Honoring lives lost on the job

Workers' Memorial Day is April 28

In Wheeling, West Virginia’s Rutherford Park, families will share memories of loved ones lost on the job. Names will be read, bells will be run and a wreath will be laid at the coal miner memorial.

In Concord, New Hampshire, the names of those who lost their lives on the job during the past year will be added to the New Hampshire Coalition for Occupational Safety and Health’s perpetual memorial plaque. Family members of the deceased workers will attend a buffet dinner and her speakers.
In Albuquerque, New Mexico, the OSHA Education Center at the University of Texas at Arlington will offer a free OSHA safety class.

All across the country events will be held on Workers’ Memorial Day, April 28, and the days leading up to it to recognize the more than 4,000 workers killed on the job each year, as well as the nearly four million workers are injured or made sick at work.

"We must fight back"

With a new administration in place, this year’s ceremonies may be more political in tone than in the past.

The AFL-CIO says on its website that the safety and health gains workers have won are now threatened.

“The Trump administration has launched an all-out assault on regulations. The president has ordered that for every new protection, two existing safeguards must be removed from the books. At the same time Republicans in Congress have moved quickly to overturn new rules issued by the Obama administration. Agency budgets and enforcement programs are on the chopping block. The safety and health of workers and the public are in danger.

"We must fight back. We cannot and will not let them turn back the clock and destroy the progress we have made to make jobs safer and save lives.”