April 28, 2025 at 9:00 AM
Honoring Lives Lost, Fighting for the Living
April 28 marks the National Day of Mourning—a solemn day to remember workers who have been killed, injured, or made ill on the job. As a union, we not only mourn these preventable tragedies—we organize, advocate, and demand action to ensure they never happen again.
This Day Is Personal
Every name, every life lost at work, represents more than a statistic. It’s a colleague, a friend, a parent—taken because of unsafe working conditions, lack of protections, or employer negligence. These are preventable losses. As union members, we know that workplace safety isn’t a privilege—it’s a right.
Our Fight Is Far from Over
The Day of Mourning is not just about remembrance; it’s a call to action. Through collective bargaining, political advocacy, and worker-led organizing, unions have fought for and won protections like:
But we are still seeing workers exposed to danger every day.
We Demand:
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Stronger enforcement of occupational health and safety laws
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Protections for workers
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Mental health supports and anti-violence measures in every workplace
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Employer accountability when negligence results in harm
Mourn the dead. Fight for the living.
By honouring those we've lost by strengthening the movement that protects the living.
"Upon the Tarmacs of Yore and Now"
Lo, where the metal birds take flight
under the moon’s pale, spectral light
or in the blaze of midday's glow,
where countless watch the engines roar
There toil the hands, both strong and worn
'midst roaring craft ere break of morn —
upon yon field of stone and steel,
where burning rubber grinds the wheel
Where frost and fire bite and peel,
the toiling throng, unnumbered host,
shall labour till they turn to ghost —
some seen by day, but shadows most
For flight must rise, for kin must meet
for trade and tide, for wanderer's feet
or for the solemn, silent rows
escorted home through solemn throes
And still we strive to set things right
amid the haze, the fuel, the night —
yet ne’er a pause in weary plight,
with safety sought, but just in sight
for those who've fallen in the fight
their sacrifice the guiding light
Those of old, in silence passed,
by fates unheeding, cold and fast —
yet from their loss, new insight grows
and through their truth, a wisdom flows
Strive we must, though never gain
a world untouched by toil or pain;
yet striving’s path, though steep and grim
shall keep the reaper’s blade at rim
And here they stand, where engines roar
a countless crew, yet known in lore
their work, unseen by those afar,
still keeps aligned the guiding star
Though laurels seldom grace their brow
upon their backs the world moves now
In unison, they press ahead,
their care unsought, but daily spread
Where children run and carolers sing,
their voices bright with offerings —
the songs of hope that winter brings
for workers’ strength and wanderings
And in the hush between the gates
between arrivals and outbound fates —
we find a hope, both firm and wide
that none shall walk with fear beside
And in the hands that chart the course,
in steadiness, a guiding force—
the work to heal, to keep, to bind,
reflects the care they have in mind
By Yavar Qadri
Unifor 2002 – Unifor Health and Safety Representative, ASP Security Services
Join Us in Solidarity
On April 28th, please wear a black and yellow ribbon and 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.
Tomorrow, and every day after, organize.
Thank you.
In Solidarity,
Sylvie Schmitt - Unifor 2002 National Health and Safety Coordinator
Adam Guthrie - National Health and Safety Coordinator - Jazz Aviation Customer and Aircraft
25-04-28 National Day of Mourning Statement EN.txt