{"id":4950,"date":"2024-04-30T11:15:21","date_gmt":"2024-04-30T15:15:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/communicator.pef.org\/?p=4950"},"modified":"2024-05-06T16:03:36","modified_gmt":"2024-05-06T20:03:36","slug":"renewing-pefs-commitment-to-workplace-safety-on-workers-memorial-day","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/communicator.pef.org\/issue\/volume-42-no-4\/renewing-pefs-commitment-to-workplace-safety-on-workers-memorial-day\/","title":{"rendered":"Renewing PEF\u2019s commitment to workplace safety on Workers\u2019 Memorial Day"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"WorkersMay 7, 2024 —<\/em> In 2023, there were more than 13,000 workplace incidents, with 313,000 lost days for those workers, at a cost of almost $500 million in worker\u2019s compensation.<\/span>1<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The human cost is even greater, and often preventable with proper protections.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

More than 5,000 workers across the country lost their lives on the job last year. That equates to an average of 15 workers in the United States every day. There are families and workers who have suffered, and we must remember them.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The organized labor movement does that each year on April 28, Workers\u2019 Memorial Day. It\u2019s a day to honor and remember workers who were killed, injured, or sickened at their jobs, and a day for all unions to recommit to improving and expanding worker protections.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Since the memorial fell on a Sunday this year, PEF observed a moment of silence on Friday, April 26, at the memorial located at union headquarters in Latham. President Wayne Spence, Health and Safety Director Geraldine Stella, and Craig Smith from the Workers\u2019 Compensation Board, gave brief remarks to gathered staff and news media.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cOn Workers\u2019 Memorial Day, we reflect and mourn those who have lost their lives at work and we renew our fight for safer jobs in the future,\u201d Spence said. \u201cThis month, one of our members and two of his colleagues were stabbed in an unprovoked, premeditated attack by a patient at Buffalo Psychiatric Center. It\u2019s a stark reminder that dangers exist in our workplaces.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Spence looked back on the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic and what employees, especially in the healthcare field, dealt with when the unfamiliar virus took hold of the nation.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cA lot of assumptions were made about what employers would do,\u201d he said. What some did, he said, was shocking. \u201cSome of our members were told to use coffee filters as masks as a way to protect themselves.\u201d\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

It wasn\u2019t just health care workers, he said. During the pandemic, many of our u<\/span>nion brothers and sisters in New York City\u2019s transit system died because they had inadequate protections at work. T<\/span>his year, Spence said sanitation workers in the city are being sickened by rat urine as the city battles its rodent population.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cSomething as simple as eradicating rats can have unintended consequences for workers,\u201d he said. \u201cWe must learn from our past and make changes so we can have a brighter future.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Stella reminded attendees of a now-famous quote from Mother Jones, a fearless fighter for workers\u2019 rights.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cMother Jones famously said, \u2018Pray for the Dead \u2013 but Fight Like Hell for the Living!\u201d she said. \u201cIf you don\u2019t know who she is, look her up. She wasn\u2019t some kind of muscle-bound Amazon. She didn\u2019t even look like the mine workers she fought so hard for. She looked more like Tweety Bird\u2019s Granny from the Loony Toons cartoons.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cAnd she was just like any of us here today, someone who believed that everyone deserves to go home at the end of the day the same way they went in to work that morning,\u201d Stella said. \u201cCoalitions of unions fight every day. To make our worksites safer, we must come together.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The Workers\u2019 Compensation Board, Craig Smith said, doesn\u2019t deal directly with workplace safety \u2013 but accidents and deaths on the job are a major concern for them all the same.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWe encourage everyone if they see something, say something,\u201d he said. \u201cDo anything and everything you can do to keep the workplace safe.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

May 7, 2024 — In 2023, there were more than 13,000 workplace incidents, with 313,000 lost days for those workers, at a cost of almost $500 million in worker\u2019s compensation.1\u00a0…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":13,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"division":[],"allowed_regions":[],"allowed_divisions":[],"class_list":["post-4950","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","issue-volume-42-no-4"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nRenewing PEF\u2019s commitment to workplace safety on Workers\u2019 Memorial Day - PEF Communicator<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/communicator.pef.org\/issue\/volume-42-no-4\/renewing-pefs-commitment-to-workplace-safety-on-workers-memorial-day\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Renewing PEF\u2019s commitment to workplace safety on Workers\u2019 Memorial Day\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"May 7, 2024 — In 2023, there were more than 13,000 workplace incidents, with 313,000 lost days for those workers, at a cost of almost $500 million in worker\u2019s compensation.1\u00a0...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/communicator.pef.org\/issue\/volume-42-no-4\/renewing-pefs-commitment-to-workplace-safety-on-workers-memorial-day\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"PEF Communicator\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2024-04-30T15:15:21+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2024-05-06T20:03:36+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/communicator.pef.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2024\/04\/Workers-Web.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"ksheehan\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"ksheehan\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/communicator.pef.org\\\/issue\\\/volume-42-no-4\\\/renewing-pefs-commitment-to-workplace-safety-on-workers-memorial-day\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/communicator.pef.org\\\/issue\\\/volume-42-no-4\\\/renewing-pefs-commitment-to-workplace-safety-on-workers-memorial-day\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"ksheehan\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/communicator.pef.org\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/b56382350a9a958e03dcd60443bfbf7e\"},\"headline\":\"Renewing PEF\u2019s commitment to workplace safety on Workers\u2019 Memorial Day\",\"datePublished\":\"2024-04-30T15:15:21+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2024-05-06T20:03:36+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/communicator.pef.org\\\/issue\\\/volume-42-no-4\\\/renewing-pefs-commitment-to-workplace-safety-on-workers-memorial-day\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":590,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/communicator.pef.org\\\/issue\\\/volume-42-no-4\\\/renewing-pefs-commitment-to-workplace-safety-on-workers-memorial-day\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/communicator.pef.org\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/2\\\/2024\\\/04\\\/Workers-Web.jpg\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/communicator.pef.org\\\/issue\\\/volume-42-no-4\\\/renewing-pefs-commitment-to-workplace-safety-on-workers-memorial-day\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/communicator.pef.org\\\/issue\\\/volume-42-no-4\\\/renewing-pefs-commitment-to-workplace-safety-on-workers-memorial-day\\\/\",\"name\":\"Renewing PEF\u2019s commitment to workplace safety on Workers\u2019 Memorial Day - 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