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TORONTO — At the end of a week in which two high-profile workplace deaths included a Toronto Transit Commission worker and an engineer on a runaway train in BC, national and international leaders of the United Steelworkers (USW) are taking part in events across Canada commemorating workers killed because of their work.

“This internationally-recognized Day of Mourning is a solemn time for members of our union,” said USW National Director Ken Neumann, who will speak to a noon rally on Friday (April 27) at downtown Toronto’s Larry Sefton Park, just behind city hall.

“The park has a lot of meaning for Steelworkers because Larry Sefton was a Steelworker leader during the union’s formative years until shortly before his death in 1973,” said Neumann.  “He was a champion of safe and healthy workplaces and it is always fitting to hold Day of Mourning events at the park named after him.”

USW Ontario/Atlantic Director Wayne Fraser, who will be at the Steelworkers Hall in Kingston, ON, on Saturday morning (April 28 8:30 a.m.), said the struggle to save lives at work is ongoing.

“You don’t always hear every gruesome story,” he said.  “But, as long as employers continue to cut corners, and as long as corporate interests override the interests of working people, the slaughter will continue.”

USW Western Canada Director Steve Hunt will take part in a Friday morning ceremony (10 a.m.) at the Sanctuary in Hastings Park, Vancouver.  Saturday will find Hunt in Kimberley, BC, where four workers, two contractors and two paramedics, were killed nearly a year ago in a dark, airless shed at the decommissioned Sullivan Mine.

“That incident, and the fact that in 2005 43 forestry workers were killed on the job over less than a one-year period, is proof that deregulation and contracting out are dangerous, even deadly, practices,” said Hunt. “Our union will not stop putting pressure on governments and employers until workers’ lives are no longer deemed expendable.”

USW International President Leo W. Gerard will be at two Day of Mourning events on Saturday.  First, Gerard will join Steelworkers and other union members in Sudbury at 9 a.m., followed at 3 p.m. in Elliot Lake, where a workers’ memorial will be unveiled.  The memorial contains the names of hundreds of miners killed over the history of mines in the area.

Lynn Williams, Order of Canada recipient and retired USW International President, will also be at the Elliot Lake ceremony, along with singer/songwriter Rita McNeil.

“These are important events for every worker,” said Gerard. “As leaders in a union like the Steelworkers, we must never let our guard down when it comes to health and safety.  While we mourn for those who have been killed as a result of injury or illness, we must always fight for the living.”

Around the world, annual job-related deaths are said to be in the range of 1.9 – 2.3 million.

The USW represents more than 280,000 men and women working in every sector of Canada’s economy.

For more information, visit the Steelworkers’ website, www.usw.ca .

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CONTACT:
Ken Neumann, 416.487.1571 / 416.558.2510
Wayne Fraser, 416.243.8792 / 416.577.4045
Steve Hunt, 604.683.1117 / 604.816.2554