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. Each year, thousands of workers are killed and millions more are injured or diseased because of their jobs. The unions of the AFL-CIO remember these workers on April 28, Workers Memorial Day.
The first Workers Memorial Day was observed in 1989. April 28 was chosen because it is the anniversary of the Occupational Safety and Health Administration and the day of a similar remembrance in Canada. Every year, people in hundreds of communities and at worksites recognize workers who have been killed or injured on the job. Trade unionists around the world now mark April 28 as an International Day of Mourning.
Workers Memorial Day 2009 Materials
- Read the 2009 edition of Death on the Job or (PDF);
- Workers Memorial Day ;
- Workers Memorial Day ;
- Workers Memorial Day clip art in English and Spanish—
- Workers Memorial Day ;
- Workers Memorial Day ;
- Order Workers Memorial Day materials at ;™
- Workers Memorial Day proclamation; and
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- National Labor College Workers Memorial Brochures
Here are some other ways we honor workers who have been killed or injured on the job:
