Workers Memorial Day 2023
Representing manufacturing, production, maintenance and sanitation workers in the baking, confectionery, tobacco and grain milling industries.
bctgm, bakers union, tobacco union, candy union, food workers, food workers union, grain millers, grain millers union, mondelez, nabisco, snack union,
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28 Apr Workers Memorial Day 2023

Posted at 08:56h in Health & Safety, Workers Memorial Day by

More than 50 years ago on April 28, Workers Memorial Day, the Occupational Safety and Health Act went into effect, promising every worker the right to a safe job—a fundamental right. The law was won because of the tireless efforts of the labor movement, which organized for safer working conditions and demanded action from the government to protect working people. Since then, unions and our allies have fought hard to make that promise a reality—winning protections under the law that have made jobs safer and saved lives. But our work is not done. Each year, thousands of workers are killed and millions more suffer injury and illness because of dangerous working conditions that are preventable.

As we grieve those we have lost from unsafe working conditions, we will organize for safe jobs. We must:

  • Guarantee all workers have a safety voice on the job and the right to freely form a union without employer interference or intimidation.
  • Ensure all workers can select their own representative during an OSHA inspection.
  • Increase efforts to protect Black, Latino and immigrant workers who are disproportionately affected by and especially targeted for speaking up against unsafe working conditions.
  • Increase job safety budgets and improve job safety enforcement.
  • Win new protections against heat illness, workplace violence, silica exposure in mining, infectious diseases, exposure to asbestos and other toxic chemicals, and other preventable hazardous exposures.
  • Pass the Protecting America’s Workers Act (PAWA) to provide OSHA protection to the millions of workers without it, stronger criminal and civil penalties for companies that violate job safety laws, and improved anti-retaliation protections.
  • Defend hard-won safety and health protections and workers’ rights from attacks.

Together on this Workers Memorial Day, we raise our collective voices to win stronger safety and health protections in our workplaces and stronger job safety and health laws. We hold employers accountable to keep workers safe. We demand action on critical safety and health protections against preventable workplace hazards. We demand more resources from Congress for our nation’s job safety agencies to hold employers accountable. We demand dignity at work.

We will organize and fight for the fundamental right of every worker to a safe job until that promise is fulfilled.

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