The National Day of Mourning, held annually on April 28, was launched by the Canadian Labour Congress and its affiliates in 1984 as a day of remembrance for those Canadians killed and injured on the job. In 1991 the federal government added its official recognition through an Act of Parliament.

But tragically, workplace deaths and injuries continue to mount. This year about a million Canadian workers will become injured or ill from the work they do, and over the past 15 years more than 12,000 workers in Canada have died from workplace accidents.

Another tragic fact is that the daily average of workplace related deaths in Canada has actually increased since 2005 to 3 fatalities per day.

Why?

Government cutbacks to workplace inspection and safety enforcement budgets are a factor. Pressuring workers to add to their workload the work of those laid off is another. Contracting out to non-union suppliers has also contributed to cutting corners when it comes to maintaining health and safety as employer priorities.

Globalization has also had an impact. Some workers in Canada are hesitant to raise their safety concerns in case their company turns around and ships their work elsewhere where health and safety regulations are meager or non-existent.

At the same time the federal government has relaxed its regulations on the recruitment of temporary foreign workers who are desperate for work, not familiar with their rights to refuse dangerous work, or not able to exercise them because of their lack of fluency.

So more than ever this April 28th is not just a day to remember the dead but also a call to protect the living.

On the National Day of Mourning many of us across Canada will observe a moment of silence.

The rest of the year we have to be vocal and insist government and employers respect health and safety as fundamental to every Canadian workplace because people go to work to make a living - not to die.

In solidarity,

Wayne Hanley
National President, UFCW Canada
President, UFCW Canada Local 175