Workers Memorial Day Highlights Fight for Safe Jobs

Unions across the country will mark Workers Memorial Day on April 28, honoring the thousands of workers who are killed and the millions injured on the job each year.

"More than three decades ago, Congress passed the Occupational Safety and Health Act, promising every worker the right to a safe job," the AFL-CIO says. "Unions and our allies have fought hard to make that promise a reality — winning protections that have saved hundreds of thousands of lives and prevented millions of workplace injuries. Nonetheless, the toll of workplace injuries, illnesses and deaths remains enormous."

In 2006, the most current statistics available, more than 4.1 million workers were injured and 5,703 workers were killed due to job hazards. Another 50,000 died due to occupational diseases.

A key worker safety issue for CWA in recent years has been protecting telecom workers from electric shock. Between CWA and the IBEW, four Verizon technicians were killed in electrocution accidents in 2006 and 2007. Others have been injured and many more have had close calls. Pushed by CWA, Verizon is now training workers nationwide on electrical safety issues.

The vast majority of worker deaths go unnoticed by the general public, except in the case of tragedies that make news. One such events occurred March 15 in New York City when a crane collapse crushed a building and killed seven people, including four members of the Operating Engineers.

The New York Times wrote, "Their last moments must have been horrifying, co-workers said. They said the crane operator (union member Wayne Bleidner) was most likely trying to spare more lives by exerting what little control he had from the cab as the crane toppled over more than a city block."

OSHA is investigating the accident and says about 80 workers a year die in crane-related incidents. The Bureau of National Affairs reports, however, that OSHA has missed a deadline it set for new rules on crane and derrick safety.

CWA and AFL-CIO health and safety experts say missed deadlines for rules to protect workers are nothing new for OSHA under the Bush administration, which has pushed workplace safety issues to a back burner.

"At the behest of corporate interests, the administration has moved to roll back and weaken protections," the AFL-CIO says. "Voluntary compliance has been favored over issuing new protective standards and enforcement. Progress has ground to a halt and may be reversing. Many workers have little or no protection and major hazards remain unaddressed. Catastrophes in coal mines and factories continue, with little action to prevent them."

CWA is urging locals to plan events to mark Workers Memorial Day, from safety training sessions to candlelight vigils. Materials to help locals prepare are available online from the AFL-CIO, along with much more information about worker safety.

The theme of the 2008 event is "Good Jobs — Safe Jobs For All." A flier, poster, proclamation and clip art, in English and Spanish, can be downloaded from http://www.aflcio.org/issues/safety/memorial/.

Closer to the day itself, the AFL-CIO will be issuing its annual study, "Death on the Job," which examines deaths, injuries and illness by occupation, state and cause. It also looks at the federal government's track record on issuing workplace safety standards and OSHA's record on enforcing or ignoring safety.