City of Powell River Council was reminded of the dangers workers can face during a recent presentation on the National Day of Mourning.
Martha Higgins, chair of the health and safety committee for Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) Local 798, as well as co-chair of the city’s corporate joint health and safety committee, outlined the day of mourning at the Thursday, April 18, council meeting.
Higgins said she comes before council every year to talk about April 28, the National Day of Mourning.
“The day that honours workers who have been killed, hurt, disabled or made sick while on the job and those who have lost their lives due to occupational disease,” said Higgins. “As I’ve mentioned in the past, the day of mourning has a very proud Canadian labour history, beginning with the Canadian Labour Congress (CLC) convention in 1984, where a resolution was readily adopted for the creation of a national day of mourning. The date, April 28, was chosen because on April 28 in 1914, the first comprehensive workers compensation act was passed in the legislature.”
Higgins said it took another six years with great lobbying efforts by Canadian unions and the NDP before the federal government would pass Bill C-223, the Workers Mourning Day Act, making April 28, 1991, the first government recognized National Day of Mourning. The act is a brief piece of legislation, which in part reads: “Throughout Canada, in each and every year, the 28th day of April shall be known under the name of Day of Mourning for Persons killed or injured in the workplace.”
Now, decades later, the day of mourning is observed throughout the world, said Higgins.
“The annual day of mourning is a day to honour those who have fought, suffered and gone before so that we can enjoy the right to go to work and go home at the end of the shift in the same condition we left in,” she added. “The laws and regulations we have today are written in their blood. We must never forget that and we can carry on the fight by continuously striving to make workplaces healthier and safer, and by ensuring we all do what we can to prevent deaths, and also to prevent injuries and illnesses, both mental and physical.”
A lot of emphasis is put on the safety side of things, but worker health also needs to be taken care of, said Higgins.
“A lot of progress has been made, but there is still a long way to go,” she added. “Even in our own organization, we only have to look at the orders the city has been issued by WorkSafeBC over the past year to see there is still much to do at all levels.”
Last year in BC, 187 worker deaths were reported, but only 131 worker fatality claims were accepted by WorkSafeBC, (down by 25 from 156 in 2017). These are accepted claims and do not capture the full scope of the tragedies.
“The effects of such injuries, illnesses and deaths have quite a significant and far-reaching impact, because not only is the individual affected, but their families, their friends, their workplaces and their communities also feel the effects in the moment and for years following,” said Higgins.
As in years past, CUPE Local 798 will host a memorial service at the Worker’s Memorial Site at Powell River Regional Cemetery in Cranberry on April 28. Those in attendance will be assembling shortly before 11 am and will start the service with a minute of silence at 11 am to honour all workers.
Members of the community are invited to attend the service.
