Nine young workers among 170 who died in 2003 Canada NewsWire
BURNABY, BC, On April 28, the labour movement's Day of Mourning, CUPE members will bow their heads for the 170 British Columbia workers killed on the job in 2003, nine of them young workers between the agesof 15-24.
The Workers' Compensation Board accepted another 5,292 long-term disability claims. These numbers paint a bleak picture of the dangers of work in B.C. But they do not reveal the whole story.
Many workplace injuries or illnesses are never reported or accepted by the WCB. Also, many occupational disease claims are not recognized as being work-related.
On April 28 of each year, CUPE members remember the dead and injured workers who have made the ultimate sacrifice to earn a living by commemorating the day in different ways.
'We ask that you join these activities by participating in a minute of silence at 11 a.m. on the morning of April 28,' said CUPE BC president Barry O'Neill. The Day of Mourning was established at a CUPE biennial health and safety conference held in Vancouver in the spring of 1986. Later, the Canadian Labour Congress declared an annual day of remembrance for workers killed and injured on the job.
The aim of the 'Day of Mourning' is to publicly renew our commitment to 'fight for the living' as well as 'mourn for the dead'.
The CUPE canary has been accepted world-wide as a symbol of the day and of workers' health and safety.
April 28 is the 20th day of mourning anniversary National Union of Public and General Employees
Workplace injuries and deaths among Canadian workers continue to occur in communities from coast to coast. The most recent figures, from 2002 , indicate that 934 workers died on the job and nearly one million were injured in the workplace.
"This does not reflect the number of workers who died or suffer from industrial diseases and cancers that have their origins in the workplace but not yet acknowledged as such," Clancy said.
"All members, in fact all Canadians, can take a moment on the Day of Mourning to remember their sisters and brothers who have been killed or injured on the job."