Workers' Memorial Day
The Workers' Memorial Day is an international day of commemoration to wage workers , which killed because of work, maimed or injured or have fallen ill. It takes place every year on April 28th in numerous countries.
Situation worldwide
According to information from the International Labor Organization (ILO)
- more than two million people die each year as a result of an accident at work or occupational diseases;
- An estimated 270 million work-related accidents occur each year and around 160 million people develop work-related diseases;
- Toxic substances kill 440,000 workers annually, with asbestos alone responsible for around 100,000 deaths;
- If one worker dies every 15 seconds worldwide, 6,000 workers die a day, according to which more people die from work than from wars.
Situation in Germany, Austria and Switzerland
- In 2009 there were around 975,000 accidents at work in Germany, 622 of them fatal.
- In 2009 there were 121,979 accidents at work in Austria, 180 of them fatal.
- In 2008 there were 268,000 accidents at work in Switzerland.
Sense and purpose
Workers' Memorial Day aims to educate the public about work-related deaths, injuries and illnesses and the avoidability of most work-related accidents and diseases. In addition, union campaigns and approaches in the struggle for improvements in occupational safety are to be made known. Around Workers' Memorial Day, the slogan Remember the dead - Fight for the living has been established. Although April 28th is primarily used as a day of remembrance and international solidarity , it was also occasionally used to initiate concrete actions to improve occupational safety or to practically combine it with appropriate campaigns.
root
Workers' Memorial Day was established in 1984 by the Canadian Union of Public Employees . The Canadian Labor Congress took up the initiative the following year and declared April 28 an annual day of remembrance. The date referred to the anniversary of the landmark Workers Compensation Act of 1914, which established a health and safety agency in Canada. In 1991 the Canadian Parliament passed a law declaring April 28 an official Workers' Day (National Day of Mourning).
International distribution
For the first few years, Workers' Memorial Day was limited to North America, but eventually spread around the world. In the USA it was recognized as a memorial day in 1989. Since 1989 unions in Asia and Africa have also organized events and actions on April 28th. The Hazards Campaign brought the day to Britain in 1992 and coined the slogan Remember the Dead - Fight for the Living . As a result, the day was taken over by various British unions. The Trades Union Congress took it on in 1999 in its action calendar; various British health and safety institutions have been promoting it since 2000. In 1996, the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) took over Workers' Memorial Day and put it under a specific theme every year, such as a worldwide ban on asbestos . In 2001 the International Labor Organization recognized Workers' Memorial Day, albeit under the name World Day for Safety and Health at Work , and in 2002 announced that April 28 should be an official day on the UN calendar . Workers' Memorial Day is now recognized as a memorial day in numerous countries, such as Argentina , Belgium , Bermuda , Brazil , Dominican Republic , Great Britain, Canada , Luxembourg , Panama , Peru , Portugal , Spain , Thailand , Taiwan and the USA . Trade unions in other countries such as Benin , Finland , Malta , Nepal , New Zealand , Romania , Singapore , the Czech Republic and Hungary are campaigning for government recognition. Today there are activities around the world on Workers' Memorial Day. These include campaigns, workplace education, public events, the erection of memorials, rallies and demonstrations, to isolated actions in the workplace such as strikes. According to the ITUC, around 14 million people in over 100 countries took part in around 10,000 activities in 2009.
Workers' Memorial Day in Germany
The ITUC calls on its 305 member organizations, including the German Trade Union Confederation , to participate in Workers' Memorial Day every year. It was not celebrated in Germany until 2010, even though a few DGB unions held events on occupational safety issues with reference to the UN World Day for Safety and Health at Work. Workers' Memorial Day is not a recognized day of remembrance in Germany.
In 2010, the grassroots union Free Workers 'Union called for the first time to take part in Workers' Memorial Day. Actions took place in Berlin, Munich, Nuremberg and Cologne, among others. As in Berlin, for example, the focus was on temporary work , in which the incidence of occupational accidents and burnouts is disproportionately high. In 2011, IG BAU , a DGB union, called for Workers' Memorial Day for the first time. On April 28, 2011, there was a minute's silence in the construction industry.
For Workers' Memorial Day 2013, the industrial union Bauen-Agrar-Umwelt (IG BAU) held a meeting in the Erlöserkirche in Stuttgart, in the Karlskirche in Kassel and a memorial service in Cologne Cathedral .
In 2019, an ecumenical service with the Christian, Muslim and Jewish congregations took place in the Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church in Berlin on Workers Memorial Day with the theme "Build on security, build on you" together with the industry union Bauen-Agrar- Environment and the employers' liability insurance association.
On April 28, 2021, the central event of Workers' Memorial Day in the Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church in Berlin will also take place as a live stream for the first time due to the corona pandemic . The organizers are the trade union IG Bauen Agrar Umwelt, the DGB, the SVLVG and the trade association for the construction industry. The topic was life in the corona pandemic and invisible dangers.
Web links
- Simon Jon " it Memorial Campaign
- HAZARDS Magazine page on WMD
- Dossier on WMD in the union newspaper “Direct Action”
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b c d e f Hilda Palmer, fact sheet of the Greater Manchester Hazards Center ( Memento of May 18, 2006 in the Internet Archive ) of April 28, 2006 (the GMHC participates in the Hazards Campaign , which is part of the British Trades Union Congress ) , available at.
- ^ Trades Union Congress , 'Hazards at Work. Organizing for Safe and Healthy Workplaces' ( ISBN 1-85006-754-6 ); and: ILO, 'Facts on Safety at Work', April 2005, available at archive link ( Memento from August 3, 2006 in the Internet Archive )
- ↑ Number of work accidents in Germany at an all-time low ( Memento from March 21, 2013 in the Internet Archive ). in Stern.de (as of February 22, 2011)
- ↑ Accidents at work in Statistics Austria (as of September 3, 2010) http://www.statistik.at/web_de/statistiken/gesundheit/unfaelle/arbeitsunfaelle/index.html (accessed on April 24, 2011)
- ↑ These are the most dangerous hobbies for the Swiss. In Tagesanzeiger (as of June 30, 2009) http://www.tagesanzeiger.ch/schweiz/standard/Das-sind-die-gefaehrlichsten-Hobbys-der-Schweizer/story/30316686 (accessed on April 24, 2011)
- ↑ a b c d See also Workers' Memorial Day ( Memento from February 17, 2010 in the Internet Archive )
- ↑ See e.g. B. Union Workplaces - Safer Workplaces . April 28, 2006. Retrieved on April 27, 2008. ( Page no longer available , search in web archives ) Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ See http://www.hazards.org/wmd/newsarchive.htm
- ↑ See http://www.direkteaktion.org/199/auf-dem-altar-der-arbeit/
- ↑ See https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pl2m4BmJoR4
- ↑ See Flyer Temporary Work ( Memento of April 29, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) and The greatest burden for temporary workers ( Memento of July 15, 2009 in the Internet Archive )
- ↑ Workers' Memorial Day on April 28th - commemorating employees who have had an accident at work. In: Industriegewerkschaft Bauen-Agrar-Umwelt. Retrieved April 28, 2021 .
