Message from Joanne Gill, Third Vice President and OH&S Officer, CUPE Local 1091 regarding the National Day of Mourning
Across Canada, April 28 has been designated the Day of Mourning. Each year, workers, families, employers, and communities across the province remember those who have lost their lives on the job, and we all renew our commitment to creating healthy and safe workplaces. In 2022, 181 B.C. workers died from a workplace injury or disease. There were 74 fatalities due to traumatic injury and 107 fatalities due to occupational disease. 53 of these were the result of exposure to asbestos, with many exposures happening decades earlier. The purpose of Day of Mourning is twofold – to remember and honour those who have lost their lives or been injured because of their work and to renew the commitment to prevent further deaths, injury, and diseases by improving health and safety in the workplace.
This year we will raise the CUPE Day of Mourning flag at the School Board office on the morning of April 28. We will join others around the world to renew our resolve to demand healthier and safer workplaces as we remember and honour those who have been injured or killed on the job.
The International Labour Organization and the International Trade Union Congress declared the International Day of Mourning in 1996. Let us carry on the international cry to: “MOURN for the Dead and FIGHT for the Living!”