On this day in 1971, the Occupational Safety and Health Act went into effect. Each year, on the anniversary, the labor movement comes together to honor our fellow workers, union and nonunion alike, who died a preventable death on the job in the last year.
This past year, 4,764 workers were killed on the job. An estimated 120,000 more died from occupational diseases. Sadly, we know the actual number of lives cut short by employer behavior — whether covert, like cutting health benefits during a pandemic, or overt, like failing to provide adequate PPE — is far greater.
Construction sites remain one of the deadliest places to work in the country. But the neglectful actions of employers of all stripes and in every industry — from Amazon and Tesla to Amy’s Kitchen and McLaren Macomb — impact not just their employees' well-being, but the well-being of workers’ families and the communities in which they live.
Honoring those senselessly lost means standing up in unison to say loud and clear: One workplace death is one too many.
Find a Workers Memorial Day event near you by clicking here.
Read the AFL-CIO’s annual report on worker safety and occupational hazards in all 50 states here.