It’s a day to remember those who have suffered because of their work. It’s also a day to renew our collective commitment to improving workplace health and safety, and to preventing further injuries, illnesses, and deaths. This year’s theme is “Safe Work Now!”
Today the Day of Mourning is observed in more than 100 countries around the world and is also known as International Workers’ Memorial Day. The International Labour Organisation (ILO) and the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) recognize this day as World Day for Safety and Health at Work.
According to the Association of Workers’ Compensation Boards of Canada (AWCBC), there were 993 workplace fatalities in Canada in 2022, including 941 men, 50 women and 2 non-binary people, as well as 33 young workers between the ages of 15 and 24. In addition to these fatalities, 348,747 lost-time injury claims were accepted across the country. This represents an increase of 75,000 cases compared to 2021.
We are well aware that these figures do not reflect reality, since they do not include work-related injuries that employers try to conceal by persuading workers not to report them, offering them instead in-house accommodations without medical advice as a way to recover.
By using this approach, employers neglect declaring these cases as disabling injuries resulting in time lost.
For more information on the various statistics, please consult the Association of Workers’ Compensation Boards of Canada link below:
https://awcbc.org/en/statistics/canadian-workers-compensation-system-year-at-a-glance
To find out about the various activities planned across the country on Sunday, April 28, 2024, I invite you to consult the Canadian Labour Congress website at:
Day of Mourning Ceremonies 2024 | Canadian Labour Congress
We have asked Canada Post to fly the Canadian flag at half-mast and observe a minute of silence at all the facilities that will be in operation that day.
An injury to one is an injury to all.
Te envío la campaña de USO para el Día Internacional de la Seguridad y la Salud en el Trabajo, la hemos centrado en la necesidad de aplicar la perspectiva de género y edad en la prevención de riesgos laborales y la salud laboral.
El lema de la campaña es “Mismo riesgo, diferentes consecuencias”, porque no afectan igual los ritmos de trabajo, sobreesfuerzos o riesgos químicos, por poner algunos ejemplos, si eres mujer u hombre, persona joven o más mayor.
Los materiales de esta campaña son:
· Manifiesto.
· Díptico en formato Preguntas Frecuentes sobre cómo aplicar la perspectiva de género y edad en la PRL.
As one company steps up to do the right thing in the Netherlands, another CEO faces charges for the 2020 death of a New Zealand stevedore
Fatigue is a seafarer’s constant reality. Imagine arriving in port after days on end of 10-16-hour shifts, facing harsh weather and frequent stops at ports taking away your chance to rest, not to mention the emotional and mental challenges of working in a risky environment for little pay, often thousands of miles away from beloved friends and family.
Then imagine being asked to take on a complex, dangerous job you have no training for: the lashing and unlashing of huge, heavy, metal containers – which can weigh up to 30,000kg, or around 16 times the weight of an average car – all while handling steel rods, turnbuckles, chains and wire rope, all rigged under tension.
It’s little wonder that forcing seafarers to do dockers’ work – which dockers are specifically trained to undertake – leads to the injury and deaths of seafarers every year, all around the world. And all because already highly profitable shipping companies prioritise their bottom lines over the safety of their workers.
Unifeeder’s positive step praised by European transport unions
So, when shipping companies decide to do the right thing and work constructively with workers and their unions, the trade union movement will always give positive acknowledgement where it’s due – which is why transport unions from across Europe are warmly welcoming Unifeeder ensuring that its vessels abide by the Non-Seafarers’ Work Clause (NSWC) in the Port of Rotterdam, the Netherlands.
ITF-affiliated unions, Nautilus International, Netherlands, the Estonian Seamen’s Independent Union, the Latvian Federation of Water Transport Workers, ver.di (Germany), the Pan-Hellenic Seamen’s Federation (Greece) and the Federeção de Sindicatos dos Trabalhadores do Mar (Portugal), all have collective bargaining agreements with the ship owners/managers that are operated by Unifor.
Alongside the ITF itself, they praise the “good work” of Unifeeder in ensuring that its ships in Rotterdam abide by the NWSC: that in a port where dock workers provide the cargo handling services, the ship’s crew are only allowed to carry out the work if there are not sufficient numbers of qualified dock workers available and there is prior agreement of the ITF Dockers Union or ITF Unions concerned.
The unions said to Unifeeder: “We welcome this development and strongly encourage Unifeeder to keep up the good work. We hope Unifeeder will continue honouring the applicable Non-Seafarers’ Work Clause, in Dutch ports as well as in other ports.”
New Zealand port CEO on the hook for lashing death – guilty verdict could trigger change across sector
The ever-present dangers of dock work and the all-too-often seen disregard for workers’ safety are also laid bare by new charges facing former Ports of Auckland CEO Tony Gibson – the first time a New Zealand chief executive has been charged over a workplace fatality.
Gibson faces personal charges from the NZ Maritime Safety Authority of breaching the country’s Health and Safety at Work Act 2015, in what the New Zealand Herald calls an “unprecedented prosecution”.
Port worker and father of six, Pala’amo (Amo) Kalati, was tragically killed in 2020 in the hold of a container ship while conducting lashing work. A crane lifting two 20ft containers was still partially connected to a third, which then broke free and fell into the hold, crushing Amo.
The port’s policies include a rule prohibiting lashers from working three containers from an operating crane. But the Maritime Safety Authority argues that policies were not appropriate to the risks, nor were they properly documented and implemented. Worse still, after four previous health and safety prosecutions under Gibson, the CEO already had a duty to act.
The corporate entity of the Ports of Auckland pleaded guilty to two charges of breaching the Health and Safety at Work Act in 2023, receiving a NZ$561,000 fine. But it is believed that if Gibson is found guilty it could trigger an overdue review of how dock work is undertaken across the New Zealand port sector.
Are you seafarer that has been told to do lashing work?
If your company, master or officer is asking you to do lashing and unlashing in ports and they have no written permission from the local dockers’ union then they are in breach of this agreement. Let us know if this happens to you by sending us an email detailing what happened, the vessel name and location to ReclaimLashing@itf.org.uk
We will keep your details confidential to the ITF and won’t tell your employer. Protect your safety and support your brothers and sisters on the docks by refusing to do lashing and unlashing work in ports on vessels covered by ITF agreements!
https://www.itfglobal.org/en/news/workers-memorial-day-daily-dangers-seafarers-and-dockers-face-work
Sunday 28 April 2024
Media Release and Alert: Unions Tasmania to host International Workers’ Memorial Day service, calls on Premier to prioritise industrial manslaughter laws
Unions Tasmania will host a second commemorative service for workers and community members in nipaluna/Hobart today as part of International Workers’ Memorial Day (IWMD). IWMD is marked globally by unions and workers each year to remember those who have been killed or seriously injured in their work, and to push for stronger safety laws to prevent future workplace deaths.
Following a moving service in Launceston this morning attended by families, community members, unionists, and politicians, Unions Tasmania will host a southern service along with unveiling a building banner calling on the Premier to introduce industrial manslaughter laws in Tasmania.
In the decade to 2022, Tasmania has seen 87 workplace related fatalities and around 7,500 workers compensation claims from injured workers each year. Clearly our safety laws are not adequately protecting workers from serious injury and death.
After years of advocacy by Unions Tasmania, the Tasmanian Government commenced a consultation process to consider the implementation of industrial manslaughter laws in Tasmania but is yet to make any commitment.
With parliament set to return in less than two weeks’ time, Unions Tasmania is calling on Premier Rockliff to make worker safety a priority and get these laws passed urgently.
“Unions Tasmania hosts these commemorative services on International Workers Memorial Day as an opportunity to mourn, reflect, share memories, and give dignity to those who have lost their lives because of their employment – and to renew our shared commitment as a community to workplace safety,” said Unions Tasmania Secretary, Jessica Munday.
“Over the recent election campaign, Unions Tasmania secured commitments from Labor, the Greens, and the independent members to introduce industrial manslaughter laws. With a majority of the House of Assembly now in support of these laws, it is time for the Rockliff Government to drop their opposition, stand up for workers, and make industrial manslaughter law in Tasmania.”
Event details
Today, on International Workers’ Memorial Day, we honour the workers who have died at work, or because of their work, and recommit ourselves to making workplaces safe for all workers.
Every year, 200 workers are killed at work, with more than 5,000 dying from work related diseases. We must do better.
Ensuring safe and healthy workplaces has always been one of the fundamental roles of unions, and union members play a fundamental role in making our workplaces safer.
Workplace health and safety is a global issue, and will always be union business.
Earlier this week we commemorated the 11th anniversary of the Rana Plaza collapse in Bangladesh, where 1,134 textile workers lost their lives in 2013.
The tragedy shone a global spotlight on the importance of workplace health and safety.
In the aftermath, the hard work and bravery of local and global trade unionists lead to the establishment of the International Accord for Health and Safety in the Textile and Garment Industry, which promotes safe workplaces through independent safety inspections, training programs and a complaints mechanism to safeguard workers against occupational health and safety risks.
With over 200 global brands and retailers sourcing from Bangladesh and/or Pakistan having signed the agreement to date, the initiative is continually growing, with hopes it will soon spread to other countries; improving the safety of millions more workers’ lives.
This year, the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) is demanding urgent action to tackle ‘Climate Risks for Workers’ – the escalating dangers posed by the climate crisis to workers globally.
The climate crisis is no longer a distant threat; it’s a present danger to workers around the globe.It’s imperative that we demand robust policies and practices to protect our working people from the hazardous impacts of climate change.
Our call to action is clear: we must integrate climate risk assessments and emergency preparedness into our occupational safety and health standards.
Luc Triangle, ITUC General Secretary
In Australia, thanks to union members, we’re one step closer to achieving secure jobs for a safe climate with the Albanese Government introducing the Net Zero Economy Authority Bill 2024 into Parliament earlier this month.
The new Authority will drive public and private sector investment and the creation of good jobs in new, clean industries, all while supporting workers to transition to secure jobs.
This Bill stems from more than a decade of tireless campaigning by unions, with members working in coal-fired power plants leading the charge and building support across government, community, business, investors, and climate organisations.
Last month, Australia moved closer towards a full ban on engineered stone, with the Government’s decision to implement new regulations to protect all workers from exposure to silica dust.
As many as 1 in 4 stonemasons are being diagnosed with silicosis following inhalation of crystalline silica dust while cutting, grinding, or drilling engineered stone, and estimates suggest that without further protections, as many as 103,000 Australian workers will develop silicosis at work.
The war on silicosis is not over, but none of the progress we have won so far would been possible without hard fought-for campaigning by unions, like the CFMEU, and the decision by unions to stop working with engineered stone from mid-2024.
Every worker has the right to a safe workplace. When you go to work each day, you should expect to return home uninjured and in the same state of health as when you left.
Joining your union is the best thing you can do to make your workplace safer and create a world where no workers lose their lives on the job.
On 25 April, ahead of Workers Memorial Day on April 28, the AFL-CIO released their 33rd annual report, Death on the Job: The Toll of Neglect. This annual report serves as a national and state-by-state profile of worker safety and health, offering direction to policymakers and regulatory bodies as they strive to address the scourge of working people facing death, injury and illness at work. Among the report’s startling data are the disproportionate rates of Latino and Black workers at risk of dying on the job. Black workers are facing the highest job fatality rates in nearly 15 years and Latino workers continue to face the greatest risk of dying on the job, compared to all other workers.
The report also sheds light on the enormous cost of job injuries and illness on our society—an estimated $174 billion to $348 billion a year—and the flat-funded budget for job safety agencies to fulfill their growing duties, which do not even keep up with inflation. It also outlines key strategies to address this crisis, including a renewed commitment to regulatory oversight agencies, improved data and transparency, stronger deterrents against employer retaliation, and prioritizing standard-setting and enforcement.
“Despite workers’ hard-won safety and health rights, this report shows the fight is far from over,” said AFL-CIO President Liz Shuler. “Too many workers face retaliation for reporting unsafe working conditions or injuries, while low penalties fail to deter employers from following the law. The alarming disparities in workplace fatalities among workers of color are unacceptable, symptomatic of deeply ingrained racial inequity and the need to pay increased attention to the dangerous industries that treat workers as disposable. As we honor those who have fallen this Workers Memorial Day, we remain committed to holding corporations accountable so that all jobs are safe jobs—where every worker can return home safely at the end of the day.”
“This report exposes an urgent crisis for workers of color and reaffirms what we’ve long known: When we talk about justice for workers, we must prioritize racial equity,” said AFL-CIO Secretary-Treasurer Fred Redmond. “The fact that Black and Latino workers continue to die on the job at disproportionate rates demands a reckoning with the failure of employers to protect them. We must honor the lives lost on the job with action, as we recommit ourselves to advancing safety, health and equity for all workers.”
This year’s report reveals that in 2022:
These sobering findings stress the urgent need for immediate action to prioritize worker safety and shed light on the escalating challenges facing workplace protections. Progress has been hindered by growing opposition from big corporations to workers’ rights and protections. Extremist politicians have also unnecessarily politicized critical issues such as climate change and the COVID-19 pandemic, which has created more challenges to longstanding problems of heat and infectious disease exposure in the workplace, and the lack of funding has left our agencies scrambling to keep up.
And in this critical election year, the stakes are even higher for those who need safe working conditions. The stark difference between the Biden and Trump administrations’ worker safety and health records underscore this significant moment for workers. While the Biden administration has issued strong standards and enforcement initiatives and has tirelessly worked to rebuild and fortify job and safety agencies after years of neglect and erosion, the prior administration’s actions led to severe understaffing, the repeal of essential worker safety laws, restrictions on public access to vital information and weak enforcement against employers who violate the law.
In light of these report findings and obstacles we continue to face, the AFL-CIO remains committed to prioritizing the prevention of injury, illness and fatalities at work, advocating for strong standards and organizing for safer working conditions while supporting leaders like President Biden who champion workers’ rights to a safe job. While there is still much work ahead, our advocacy for policies that protect workers and hold employers accountable remains steadfast. Collaboration with lawmakers, activists and allies will continue to advance workplace safety initiatives, ensuring that every worker has the opportunity to thrive in a safe and healthy environment.
https://aflcio.org/press/releases/afl-cio-releases-2024-death-job-report-ahead-workers-memorial-day
St Helen’s Workers Memorial is based on a glass worker playing with their child in the open air. Attendees pin purple forget-me- knot ribbons to the coat each year. Very beautiful and moving.
All set for tomorrow Remember the dead fight for the living pic.twitter.com/vzGQcpwPKb
— The Workers Memorial (@MemorialWorkers) April 27, 2024
Climate change is posing a growing danger to the health and safety of workers, as deaths, workplace injuries, stress-related diseases and occupational illnesses caused by extreme weather events and higher temperatures have soared. In order to ensure there is no worker losing their life or health trying to earn a living, trade unions are mobilising around the world as part of the International Workers’ Memorial Day, to raise awareness on Climate risks for workers, and the importance of trade union rights to mitigate them.
Warmly inviting the climate movement to join trade unions in this mobilisation, Bert de Wel from the International trade Union Confederation, added “Working people are on the front line of the climate crisis. For them it’s not a distant threat, but a lived reality and a present danger. We believe that this is also a question of democracy, and how democracy can deliver the great changes we need to respond to the climate emergency. Democratic workplaces give workers a voice in adapting their jobs to be safer, transition to be environmentally sustainable and contribute positively to society. As the ITUC campaign For Democracy says, real democracies deliver for working people, and that includes delivering climate-friendly policies.”
“Workers and their communities are bearing the worst impacts of climate change, with higher temperatures and more extreme and unpredictable weather events. We need to secure workers’ rights, including the right to safe and healthy working environments. Workers and communities have to be at the forefront of Just Transitions to ensure a more just, safer, cleaner and peaceful future for all. Through deep solidarity between workers and climate justice activists we can grow stronger movements to address the root causes of the climate crisis. CAN members around the world will join events organised by the trade union movement for the International Workers Memorial Day as a demonstration of this solidarity” said Tasneem Essop, Executive Director of Climate Action Network International.
The International Labour Organisation estimates that worldwide in 2020 there were 22.85 million occupational injuries, 18,967 deaths and 2.09 million disability-adjusted life years lost to occupational injuries attributable to workplace heat exposure (ITUC “A Bad Climate” Report).
More resources and a map of the different events being organised are available on the 28April website.
CAN JOINS CALLS FROM TRADE UNIONS TO TACKLE CLIMATE RISKS FOR WORKERS