April 28th is the date set aside by the AFL-CIO to remember our brothers and sisters who have died on the job. First observed in 1989, the date was chosen because this is the day that OSHA opened its doors for business in 1971.
Many of us take workplace safety for granted, but the annual workplace deaths and injured figures are appalling.
According to the
AFL-CIO:
"Each year more than 56,000 workers die from job injuries and illnesses and another 6 million are injured."
Of those, about 5,500 die from injuries sustained on the job. The other 55,500 die from job-related diseases.
So, what is the Bush administration doing to further protect our nation's workers? The answer of course, is that they are rolling back current protections and discouraging new ones. From killing workplace ergonomic protections to halting all new workplace safety and health rules to union-busting to favoring voluntary compliance over enforcement to dismantling worker health and safety training programs, the Bushists are working as hard as they can to make things easier on their corporate sponsors.
The AFL-CIO has a state-by-state listing of workers memorials as well as a page of poems and tributes to fallen workers.
I really don't have much to add here, I would just suggest that we all take some time today and remember and honor our sisters and brothers whose sacrifices have made us all safer.
Solidarity Forever!