(St. John’s) – The president of CUPE Newfoundland and Labrador, Wayne Lucas, is urging people to use this year’s National Day of Mourning for workers killed or injured on the job to “remember the dead by fighting for the living”.
Says Lucas, “April 28 is particularly important for CUPE members as it was CUPE’s National Health and Safety Committee, who in 1984, first proposed the idea for a day to honour workers injured or killed at work.”
This year will mark the 28th National Day of Mourning and it will be recognized in more than a hundred countries around the world.
Conservative estimates report that on average, three Canadian workers are killed every day. That means in a typical year, there are approximately 1,000 workers killed in Canada.
“Add these statistics to the approximately one million workplace injuries and thousands of workers who are made sick or diseased by their work or workplaces in Canada and you can see we have a lot more work to do on this issue,” says Lucas.
Today in our province and all across Canada, ceremonies are being held to recognize workers who have been killed or injured in the workplace during the last year.
Says Lucas, “One workplace death is one too many. We cannot give up on this important struggle until we have reached that goal.”
(Photo caption: Day of Mourning, Town of Gander and Province of NL flags fly at half mast April 28 in memory of workers killed or injured at work.)