Skip to main content
AFL-CIO
  • What Unions Do
  • Form a Union
  • What We Care About
  • Take Action
  • About Us
  • Blog
  • Press
  • AFLCIO.tv
  • Union Plus Benefits

Breadcrumb

  1. Home
  2. About Us
  3. Conferences and Events
  4. Workers Memorial Day
  • About Us
  • Blog
  • Press
  • AFLCIO.tv
  • Union Plus Benefits
Toggle Search Form
  • What Unions Do
  • Form a Union
AFL-CIO
  • What We Care About
  • Take Action

Workers Memorial Day

Download the 2021 Workers Memorial Day Toolkit

On April 28, the labor movement will once again observe Workers Memorial Day to remember workers killed or injured on the job and to renew the fight for strong safety and health protections.

 

Fifty years ago on April 28, the Occupational Safety and Health Act went into effect after the tireless efforts of the labor movement, who drew major attention to work-related deaths and injuries, organized for safer working conditions and demanded action from their government. The OSH Act and Mine Safety and Health Act promised workers the right to a safe job. Unions and our allies have fought hard to make that promise a reality—winning protections that have made jobs safer and saved lives. But there is much to be done before the promise to keep all workers safe on the job can be fulfilled.

Worker safety and worker voice go hand in hand. Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, workers have come together and used our collective voice to demand and win job safety protections from this highly contagious virus. This year, America’s labor movement and our allies are launching a full-scale national campaign to pass the Protecting the Right to Organize (PRO) Act, which would give the tens of millions of workers who want to form a union a fair path to do so.

In the 50th year of OSHA this April 28, we focus on the need to renew the promise of safe jobs for all of America’s workers. We must continue to fight and push forward to ensure safe jobs for all workers through strong unions and strong laws. Each year, thousands of workers are killed and millions more suffer injury or illness because of our jobs. Far too many workers die from preventable hazards and many more workers get sick from exposure to toxic chemicals. Many employers and workers never see OSHA in their workplace. Penalties are still too low to be a deterrent. Workplace safety agencies have been decimated by a reduction in staff and a stagnant budget. Workers are not adequately protected without retaliation to speak out against unsafe working conditions and to freely join a union.

Please join us this Workers Memorial Day, April 28, to honor the victims of workplace injury and illness and to keep fighting for the promise of safe jobs for all workers.

CONTENTS
  • Download Materials
  • Order Materials
  • Submit an Event
  • Death on the Job Reports

 

Workers Memorial Day Events

Submit Your Event

Get involved and organize observances, remembrances, actions, activities, or digital campaigns in your workplaces and communities to highlight the toll of job injuries and deaths and call for action to renew the promise to a safe job.

We will stand united against the ongoing attacks on workers’ rights and protections and have the freedom to organize for safer workplaces. We must and we will protect the right of every worker to a safe job and fight until that promise is fulfilled.

Submit Your Event Here

2021 Workers Memorial Day Materials

Order Materials for Your Event

Download the 2021 Workers Memorial Day Toolkit

2021 Workers Memorial Day Posters

Workers Memorial Day Poster - Renovemos la Promesa

 

Download

Workers Memorial Day Poster - Renew the Promise

 

Download

Flyers/Fact Sheets

Workers Memorial Day Flyer/Fact Sheet - English

Download

Workers Memorial Day Flyer/Fact Sheet - Spanish

Download

2021 Workers Memorial Day Art

Renew the Promise. Safe Jobs For All

 

Download

Mourn for the Dead. Fight for the Living

 

Download

Renovemos la Promesa

 

Download

Honremos a los Muertos. Luchemos por los Vivos

 

Download

Pass the PRO Act Graphics

Build Back Better with Unions. Pass the PRO Act

 

Download

Support Our Heroes. Pass the PRO Act

 

Download

 

Recent Death on the Job Reports

The 2021 Death on the Job report will be available early May.

Thumbnail
Report

Death on the Job: The Toll of Neglect, 2020

October 6, 2020
This 2020 edition of the “Death on the Job: The Toll of Neglect” report features national and state information on workplace fatalities, injuries, illnesses, the number and frequency of workplace inspections, penalties, funding, staffing and public employee coverage under the Occupational Safety and Health Act. It also includes information on the state of mine safety and health, and the COVID-19 pandemic.
Thumbnail
Report

Death on the Job: The Toll of Neglect, 2019

April 25, 2019
This report features national and state information on workplace fatalities, injuries, illnesses, the number and frequency of workplace inspections, penalties, funding, staffing and public employee coverage under the Occupational Safety and Health Act.
Thumbnail
Report

Death on the Job: The Toll of Neglect, 2018

April 26, 2018
A national and state-by-state profile of worker safety and health in the United States.
Thumbnail
Report

Death on the Job: The Toll of Neglect, 2017

April 26, 2017
A national and state-by-state profile of worker safety and health in the United States.

Get Email Updates

Text WORK to 235246 to receive periodic text alerts from the AFL-CIO (message and data rates may apply).
Contact Us
  • About Us
    • Affiliated Unions
    • Careers and Apprenticeships
    • Executive Council Statements
    • Labor History
    • Leadership
    • Our Unions and Allies
    • Programs
  • Blog
  • AFLCIO.tv
  • Form a Union
  • Press
    • Press Releases
    • Speeches
  • Take Action
  • Union Plus Benefits
  • What Unions Do
    • Corporate Accountability
    • Social and Economic Justice Advocacy
    • Workplace Advocacy
  • What We Care About
    • Better Pay and Benefits
    • Civil Rights
    • Corporate Greed
    • Criminal Justice Reform
    • Gender Equality
    • Global Worker Rights
    • Health Care
    • Immigration
    • Infrastructure
    • Labor Law
    • Manufacturing
    • Quality Education
    • Right to Work
    • Sexual Harassment
    • Social Security and Retirement
    • Tax and Budget Policy
    • Trade
    • Workplace Health and Safety
  • Legislative Alerts
  • Legislative Voting Records
  • Reports
AFL-CIO Seal

© 2021 AFL-CIO. All rights reserved.

  • Privacy Policy & Terms of Use