CWU Annual Conference has taken place for the last 3 years during the week of International Worker’s Memorial Day whish is held every year on 28th April around the world.

This year as in previous year’s CWU delegates take time out during their conferences to remember those who died at work.

This morning hundreds of delegates in both the postal and telecoms conferences stood in silent tribute , proudly wearing their purple Workers’ Memorial Day ribbons.

Both the Telecomms and Postal CWU conferences took time out this morning for speeches commemorating those who have died whilst at work and to stand for 1 minute in silence.

At the postal conference, the Union’s Deputy General Secretary (Postal), Terry Pullinger said:

“Workers Memorial Day is the moment when trade unionists all over the world reflect upon and respect all those workers who have lost their lives or been seriously injured in the workplace. It is also when we remind ourselves how dangerous the world of work could be without the safety legislation campaigned for by unions.

This government is increasingly removing care from our society and are now down dialling both funding and the legislation for safety at work. ‘Remember the dead and fight for the living’ that’s exactly what we will keep doing”.

In the Telecomms conference, the Union’s Deputy General Secretary (Telecomms), Andy Kerr told delegates:

“Today, Unions across the world remember all those killed through work and like the CWU will at the same time commit to ensuring that such tragedies are not repeated. That can best be done by building trade union organisation, and campaigning for stronger safety laws, stricter enforcement with higher penalties for those employers who ignore health & safety.

Today events across the country highlight the need for ‘Strong Laws, Strong Enforcement and Strong Unions’ at national, European and global level”.

All delegates, observers, and executive members then rose to their feet and stood in silence, with many no doubt remembering deceased friends, colleagues, or family members who have lost their lives whilst at work.

General Secretary Dave Ward commenting said:

“Nobody should go to work and not return home. This week has seen a lot of highs for the union, but International Workers’ Memorial Day is a time to reflect on the vital work that trade unions do to keep people safe in their workplaces.”

The union’s national health, safety and environment officer Dave Joyce said it was a very moving moment adding:

“On this day, we say: ‘Remember the dead and fight for the living’ and as was said in the excellent speeches from our senior leadership, our fight for the living is more relevant and more important than ever before.”

This year the specific theme for International Workers Memorial Day is ‘Strong Laws – Strong enforcement – Strong Unions" and this has been chosen because across the world employers and governments are attacking health and safety protection legislation.

Dave Joyce explained:

“In Britain, the Government has removed protection from millions of self-employed workers, and across Europe, the European Commission is pursuing a dangerous de-regulatory strategy. We do need strong laws, but we also need well-organised unions at the workplace to ensure that they’re enforced.”

Source: CWU News