April 28
Day of Mourning for Workers Injured or Killed in the Workplace

Mourn the Dead and Fight for the Living!

On April 28, across Canada and around the world, workers mark the Day of Mourning by commemorating their fellow workers who died on the job and fighting for the health and safety of the living. Workers across Canada and Quebec, as well as around the world, are holding ceremonies, meetings and other activities to mourn the dead and fight for the living.

The Communist Party of Canada (Marxist-Leninist) on this occasion pays deepest respects to the families of all those who lost loved ones and fellow workers as a result of unhealthy and unsafe working conditions, and to all those who fight every day to uphold the dignity of labour and defend the rights of all, especially injured workers, unorganized workers, migrant workers and young workers who are the most vulnerable to superexploitation and the anti-social offensive.

Official statistics of workers injured, killed or made ill on the job do not properly reflect the facts. The Association of Workers’ Compensation Boards of Canada reports that there were 993 workplace fatalities in Canada in 2022, including 941 men, 50 women and two non-binary people, as well as 33 young workers between the ages of 15 and 24. In addition, it reports 348,747 lost-time injury claims accepted across the country. This represents an increase of 75,000 cases compared to 2021. Workers know that many injures go unreported due to pressure from employers.

On April 18, the Canadian Union of Postal Workers, whose workers suffer work-related injuries on a large scale due to abusive working conditions, stated: “We are well aware that these figures do not reflect reality, since they do not include work-related injuries that employers try to conceal by persuading workers not to report them, offering them instead in-house accommodations without medical advice as a way to recover.

“By using this approach, employers neglect declaring these cases as disabling injuries resulting in time lost.”

As the anti-social offensive continues unabated with the schemes of governments at all levels to pay the rich at the expense of the public good, let us all step up the fight in defence of the rights of all. Our security and our future lie in our fight in defence of the rights of all!

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