Worker’s Memorial Day 2009
April 28th is designated “Worker’s Memorial Day” by organized labor worldwide to call attention to worker deaths, injuries and disease caused by unsafe and unhealthful workplaces. In the United States alone in 2007, almost 6,000 deaths were attributed to workplace hazards.
In Philadelphia, there is an annual breakfast observance with noted speakers and a memorial procession to Penn’s Landing to recognize area workers killed by the job. This year 172 names were read aloud, one by one, at the Penn’s Landing memorial service. These 172 area workers were killed in just the past year. Flowers were cast into the Delaware River, symbolizing continuing life flow and reaffirming the struggle to prevent injury, disease and death on the job. The keynote speaker was US Congressman, 8th District, Patrick Murphy. He pledged support to the “Employee Free Choice Act” and the “Protecting America’s Workers Act”. Both pieces of legislation are priorities of organized labor to enhance worker rights and resources in the fight for workplace health and safety. This event is locally cosponsored by the Philadelphia County AFL-CIO and the Philadelphia Area Project on Occupational Safety and Health (PhilaPOSH).
- Paul Grubb
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