The history and legacy of Workers’ Memorial Day
In the United States alone, as the result of their employment, 2.6 million workers suffer nonfatal injuries or illnesses each year. Another 5,000 workers in the United States die at work annually. Aware of staggering statistics like these, the AFL-CIO declared April 28 Workers’ Memorial Day in 1989.
In Canada, the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) and the Canadian Labour Congress (CLC) established an annual mourning day for workers on April 28 in the early 1980s. The work of these two organizations culminated in Parliament—through the Workers Mourning Day Act—officially recognizing today as a National Day of Mourning for workers in 1991.
More broadly, this specific day—April 28—is an important date for workplace safety in both the United States and Canada. April 28 was the day that the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Act went into effect in 1970; the day the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) was formed in 1971; and the day the National Day of Mourning monument in Ottawa’s Vincent Massey Park was dedicated in 1987.
Here in North America and around the world, this day both honors those who have lost their lives and seeks to prevent future workplace tragedy through awareness and advocacy. Workers face many occupational dangers each day; toxic exposure to materials such as asbestos, PFAS, and certain herbicides present incredible hazards and working to make workplaces safer from them is a collective effort.
Asbestos exposure
According to the World Health Organization, 200,000 workers globally die of asbestos exposure each year.
Workers may have been exposed decades ago in building trades, industrial factories, paper mills, or in the modern day while performing abatement or construction work; asbestos-related disease has exacted an incalculable toll on workers. In the United States, it was not until lawsuits unearthed corporate knowledge of asbestos’ hazards that meaningful regulatory changes made workplaces safer.
The work is not finished. In 2024, the U.S. EPA enacted a long-overdue ban on the last form of asbestos still used or sold in the United States: chrysotile. That ban includes a 12-year compliance period that will needlessly expose countless workers to this known cancer-causing toxin. In response to this weakness, the United Steelworkers (USW) and the Asbestos Disease Awareness Organization (ADAO) filed a joint brief in the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit earlier this year. The brief asks the Court to uphold the ban over corporate opposition and to implement it immediately. This tragedy should not be extended any longer, asbestos has already claimed far too many lives.
However, advocacy for workers does not stop with asbestos exposure. Advocacy groups and teams of lawyers persist in leading the charge against all forms of toxic workplace exposure to seek safer workplaces and accountability.
Toxic workplaces
Farmers exposed to dangerous pesticides have sued the manufacturers for their development of neurological injuries; military personnel and their families have brought claims against the federal government for injuries—including cancers—sustained as a result of toxic exposure occurring at military bases such as AFFF foam and water contamination at Camp Lejeune; and railroad workers around the country continue to bring lawsuits against their employers for hazards such as asbestos and diesel fumes encountered in the daily performance of their jobs. Each of these lawsuits present unique challenges, but they all represent a common theme: workers must act on their rights to protect, not only themselves, but future generations as well.
Motley Rice attorneys represent workers in each of these situations, and many more. We view Workers’ Memorial Day as an opportunity both to reflect on those who have suffered in the past, and to reenergize ourselves towards continued work on behalf of those who will face workplace dangers in the future.
Advocacy
For these reasons—including the constant deadly toll facing workers in all parts of the United States—we are proud to join with organizations such as the National Council for Occupational Safety and Health (National COSH), the Asbestos Disease Awareness Association (ADAO), Canada’s Building Trades Unions (CBTU), and the Canadian Mesothelioma Foundation (CMF) in recognizing the importance of this day. We encourage workers to learn about and report hazards they face at their worksites. Also, to take time to remember those who have fought for better protections and safer work experiences here in the United States, Canada, and around the world. This year, Motley Rice team members will be present at the CBTU Monument in Ottawa’s Major’s Hill Park to remember workers who have lost their lives as a result of hazards in their workplaces.
There is still much work to be done, but today we pause to honor the memory of those who have come before, reflect on the goal of safer workplaces for all, and envision our role in the furtherance of that tremendous and just effort. If you feel moved to help make a difference in worker safety, we encourage you to engage with one of these advocacy groups or one in your area.
ADAO
https://www.asbestosdiseaseawareness.org/
COSH
https://nationalcosh.org/donate2cosh
NIOSH Center for Firefighter Safety, Health and Well-being
https://www.cdc.gov/niosh/centers/firefighter-safety-and-health.html