Each and every day in this country, an average of 13 workers die on the job as a result of workplace injuries—women and men who go to work, never to return home to their families and loved ones. In 2015, more than 4,800 workers were killed on the job. But that is only a part of the deadly toll. Each year, between 50,000 and 60,000 workers die from occupational diseases caused by exposures to toxic chemicals and other health hazards. That’s a total of 150 workers dying each and every day.
Commemorations in Wisconsin
Rhinelander
Thursday, April 27
5pm-5:30pm
Pioneer Park, Oneida Ave., Rhinelander
There will be observance of fallen workers through poetry, song, and a bell ceremony. Bring a chair.
Wausau
Friday, April 28th
5:30pm
Workers’ Memorial Site*: 388 River Dr., Wausau
Local legislators, unions and family members of the deceased have been invited to speak.
*Rain site is at Wausau Labor Temple: 318 S. 3rd Ave., Wausau
Since job safety laws were passed more than four decades ago, we’ve made great progress in making workplaces safer and protecting workers on the job. This progress didn’t just happen because laws were passed. It happened because workers and their unions organized, fought and demanded action from employers and their government.
Virtually every safety and health protection on the books today is there because working men and women joined together in unions to win these protections. It is working people, through their unions, who demanded and won stronger standards to protect workers from asbestos, benzene and other hazards.
This Workers Memorial Day, honor those who never came home from work and who suffered fatal exposure to workplace chemicals and disease.
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