Workers’ Memorial Day (April 28th) commemorates all those killed and injured at work, highlighting the scale of the tragedy and what can be done about it. In Birmingham there is a memorial held in the churchyard of St. Philips Cathedral. There are also memorials in Wolverhampton and Solihull.
Every year, in Britain alone, thousands of workers are killed on the job or die of work related causes. It's worth noting that more workers are killed in their workplaces than are sent to die in wars. This is the deadliest war of all and it's ignored by the government and unpublicised by the corporate media.
A recent freedom of information request to the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) revealed that migrant workers are twice as likely to die at work compared to their British counterparts. The deaths of migrants, particularly on construction sites, represented a six-fold increase in the number who died at work in 2002-03.
The best way of confronting this tragedy is to get together and organise against the bosses who put their profits before our safety. In the words of wobbly Joe Hill, 'don't mourn, organise!'.