April 26, 2024 at 10:00 AM
Marked annually in Canada on April 28, the National Day of Mourning is dedicated to remembering those who have lost their lives, suffered injury or illness on the job, or experienced a work-related tragedy. It also serves as an important reminder of the need for continuous efforts to improve workplace safety and prevent such tragedies from occurring.
According to the Association of Workers' Compensation Boards of Canada (AWCBC), in 2022,
there were 1026 workplace fatalities recorded in Canada, including:
- Male workers: 941
- Female workers: 50
- Non-binary: 2
- Young workers (aged 15-24): 33
Standing together in solidarity as a union underscores the importance of advocating for safer working conditions and ensuring that the lives lost are not forgotten. Let us take this day to honor the memories of those who have been affected and recommit ourselves to creating safer workplaces for all.
Of Life and Limb
Workers work, and workers try
to be safe on the ground, but dangers abound;
injuries happen and workers die
—one wonders why.
Despite their efforts or words decreed
safety slumbers and injuries breed
It's a constant struggle ... a tug of war ...
where workers follow and workers lead;
a perpetual quest, a constant need.
For, Health and Safety are the fruits
of careless, callous roots
that sometimes give off a bitter gust
Mostly, workers manage to survive
... but only just.
Together, workers commit
to improve the situation:
the aberration, the deviation of trust
but it takes so long to right a wrong
it takes reciprocation to build up faith.
That's why other things should not come first
but Health and Safety must
... it’s human lives!
Health and Safety should always remain
at its rightful par in the mind
Where it's a constant struggle
while we work
to improve issues unrefined
where workers' blood and workers' sweat
fuse, oft undefined.
Health and Safety, so often at a risk
of being undermined, where untrained eyes
can easily miss
what trained eyes will always find.
It is life and limb that stand at the edge
of an abysmal deep, where we are blind.
We pray to thee—please help us see
what others don't.
All else can wait, but life and limb
won't.
Poem By Yavar Qadri Unifor Local 2002 - Health & Safety Representative for ASP Security
As advocates for worker safety and rights, we recognise the profound responsibility to ensure that every individual return home safely at the end of each workday. We mourn not only for those we have lost but also for the countless others whose lives have been forever altered by preventable workplace hazards.
By advocating for stronger protections, rigorous safety standards, and meaningful enforcement of labour laws, we can strive to create environments where safety is prioritized, and every worker can return home safely at the end of the day. Your call to action encourages everyone to reflect on the significance of this day and to actively contribute to the ongoing fight for safer working conditions.
Let us use this day of mourning not only to remember the fallen but to recommit ourselves to the ongoing fight for safer workplaces for all. Together, let us honour their memory by striving to ensure no worker faces unnecessary risk or harm on the job.
On April 28th, please take a moment to remember workers who have died, were injured, or became ill from their job and commit to protecting workers and preventing further workplace tragedies.
National Unifor link:
https://www.unifor.org/news/all-news/statement-national-day-mourning
Canadian Centre for Occupational Health and Safety (CCOHS)
National Day of Mourning posters:
https://www.ccohs.ca/products/posters
Threads of Life - Association for Workplace Tragedy Family Support
https://threadsoflife.ca
Thank you.
In Solidarity,
Sylvie Schmitt - Unifor 2002 National Health and Safety Coordinator
Geoffrey Bierman - National Health and Safety Coordinator - Jazz Aviation Line Technical Services
Manon Boucher - National Health and Safety Coordinator - Jazz Aviation Customer and Aircraft
Jeff Decker - National Health and Safety Coordinator - Jazz Technical Services