Workers Memorial Day 4-28-2009

[dcsmart]

The very real threat of being killed or seriously hurt on the job hangs over every worker and workplace in the nation. In 2007—the year with the latest available figures—5,657 workers lost their lives on the job and more than 4 million other workers were hurt or made ill, according to the AFL-CIO’s 18th annual “Death on the Job” report.
'Death on the Job' Report, 2009
http://www.aflcio.org/issues/safety/memorial/doj_2009.cfm

“Death on the Job” reports that another 50,000 to 60,000 workers died due to occupational diseases. On an average day, 15 workers lose their lives as a result of workplace injuries and disease, and another 10,959 are injured. Yet little has been done in recent years, says the report, to improve job safety and protect workers.
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http://www.aflcio.org/issues/safety/memorial/

Workers Memorial Day is April 28 and as part of the preparation for the events and ceremonies to honor workers who have been killed or injured on the job—and to demand improved workplace safety—the AFL-CIO has set up a special Workers Memorial Day Facebook page.

On the just-created page, you can connect with other workplace safety activists, learn about Workers Memorial Day events in your area, or reach out to others to help organize actions where you live. The page also has a gallery of Workers Memorial Day posters from previous years.
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http://blog.aflcio.org/2009/03/05/check-out-workers-memorial-day-via-facebook/#more-11266

Labor Secretary Hilda Solis, who has made worker safety and health a priority, will join workers, union leaders, elected officials and college staff to commemorate Workers Memorial Day by helping break ground for a new national workers memorial at the National Labor College (NLC) campus in Silver Spring, Md.

AFL-CIO President John Sweeney, Secretary-Treasurer Richard Trumka, Mine Workers (UMWA) President Cecil Roberts and NLC President William Scheuerman will Join Solis at the ceremony. The public also is invited to attend.

The April 28 ceremony will be followed by a traditional candle-lighting ceremony and honoring of all fallen workers. Workers Memorial Day, April 28, is the day workers in the United States and around the world honor those killed and injured on the job and call for improved workplace safety.

With workplace fatalities claiming more than 5,600 deaths annually, Solis already has begun to reverse years of worker safety neglect by the Bush administration. Earlier this month, the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) moved quickly to protect workers from a serious lung disease caused by diacetyl, the artificial butter flavoring added to popcorn and other food products. Solis also appointed longtime health and safety advocate Jordan Barab as acting administrator for OSHA.
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http://blog.aflcio.org/2009/04/21/labor-secretary-to-honor-fallen-workers-on-workers-memorial-day/


Workers Memorial Day Remembering our fallen workers (video by USMWF United Support and Memorial For Workplace Fatalities )
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1BKCwPNA7yg&eurl=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.hazards.org%2Fwmd%2Fcountrylistings.htm%23usa&feature=player_embedded
(this is a little hard to watch)

SEE ALSO Omaha Steve's recent posts:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=367x19534
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=367x19524
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=367x19501
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=367x19478
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=367x19579

Rally for killed and injured workers(VIDEO)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZrMeLamlkGQ&eurl=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.hazards.org%2Fwmd%2Fcountrylistings.htm%23usa&feature=player_embedded
Rights On Site - International Day of Mourning (28th April 2009)(VIDEO)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MnfJBX2piXY&eurl=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.hazards.org%2Fwmd%2Fcountrylistings.htm%23usa&feature=player_embedded
Australian construction unions commemorate International Day of mourning.
IT IS THE SAME ALL OVER THE WORLD

Background

Since 1989, the labor movement has observed Workers’ Memorial Day to remember those who have suffered and died on the job. As we remember those who died in workplace catastrophes, suffered diseases due to exposure to toxic substances or injured in dangerous working conditions, we rededicate ourselves to the fight for safe workplaces. As such, a typical theme for Workers Memorial Day has been "Mourn for the Dead, Fight for the Living."

Decades of struggle by workers and their unions have resulted in significant improvements in working conditions. But the toll of workplace injuries, illnesses and deaths remains enormous. More than 56,000 workers die annually from workplace injuries and illnesses; another 6 million are seriously hurt.

April 28 was chosen because it is the anniversary of the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, and has been recognized as an international day remembrance for dead and injured workers since 1996, when a Global Union delegation lit a commemoration candle to highlight the plight of workers at the United Nations. It has been officially endorsed by the International Confederation of Free Trade Unions (ICFTU) and the International Labor Organization (ILO). Eleven countries or territories formally recognize April 28 as a national observance day: Argentina, Belgium, Bermuda, Brazil, Canada, Dominican Republic, Panama, Peru, Portugal, Spain and Taiwan. A Workers' Memorial Day is observed in nearly 100 countries.
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Workers Memorial Day Poems and Tributes
http://www.aflcio.org/issues/safety/memorial/wmd_poem.cfm


Forgot Me Knot(VIDEO)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WNet3G-fl9g

H&S Summit Workers Memorial(VIDEO)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G0-cktZb-fI&feature=related


Audit shows OSHA failed to prevent worker deaths

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration was created in 1970 as a division of the U.S. Department of Labor tasked with preventing work-related injuries, illnesses and deaths by setting and enforcing standards for workplace safety and health.

Where fatalities have occurred on the job, OSHA is supposed to oversee the enforcement of its rules. However, an audit of OSHA’s program for employers with fatalities, released March 31, found that those who qualified for the Enhanced Enforcement Program were almost always overlooked—97 percent of the time. (“Employers with reported fatalities were not always properly identified and inspected under OSHA’s Enhanced Enforcement Program,” Elliot P. Lewis, U.S. Department of Labor, Office of Inspector General—Office of Audit)

Bureau of Labor Statistics figures show an average of more than 5,680 workplace deaths each year in the period from 2003 to 2007. This does not include deaths from work-related illnesses, like asbestosis and some cancers, which kill about 49,000 people per year, according to the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health.
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http://www.workers.org/2009/us/osha_0430/



International Workers' Memorial Day (IWMD)
http://www.nowpublic.com/tech-biz/international-workers-memorial-day-iwmd-28th-april



Solidarity Forever (Pete Seeger) (MUSIC)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kYiKdJoSsb8

Street Dogs ~ There is Power in a Union (MUSIC)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cehLiGxguQI




AN INJURY TO ONE IS AN INJURY TO ALL!

[DiverDave]

1. GET SUPPLEMENTAL INSURANCE !!

I got hurt at work, and they just throw you away.
I was hurt in 1977 and my injury is getting worse.
What did the insurance company do?
They CUT retraining benefits for older injury's.
They will pay for another knee replacement (as of now) at 150K but dont want to spend 5-7K for retraining?

Oh, and I get paid my benefit amount from 1977, with COLA I haven't been on that in awhile but its around 400 a week.

Workmans Comp is a joke, get supplemental insurance.