The law was won because of the tireless efforts of the labor movement, which organized for safer working conditions and demanded action from the government to protect working people. Since then, unions and allies have fought hard to make that promise a reality—winning protections under the law that have made jobs safer and saved lives. But all of that is in serious danger as elected leaders threaten to cut staff, defund or outright eliminate federal job safety agencies.

The situation is dire. 

EACH DAY, more than 340 workers are killed and more than 6,000 suffer injury and illness because of dangerous working conditions that are preventable. Job safety agency resources already are critically underfunded: It would take the federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) 185 years to inspect every workplace once, and Congress only allows the agency to spend less than $4 protecting each worker it's responsible for. Cuts to hazard investigations and coal mine inspectors take us back decades and harm workers.

Many of our hard-won workplace safety and health rights are under threat. Working people have fought for our rights for decades and still do every day—from the shop floor to the halls of government. But now under the Trump administration, new anti-regulatory attacks—such as executive orders and removal of important information from OSHA’s website—threaten the gains we have won, and will prevent OSHA and the Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) from setting needed job safety standards and enforcing the law. Funding and staffing cuts will make oversight on businesses nearly impossible. When no one is watching, many employers fail to do the right thing.

Our job is not finished. 

We must protect the rights we have won and keep fighting for safer working conditions. Our nation’s job safety laws are dangerously weak, allowing scores of employers to violate the law without consequence or repercussion. OSHA penalties still are too low to be a deterrent. Employers retaliate against workers who speak out against unsafe working conditions. Workers still cannot freely join a union without retaliation threats from their employers. Black, Latino and immigrant workers are killed on the job at higher rates than others. Heat, workplace violence, infectious diseases and chemical exposures are dangerous and uncontrolled hazards that need to be addressed.

Together on this Workers Memorial Day, we fight for our lives and confront attacks on safety and health agencies that keep our workplaces safe—and we demand action for independent oversight. We hold employers accountable to keep workers safe. We demand more—not fewer—government resources to do this. We demand dignity at work.

Across the United States, workers will organize for strong health and safety standards from employers and governments to improve working conditions. A seat at the bargaining table can be a matter of life or death in the workplace, securing a better livelihood and safer future for workers and our families.

We will fight for our lives in the halls of government and on the shop floor. We will fight to protect our fundamental right to a safe job. Our nation’s strength depends on safe workplaces and workers who can return home to their families at the end of each shift. 

What you can do

As we grieve those we have lost from unsafe working conditions, we must fight to protect our right to a safe job. We must: 

• Defend hard-won safety and health protections and workers’ rights from attacks.
• Oppose cuts in job safety staff and funding. 
• Demand strong enforcement of all job safety laws. 
• Hold our elected leaders accountable for any actions that weaken workers’ right to a safe job.
• Win new protections against heat illness, workplace violence, silica exposure in mining, infectious diseases, exposure to asbestos and other toxic chemicals, and other preventable hazardous exposures. 
• Increase efforts to protect Black, Latino and immigrant workers who are disproportionately affected by and especially targeted for speaking up against unsafe working conditions.
• Guarantee all workers have a voice on the job to raise safety concerns and the right to freely form a union without employer interference or intimidation.
• Pass the Protecting America’s Workers Act (PAWA) to provide OSHA protection to the millions of workers without it, stronger criminal and civil penalties for companies that violate job safety and health laws, and improved anti-retaliation protections.

Plan and Share Your Workers Memorial Day Event

• Organize a campaign to call for stronger safety and health protections using our digital toolkit. Demand that elected officials put workers’ well-being over corporate interests. 
• Organize an event at your workplace to stand together to protect the fundamental right to a safe job for every worker and hold your employer accountable for keeping you safe.
• Hold a candlelight vigil, memorial service or moment of silence to remember those who have died on the job, and highlight job safety problems in your community. 
• Host events with members of Congress in their districts. Involve injured workers and family members who can talk firsthand about the need for strong safety and health protections, the ability to speak up against unsafe working conditions, and to join together in union to keep workplaces safe. Invite local religious and community leaders and other allies to participate in the event.
• Conduct workshops to train and empower workers to report job safety hazards and exercise workplace rights. Invite union members, nonunion workers and community allies to participate.
• Create a new memorial site at a workplace or in a community where workers have been killed on the job.
• Create and share a photo and storyboard campaign on social media to remember workers who have been killed on the job. 
• Invite the press to your Workers Memorial Day events to increase public awareness of the dangers working people face on the job.
• Continue to hold our leaders and employers accountable to provide safe working conditions. As a labor movement, we mourn for the dead and fight for the living on April 28 and every day of the year.
• Order Workers Memorial Day posters and stickers for your event. An event planning toolkit is coming soon, including state safety and health profiles and sample communication materials.