The D ay of Mourning Every worker deserves to return home safely

A message from the Kamloops and District Labour Council:

April 28 marks the National Day of Mourning, a day to remember and honour workers who have been killed or injured on the job.

This year, the Kamloops and District Labour Council pays tribute to the workers who have lost their lives or have been injured in the Thompson-Okanagan region and across Canada in 2023.

Every year, thousands of Canadian workers are injured or killed on the job and this number continues to rise.

The National Day of Mourning is an important reminder that more must be done to protect the health and safety of workers and to ensure that every worker comes home safely at the end of the day.

“One workplace death is already too many,” said Lois Rugg, president of the Kamloops and District Labour Council.

“Workers deserve to arrive home safely at the end of their workday and to live a life free from workplace injuries. Employers are responsible for upholding health and safety standards in the workplace, including providing necessary equipment and training,” Rugg said.

“But workers have rights to know about hazards in their work, to participate in decisions that affect their health and safety and to ultimately refuse unsafe work. We won current health and safety measures through years of hard work and advocacy. I want every worker to know if they see unsafe work, how to refuse and how to report and how to use their voice to help prevent unsafe work before someone is harmed,” Rugg said.

“We have won rights that can make us safer, but we need to know those rights and use those rights.”

On this National Day of Mourning, we remember these workers and their families and we renew our commitment to making workplaces safer.

It is important that employers take every necessary step to ensure workers are provided with a safe and healthy working environment and that workers are trained and equipped with the knowledge and tools to stay safe on the job.

“Canada’s unions are committed to empowering workers to continue fighting for better workplace protections,”

Rugg said. “This starts with knowing your rights, applying and defending them and continuing to advocate for better.”

Every worker deserves to come home safely at the end of the workday. The nature of work and workplaces have changed drastically in recent years and workers must be supported in adapting to their changing environments.

Canada’s unions support workers in creating a culture of safety and prevention and demanding that employers and governments respect their own duty to create safe work, call out unsafe work and be part of a culture of safety and prevention.

The Kamloops and District Labour Council represents roughly 13,000 unionized workers in the Kamloops area, from Merritt to Valemount and from Chase to Lillooet. The Council is a member of the BC Federation of Labour and the Canadian Labour Congress.