In advance of Workers Memorial Day, April 28, the AFL-CIO released a study Thursday, April 25 entitled ÿDeath on the Job: The Toll of Neglect; a National and State-by-State Profile of Worker Safety and Health in the United States.ÿ The study is released as debate heats up over the Bush Administration's decision to strike down the ergonomics standard which had been 10 years in the making, and to rely on voluntary measures to address the nation's number on job safety problem. þþþþAfter years of progress, the study shows that safety and health protection for workers has reached a plateau, and for some workers is declining. Overall rates and numbers of workplace injuries, illnesses and fatalities have fallen slightly, but for certain groups of workers, including Hispanic workers, are on the rise. þþþþThe study also shows that protections across the states vary widely. Alaska, Wyoming and Montana had the highest fatality rates in 2000 while Rhode Island, Massachusetts, and New Hampshire had the lowest. It would take federal OSHA 84 years to inspect all the workplaces under its jurisdiction just once. The report details new government data showing that in 21 of 43 states reporting, ergonomic injuries went up between 1999 and 2000. The most dramatic increases are: 40 percent more workers who had to take off work because of an injury in Maine, 32 percent in Nevada, 17 percent in California, and 10 percent in Massachusetts.þþþþFor a copy of the report, ÿDeath on the Job,ÿ go to www.aflcio.org after 9 a.m. on Thursday, April 25. For advance copies, contact dwhite@aflcio.org or 202-637-5389. The report is embargoed for Thursday morning papers. þþþþThe study release is part of Workers Memorial Day, a worldwide annual event that has taken on a new meaning in the wake of the September 11 events. This is the 14th anniversary of Workers Memorial Day. Hundreds of events will take place across the nation and globe and many will feature yellow and black ribbons—black signifies mourning and yellow signifies hope and the fight for the living. Workers Memorial Day is on April 28, though events occur all weekend. þþþþIn New York City, thousands of local union members will join national and New York City labor and community leaders on Friday, April 26 - - including AFL-CIO President John Sweeney—to remember the workers killed on September 11. Under the banner of ÿMourn for the Dead and Fight for the Living,ÿ hundreds will hold a Workers Memorial Day church service and will then have a bagpipe-led procession to the World Trade Center site. They will gather to recognize that though nothing could have saved the workers killed on September 11, one of the best ways to honor them is to work for safer workplaces and to help workers improve their lives through unions. þþþþThe union members are calling for all workers in Lower Manhattan to observe a minute of silence at noon on Friday, April 26 to honor the workers who died on September 11 and on the job last year. They will pass out 100,000 leaflets and stickers at subway stops to ask people to observe the minute of silence.
Source: unions.org
