Guest AuthorMonday was Workers Memorial Day, the day we remember the workers who have died, suffered, or been made ill on the jobsite, union and non-union. Even one workplace fatality is one too many, and losing your life should never be part of the job description.
Four decades ago, Congress passed the Occupational Safety and Health Act, promising every worker the right to a safe job. We and our allies have fought hard to make that promise a reality — winning protections that have made jobs safer, saved hundreds of thousands of lives and prevented millions of workplace injuries and illnesses.
Yet, many job hazards still exist. Some employers cut corners and violate the law, putting workers in serious danger and costing lives. Workers who report job hazards or job injuries are fired or disciplined. Employers contract out dangerous work to try to avoid responsibility. As a result, each year thousands of workers are killed and millions more injured or made sick because of their jobs.
In Florida, we are virtually numb to the nightly news reports of police officers killed in the line of duty, fire fighters risking and losing their lives to save others and other workplace injuries and deaths. When workers are demonized for complaining about unsafe working conditions, fired for reporting abuses and are treated as disposable elements of a business plan, it should come as no shock that workplaces are becoming less safe.
In fact, we would be fooling ourselves if we didn’t connect the dots. When you slowly peel away the rights of workers by attacking their right to organize and collectively bargain, by defunding their pensions or allowing employers to steal their wages or pay them less than a livable wage, you inevitably open the door to allowing employers to force us to work in dangerous working conditions.
No worker should be disrespected and no child should be told that daddy isn’t coming home from work. All work is honorable and we honor those who have suffered or died working.
We mourn for the dead and fight for the living. We will continue to be the voice for the voiceless and support policies that create good jobs that are safe and healthy. We will work to ensure that workers everywhere have the freedom to form a union that gives them the means to fight for respect and a better future.
Lynn Webb is President of the West Central Florida Federation of Labor. Column courtesy of Context Florida.
