Workers Killed, Hurt on the Job Honored on Workers' Memorial Day

CWA members took part in memorials and other events nationwide April 28, Workers' Memorial Day. Picture are events in Boston, Mass., above, and South Bend, Ind., below.

From Boston to Sacramento, hundreds of Workers' Memorial Day events last Thursday brought together union members and other activists to honor and mourn working people killed or injured on the job.

Memorial events reminded workers that 2011 marks the 40th anniversary of the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, whose oversight has greatly reduced safety and health risks at U.S. workplaces.

CWA members joined with central labor councils to host memorials and other activities from coast to coast, including Trenton, New York City, Buffalo, Philadelphia, Washington, D.C., Akron, Cleveland, Houston, Tacoma, Seattle, San Francisco and Los Angeles.

In South Bend, Ind., Local 4900 members joined with the state’s AFL-CIO for a festival that offered safety and health education, and honored an Indiana union activist who died fighting a fire in 2010.

In Boston, IUE-CWA Local 81201 and other unions honored 47 workers who lost their lives on the job in Massachusetts in 2010. The event brought together victims’ families, community members and workplace safety advocates, who collectively called on the state legislature to take action to prevent the loss of more workers’ lives.