National Day of Mourning
Canadian workers are dying. A thousand workers die from accidents at work each year, and a million others are injured. Thousands more die from diseases caused by toxic substances at work.
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April 28 is the official Day of Mourning recognized by Parliament in memory
of workers killed or injured on the job. Each year on this day, the Canadian Labour Congress holds a Memorial
ceremony in Ottawa in observance of the workers killed or hurt at work.
April 28 is recognized by the labour movement across Canada as the day when
we mourn victims of workplace accidents or disease and remember their
sacrifice. It is also a time for the renewal of our pledge to rededicate
ourselves to the goal of making our workplace safer. We must continue to
urge governments to improve health and safety standards and workers
compensation benefits in the workplace.
- There are around a million workplace injuries a year in Canada - a compensable injury occurs every seven seconds of each working day.
- Deaths from workplace injury average nearly a thousand a year. In Canada, one worker is killed every two hours of each working day.
- Deaths from workplace diseases go largely unrecorded and uncompensated; they likely exceed deaths from workplace injuries.
- Despite this, many governments are weakening health and safety rules and their enforcement.
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