WORKERS MEMORIAL DAY is commemorated on April 28. On this day, workers remember those who have died on the job. They pledge to Mourn for the Dead and Fight for the Living.

They also recall that, although Congress passed the Occupational Safety and Health Act 30 years ago, the promise of a safe job still has not been made to millions of public employees in states where this nation’s most important job safety law does not apply to state and local government workers.

"After 10 long and difficult years of struggle by AFSCME and other unions, the Occupational Health and Safety Administration (OSHA) issued its Ergonomics Standard to protect workers from crippling back and other repetitive strain injuries. In March, Congress voted to repeal the Ergonomics Standard with the support of the Bush Administration."

The leading cause of workplace disabilities are repetitive strain and back injuries.

According to a report issued by the National Academy of Sciences this year, more than a million workers must take time off work annually due to musculoskeletal disorders. The academy estimates that the economic impact of these injuries is $50 billion a year in compensation costs, lost wages and productivity. Implementation of the OSHA Ergonomics Standard would have dramatically reduced back and other repetitive strain injuries, afscme says.

"We must fight against further attacks on worker protections, such as cutting osha’s budget, weakening enforcement of job safety laws, or trying to roll back other existing protections," afscme says.

The struggle to ensure safe jobs, the organization adds, requires that:
• We organize new workers.
• We negotiate health and safety contract language, especially in states where public workers are not covered by job safety laws.
• We educate our members about dangers on the job and how to get rid of hazards.
• We ensure that workers know their rights under osha laws and collective bargaining agreements and how to use them.
• We mobilize our members to be engaged in the workplace and in political battles to win and preserve job safety protections.

AFSCME suggests that workers observe a moment of silence at the workplace in memory of the thousands of workers who die each year from workplace hazards.

Other suggestions are to organize petition and letter-writing campaigns to congressional members that voted to repeal the Ergonomics Standard; to distribute fliers in the workplace and organize telephone call-ins to congressional representatives.