Workers' Memorial Day - 28^th April 2009

The purpose behind Workers' Memorial Day has always been to "remember the dead: fight for the living" and unions are asked to focus on both areas, by considering memorials to all those killed through work but at the same time ensuring that such tragedies are not repeated. That can best be done by building trade union organisation, and campaigning for stricter enforcement with higher penalties for breaches of health & safety laws.

• What can you do?
• National events
• London, South and Eastern
• South West
• Midlands
• Yorkshire & Humber
• North West
• Northern
• Scotland
• Wales

What can you do?

• Get your employer to allow some form of recognition of the day, such as one minute's silence to remember anyone who has died at your workplace.
• Ask your local council, or any other public body to fly official flags at half-mast on the day; and/or
• Write a letter to the local press;
• Organising a local meeting on health and safety and the need for more corporate accountability. You could focus on a particular issue of concern where you work, such as violence or lone working;
• Arranging an event such as planting a memorial tree in a public place, putting up a plaque, dedicating a sculpture, a piece of art, or a bench, to remember workers who have been killed at the workplace or in the community;
• Asking local religious centres to include Workers' Memorial Day in their worship during the Week;
• Distribute purple 'forget-me-not' ribbons, the symbol of Workers Memorial Day;
• Finding out what other unions, your local Hazards group, or regional TUC or Trades Council are planning and taking part or organising a joint event

If you are organising an event for Workers Memorial Day and would like it displayed on these pages, then please email through the details to healthandsafety@tuc.org.uk

Links

For resources on Workers Memorial day including ribbons car stickers and posters contact the Greater Manchester Hazards centre http://www.gmhazards.org.uk or e-mail mail@gmhazards.org.uk.

National Events

• UNISON staff across the UK  will be taking part in one minute’s silence at 12 noon on the Day. They will be remembering UNISON members and others who have been killed, injured, or made ill by their work and have asked UNISON branches, members, and others to join in and observe the minute of silence with them.
• EON
  There will be a company-wide minute’s silence across its 18,000 workforce. This action was agreed between the employer and unions at the joint health and safety committee.
  
• UNISON Health Conference - will bemarking IWMD on the last day of the conference with an address by the chair, a slideshow, and by holding a minute’s silence. All delegates will also be supplied with a purple ribbon.
  
  

London, South and Eastern

• The London, Southern and Eastern Region of the TUC  are holding an event on TUESDAY 28 APRIL 2009 (6 - 9pm) at TUC Congress House - Great Russell Street - London WC1B 3LS. Speakers include Megan Dobney (SERTUC Regional Secretary), Rachel Horne (Pin the Pits), Rodney Bickerstaffe, and Tom Jones (Thompsons Solicitors). There will be a screening of the film “Pin the Pits”
  Free admission (registration essential): sertucevents@tuc.org.uk / 020 7467 1220

• Waltham Forest
  There will be a joint union ceremony from 1pm at Waltham Forest Town Hall with speeches followed by the laying of wreaths

• Medway towns
  There will be a Workers Memorial Day event on the 28th April in Rochester Castle gardens. Gather at the memorial tree at 11.45  and refreshments will be available after the memorial. People can tie purple ribbons to the tree in remembrance of family/friends/work colleagues who have died from work related accidents and diseases. There is also a Workers' Memorial Book where names can be recorded.

• London
  March and rally.
  10.15am Wreath laying and rally at the statue to the unknown builder, Tower Hill.
  10.30am Protest march sets off along the north of the Thames crossing Southwark Bridge.
  11.00am Rally at the Health and Safety Executive, Southwark Bridge Rd.
  11.15am March continues to City Hall, nr. Tower bridge.
  12.15pm Rally outside City Hall in “The Scoop”.
  Timings are approximate.
  The events will be attended by a broad range of supporters, trade unionists, campaigners and members of families of those killed at work.

• Fareham
  The Local Government UNISON Branch will have a health and safety stand in the office canteen and will be observing two minute’s silence.

• Islington
  There will be a tree planting ceremony with local Labour MP Emma Thornberry. This will take place at 12 noon on 28 April and is jointly organised with the employer Circle Anglia Housing Association. If you’d like to attend, contact John Gray on 07977 285 297.
  

South West

• Cornwall
  Service led by Rev Julyan Drew at Trinity Methodist Church, Chywoone Hill, Newlyn, Sunday 26th April. 6 p.m. Refreshments available afterwards. Organised by Helen Le Bretton a member of Families Against Corporate Killers. Helen’s husband Denis Le Bretton was killed at a quarry in St Austell.

• Bath and North-East Somerset
  UNISON members will be holding one minutes silence after reaching agreement with the employer for all union members to be able to attend.

Midlands

• Wolverhampton
  12.30pm at the Workers' Memorial Day Tree, next to the Cenotaph in St. Peter's Square outside St Peter's church & Civic Centre, Wolverhampton centre. Speakers: Doug Jewell Asbestos Support Group West Midlands and Nick Kelleher, Wolverhampton TUC. There will be a wreath laying ceremony by local trades unions and a short service by an Industrial Chaplain. 18 pairs of shoes are to be put down to represent the 18 killed in west midlands and civic flags will be flown at half-mast. For information contact Nick Kelleher,  Secretary,  Wolverhampton, Bilston & District Trades Union Council,  P.O.Box 2917, Wolverhampton WV2 2YA info@wolvestuc.org.uk    
• Corby
  Commemoration event for Workers Memorial Day at the Steelworker Statue, George Street, Corby. Commemoration followed by light buffet. Sat, 2 May 2009, 11:00 to 12:00. Contact Gordon Glassford Tel: 01536 262733
• Coventry
  A commemoration will be held between 12 noon and 1.00pm in the Garden between St Mary’s Street and Bayley Lane, Coventry. Organised by Coventry Trades Council
• Birmingham,
  12.30pm in the grounds of St Philips Cathedral, Colmore Row
• Solihull
  12.30pm Solihull Memorial Stone, Brueton Gardens, opposite Barley Mow Public house in Warwick Road.
• Derby
  The City Council will be flying the flag above Council at half mast on the Day. The employer will also be emailing all staff inviting them to observe a minute’s silence at 12 noon should they wish.
• Nottingham
  A service of remembrance will take place from 1:15pm at St. Peters Church, St Peters Square, Nottingham on the Day; with purple flowers being handed out in memory of the dead.
• Staffordshire
  A memorial bench will be sited at the Oakamoor Picnic area, near Cheadle. A dedication ceremony will take place at 1pm on Tuesday 28th and will include union representatives and representatives of Staffordshire County Council, including the Leader of the Council. The employer has been asked to mark the Day by joining the minute’s silence at 12 midday and for the flags on the public buildings to be flown at half-mast.
• Northampton
  There will be a procession on 28th April, with a half sized coffin covered in relevant information, from All Saints Piazza at 12.30 to the Cobblers Last statue in Abington St, where there will be speeches, a stall and leaflets. For more information contact Sarah Ansell on 01604709757 email secretary@ntuc.org.uk or Ron Mendel 01604 892475 (work) email ron.mendel@northampton.ac.uk.

Yorkshire and the Humber

• Barnsley
  There will be a Worker's Memorial Day event in Barnsley. This event will take place at the Cenotaph outside the Town Hall on 28th April. The event will start at 12.00 pm followed by drinks and food at Durty O'Dwyers. For further information about this event contact raleys@raleys.co.uk

• Sheffield
  At 12:30 on Tuesday 28th April Sheffield Trades Union Council is once again holding an International Workers' Memorial Ceremony to mark Worker's Memorial Day. The event will take place at the Workers' Memorial Tree which is situated in front of Sheffield Town Hall. Councillor Graham Oxley, Deputy Lord Mayor of Sheffield has been invited to attend and will be followed by a number of speakers from the trade union movement including Bill Adams, General Secretary of the Yorkshire and Humber TUC.

• Bradford
  Bradford Area Safety Reps Association have successfully requested that the flags at Bradford City Hall be lowered to half mast on the Day.

• Bradford
  WMD memorial event outside Bradford City Hall for 12 noon on Tuesday 28th of April. Trade unionists, their friends and colleagues are encouraged to attend this ceremony. There will be the laying of a wreath followed by a number of speakers. A local fire engine will be in attendance to mark the occasion and 25 doves will be released - each one will represent 2000 people killed in the UK over the last year because of their work.  The event is being organised by Bradford Area Safety Reps Association.

• North East Lincolnshire
  There will be a number of services held in the district on the day which will include the laying of wreaths and a minutes silence. These are:
  Immingham 10-30am.   Location the Workers Memorial in the Grounds of the War Memorial Pelham Road Immingham.
  Grimsby 1-00pm.   Location the Workers Memorial in the Grounds of the War Memorial Nunn’s Corner Grimsby.
  Cleethorpes at 3-00pm.   Location the Workers Memorial in the Pier Gardens Alexander Road Cleethorpes.
  For more information E-mail hwstyles@yahoo.co.uk


• Leeds
  Leeds University unions and the university authorities are holding a memorial service on the grass area in front of the Student’s Union 12:30 – 14:00. There will be a one minute silence at 13:00.


• Hartlepool
  A Workers Memorial Day Service & Wreath Laying Ceremony with the theme of ‘Preventing Occupational Fatalities’ will be held on Tuesday 28th April 2009, 12.30pm, Christchurch, Church Square, Hartlepool. Speakers are Charles Ward, General Secretary, AEP – Andrew McDonald, Partner, Thompsons Solicitors – Andy Ballard, President, ATL -- Wilf Flynn, Executive Member, UCATT.
• Leeds
  There will be a Workers Memorial Day Tues, 28 April event at 7 pm at the Victoria Hotel, Great George St.(less than a minute from Millenium Square)

North West

• Manchester – Rally at Peace Gardens 11.30am – 12.30pm on Tuesday 28th April – music by Claire Mooney; Speakers – Tony Lloyd MP, Regional trade union officials, TU safety reps, Linzi Herbertson, founder member of Families Against Corporate Killers. Refreshments and Workshop for safety reps on how to raise profile of WMD, how to publicise the need for more regulation and enforcement to make work safer at Mechanics Institute afterwards:  details from Greater Manchester Hazards Centre http://www.gmhazards.org.uk/Manchester%20flyer%202009.pdf

• Preston - March and rally on Saturday 25th April  11.30 am at Preston Flag Market for more information about it, please contact: WMD c/o Trade Union Education, 5th Floor, Buckingham House, Preston PR1 3LS, Chair: Andy Birchall, 01772 223112  www.lancashiretradeunions.org.uk

• Chorley – There will be a multi-faith memorial service at the Unite Workers Memorial Tree in Astley Park, Chorley, on Friday 24th, April  at 6pm Meet at the Park gates (Park Road) at 5:50pm, all welcome. Speakers include Amy Herbertson daughter of FACK founder LInzi Herbertson and Andy Herbertson who was killed at work in January 1998. For more information Steve Turner (Branch Secretary) 07838402614 

• Liverpool
  11.30am on Tuesday 28th April, gather at memorial on Hunter Street. Speakers include: the Right Worshipful the Lord Mayor of Liverpool, Cllr Steve Rotheram, Mayor of Flint, Cllr Terry Renshaw, other contributions, ending with wreath laying at 12 noon

• Liverpool
  11.30am on Tuesday 28th April, gather at memorial on Hunter Street. Speakers include: the Right Worshipful the Lord Mayor of Liverpool, Cllr Steve Rotheram, Mayor of Flint, Cllr Terry Renshaw, other contributions, ending with wreath laying at 12 noon.

• Liverpool
  12 Noon, on the South Piazza of Georges Dock Building (corner of Mann Island and the Strand), Pier Head, Liverpool L3 1DD.  For further information please contact Colin Carr on 0151 728 2200 or 07799114246.

• Liverpool
  GMB Regional Office, Columbus Quay, Liverpool L3 4GB 11.30am with Dougie Henry, Regional President unveiling commemorative plaque. Eddie Marnell, Cammell Laird (Ret’d), Alf Jones,(Education Officer), Laura Walsh, Radio Merseyside poet in residence, 12.00:  1 minute’s silence

Northern

• TUC Health and Safety Forum are holding a training day on Tuesday 28th April for Workers memorial Day. The theme is “Good Occupational Health for all workers.”. It will be held in the Centenary Suite Conference Venue, Hartlepool United Football Club.  The training day will start at 09:30 with refreshments and registration.  Following the morning session, delegates will make their way to Christchurch to attend a Workers’ Memorial Day service and wreath laying ceremony in Church Square. Lunch will be provided after the ceremony. To attend, or for further details, please email  Email: arodgers@tuc.org.uk

• Gateshead
  Workers Memorial Day there will be a service and speakers in Saltwell Park, Gateshead on the 28th April.  assembly at 1 pm with service and speakers starting at 1-30 pm organised by the Gateshead and District Trades Council

• Middlesbrough
  Community Trade Union are holding a Health & Safety Seminar on Thursday 30th April to commemorate Workers Memorial Day.
  

Scotland

• Greenock
  There will be a memorial event in Greenock on 28th April starting around 11:00 a.m. in Clyde square with a short service by local clergy and a minutes silence, followed by a wreath laying ceremony.

• Midlothian
  There will be a memorial rally at George V Park,  Bonnyrigg commencing at 12:30. Organised by Midlothian Trades Council

• Clydebank
  Clydebank Trades Council are holding International Workers Memorial Day Commemoration on Sat 25th April in Clydebank Town Hall 11.00am

• Bathgate
  12.30pm – 1pm at the International Workers Memorial, Bathgate Sports Park. An Occupational Health and Safety Seminar will be held in Bathgate Sports Seminar beforehand, details from liz.liddell@westlothian.gov.uk.Places are limited and will be allocated on a first come first served basis)

• Dundee
  Friday, 24 April at 12.30pm. Annual Memorial Day Lecture, Dundee City Chambers. Dr Martin Donaghy, Clinical Director, Scottish Centre for Infection and Environmental Health

• Dundee
  Tuesday, 28 April 1pm at the Memorial Day Commemoration Tree, Riverside Drive, (beside Discovery Point). Speakers (to be confirmed)

• Edinburgh
  12 noon – 1pm at the Workers Memorial Day Tree, West Princes Street Gardens (near to the Ross Band Stand). Speakers  Professor Andrew Watterson, University of Stirling

• Glasgow
  1.00pm – 2.00pm at the Burns Statue, George Square. Speakers  Dave Moxham, Deputy General Secretary, STUC, Frank Maguire, Thompsons Solicitors,  George Boyle, Glasgow City Council

• North Lanarkshire
  12 Noon at Summerlee Industrial Museum, Coatbridge. Speakers - Grahame Smith, STUC General Secretary, Dorothy Wright, Families Against Corporate Killers, Christine McKelvie MSP, Elaine Smith MSP, Tom Clarke MP
• Inverclyde
  UNISON reps will be taking part in a memorial service at Clyde square with a wreath laying ceremony followed by a minute’s silence in memory of those who have been killed at or by their work. Local politicians, other trade unions, and local trades council reps will take part in the ceremony and UNISON chair Pat Clark will play the bagpipes at the service. Discussions are being held with the employer about allowing other staff to attend, and councillors are being canvassed to dedicate the statue in Clyde Square to a workers memorial, with a plaque. Local organiser and UNISON member Bill Mathews has also sent a letter to the local newspaper about the event and giving background information on IWMD.
  


• Ayrshire
  South Ayrshire UNISON Branch - will commemorate IWMD by taking part in an ambitious project to help create a natural Scottish woodland in Ayrshire. To help with the effort to return the land to the way it was years ago, the branch is dedicating 5 trees in the woodland as part as a lasting legacy to the memory of workers who have lost their life at work or to a work related disease.
  

Wales

• Bridgend College are unveiling a Welsh slate plaque dedicated to workers who have lost their lives. It will take place at their trade union studies centre
• Pembrokeshire
  The UNISON County Branch is planting a tree in the grounds of the local hospital to commemorate IWMD, with local press in attendance for photo opportunities.

Briefing document (400 words) issued 10 Mar 2006