In Mexico, BWI affiliate CIT marked Workers’ Memorial Day through a social media campaign supporting BWI’s action on heat stress. The initiative highlighted the dangers extreme temperatures pose to workers and promoted awareness of the need for stronger occupational health and safety protections.
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In Brazil, BWI affiliated unions including SINTRACOM Londrina, SINTRIVEL, Químicos Unificados, SINTEPAV-BA and others marked Workers’ Memorial Day through remembrance events, workplace training, demonstrations and safety campaigns involving around 1,000 participants. Activities highlighted the importance of occupational health and safety, workers’ rights and prevention of workplace accidents. A major protest at the Amanco plant denounced unsafe conditions following a serious injury in which a subcontracted worker lost his hand. Unions also carried out extensive worksite visits and awareness activities linked to the “Green April” campaign for safer workplaces.
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In Panama, BWI affiliate SUNTRACS marked Workers’ Memorial Day with a nationwide programme of workplace assemblies, training sessions, videos and social media campaigns involving over 2,000 participants. Activities commemorated workers killed in past accidents while promoting occupational health and safety, mental health and stronger prevention measures. The union carried out on-site talks and risk prevention training across multiple projects, highlighting workers’ rights secured through collective bargaining and reaffirming its long-standing campaign for safer working conditions and reduced workplace deaths.
BWI affiliate UOCRA marked Workers’ Memorial Day with training, videos, workplace assessments and social media safety campaigns. Activities addressed heat stress prevention, psychosocial risks including stress and harassment, and safety measures for high-risk construction work such as working at height. The union also carried out workplace risk assessments and practical safety training, emphasising prevention, worker participation and the recognition of health and safety as a fundamental right.
In Peru, BWI affiliate, FTCCP marked Workers’ Memorial Day with a broad campaign of seminars, training sessions, videos and social media outreach focused on occupational safety and health in construction. Activities included the certification of the first 50 workplace safety promoters under the “I build health and safety” programme, alongside virtual training on risk assessment and fall prevention. Working with government bodies and industry organisations, the union emphasised prevention, worker education and stronger safety standards to reduce fatal and disabling workplace accidents.
In the Dominican Republic, BWI affiliates including FENTICOMMC, AMACOA, FUNTRACON and FETRACOM marked Workers’ Memorial Day through training, awareness activities and a candlelight ceremony honouring victims of occupational accidents and diseases. Events in San Francisco de Macorís and Santo Domingo focused on workplace risks, legal protections and prevention measures, with particular attention to heat stress and hazardous materials. The activities concluded with a candlelight ceremony attended by more than 300 construction workers.
Remember the dead, fight for the living!
Photo Courtesy: Mayday Multimedia
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.
The memorial program was part of IOHSAD’s build-up activity for May Day, pushing mainly the criminalization of OSH Standards violations.
On World Day for Safety and Health at Work, unions warn that stress, long hours and toxic workplaces have become the biggest killers at work. Long hours alone cause 745,000 deaths yearly, with over 840,000 total deaths linked to psychosocial risks, 70,000 work-related suicides and 12 billion days lost to depression and anxiety.
Behind the daily reality of work, millions of working people are facing relentless pressure: long hours, job insecurity, impossible targets and toxic workplace cultures. These are not just bad jobs – they are dangerous jobs. Stress, anxiety and burnout are now causing more harm globally than traditional workplace hazards such as chemicals or dust.
A new ITUC report “Tackling Psychosocial risks at work: how stresses and strains can kill workers and how unions can save them” shows the scale of the crisis:
The International Labour Organisation (ILO) has also published a ground breaking report titled “ The psychosocial working environment: Global developments and pathways for action” that sheds light on the global epidemy of PSR at work. It shows that:
Psychosocial risks depend on three interrelated levels of factors that shape the psychosocial working environment:
According to a PSI global survey on OSH risks among public service workers, with 54 affiliates responding from 32 countries across all continents and PSI sectors and professions, psychosocial risks—including work-related stress and mental health—are identified as the most pressing workplace issue (75% of respondents). These are followed by understaffing and workload pressure (67.3%), workplace violence and harassment (55.8%), and long working hours (40.4%). Notably, all four of the highest-rated OSH risks identified by public service unions fall within the broader category of primary or contributing factors to psychosocial risks.
PSI will review and discuss priorities and actions related to psychosocial risks in public services during the next PSI Global OSH Network meeting on 22 September 2026.
Question: Which of the following OSH issues are most urgent in the sector(s) your union represents?
Source: PSI OSH Global Network Survey 2025-2026
The ILO emphasizes that psychosocial risks can be prevented through organizational approaches that address their root causes. It also highlights the importance of integrating psychosocial risk management into occupational safety and health systems, supported by social dialogue between governments, employers, and workers.
Across the world, unions are proving that change is possible. Evidence shows that a strong, democratic trade union presence in the workplace is the most effective protection against psychosocial risks, improving workers’ health and economic outcomes.
Trade unions worldwide are calling for:
The European Agency for Occupational Safety and Health (EU-OSHA) has also marked World Day for Safety and Health at Work, unveiling a new website for the Healthy Workplaces Campaign 2026-2028 ‘Together for mental health at work’. The website, is an anticipation of the EU-OSHA campaign on psychosocial risks at work that will kick-off in October 2026 and offers a first look at the upcoming campaign’s focus: managing and preventing psychosocial risks and their impact on workers and organisations. The websites carries materials, including the campaign guide, flyer and poster, to learn more about how to raise awareness and take action.
Many resources are available for unions, workers and OSH reps who wish to bring progressive change and tackle psychosocial risks at work:
On 28 April, we the trade unions remember the dead – and fight for the living. Work should not cost lives. It must protect lives, dignity and mental health.
Note: this article draws on written materials from ITUC, ILO and EU-OSHA websites.
