Workers? Memorial Day April 28, 2009

            Decades of struggle by members of the IAMAW and other international unions and their members have resulted in significant improvements in working conditions.  But the toll of workplace injuries, illnesses and deaths remains enormous.  Each year, thousands of workers are killed and millions more are injured or diseased because of their jobs.  The IAMAW and other international unions of the AFL-CIO remember these workers on April 28, Workers Memorial Day.  This year’s theme is: Good Jobs. Safe Jobs. Give Workers a Voice for a Change.

            The first Workers’ Memorial Day was observed in 1989.  April 28 was chosen because it is the anniversary of the Occupational Safety and Health Administration and the day of a similar remembrance in Canada.  Every year, people in hundreds of communities and at worksites recognize workers who have been killed or injured on the job.  Trade unionists around the world now mark April 28 as an International Day of Mourning.

Here are some materials and information to help you participate in this year’s Workers’ Memorial Day:

Workers Memorial Day 2009 Materials

• Read the 2008 edition of Death on the Job or download the complete 2008 report (PDF); (The 2009 edition will be available in April.)
• Workers Memorial Day flier;
• Workers Memorial Day poster; 
• Workers Memorial Day clip art in English and Spanish—
  • Mourn for the Dead, Fight for the Living and
  • Good Jobs, Safe Jobs. Give Workers a Voice for a Change.

• Workers Memorial Day stickers.
• Workers Memorial Day events form;
        Workers Memorial Day proclamation;
        Safety & health update (February 2009);

Here are some other ways we honor workers who have been killed or injured on the job:

• A Collection of Workers’ Memorials and
• Workers Memorial Day poems and tributes.

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