International Workers Memorial Day
Queensland Teachers' Journal, Vol 128 No 4, 9 June 2023, page no.25
Each year on 28 April, the Union movement worldwide stops for International Workers Memorial Day. The theme for the day is “Remember the dead, Fight for the living”. This year the Queensland Council of Unions held their service at midday, live streaming it to people across Queensland.
From 1 March 2022 to 28 February 2023 21 Queensland workers and a further 6 bystanders were killed in work-related incidents. This includes six workers in the construction industry, seven in agriculture, four in transport, postal and warehousing, four in manufacturing, and the two courageous police officers, Constable Rachel McCrow and Constable Matthew Arnold who were killed in Western Downs last December.
These official figures, however, do not represent the true death toll in Queensland workplaces. The way in which workplace fatalities are recorded means that deaths caused by road traffic incidents, suicide and other fatalities in the mining, quarrying and national rail and other Commonwealth health and safety jurisdictions do not form part of the official figures. The figures also do not include workers who are seriously injured or suffering from fatal or debilitating injuries, illness and diseases such as silicosis, which arise from work.
It is imperative that we remember that workplace health and safety is serious business and we need strong workplace health and safety laws if we are to ensure people return home.
This right to a healthy and safe workplace is reflected in the QTU’s campaigns against occupational violence and gendered violence. It is why class sizes matter. It is why we should ensure all classes are provided in places that are safe. It is why facilities must be addressed. Our health and safety campaigns are all about fighting for the living. When our members' teaching conditions are healthy and safe, so too are the learning conditions of the students we teach.
International Workers Memorial Day allows us to recommit to safe workplaces to protect our members' psychological and physical health.