SAFE JOBS SAVE LIVES

One hundred years ago, 146 workers, mostly young immigrant women, burned to death behind locked doors at the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory in New York City.

I’d like to think something so terrible could never happen today.    Over the past year a series of major workplace tragedies proved me wrong.  2 most popular, BP oil spill that killed eleven oil rig workers and caused an economic disaster for the Gulf Coast and the Massey Big Branch mine explosion in West Virginia that claimed 29 lives.

It’s tempting to think that these disasters could never happen to us – and in fact, deaths in the workplace have fallen over the past ten years.  But unsafe working conditions still kill twelve people every day in our country. The DOL reports in 2009, 96 Georgia workers lost their lives on the job.  However, these numbers will increase as Republicans in Congress threaten to slash funding for workplace safety and roll back protections.   

Georgia has 51 OSHA inspectors.  It would take 168 years to inspect each private sector workplace once.  Public employees are not protected by OSHA. 

Every April 28^th, Workers Memorial Day, working families across our nation remember the workers killed on the job or injured at work and renew the struggle for safer workplaces.  This year, let’s honor the fallen by demanding our legislators ensure another tragedy won’t happen as a casualty of departmental defunding. 

Our work is not Done!

Brett A Hulme

President

Savannah Regional Central Labor Council