FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
April 28, 2024
Media Contact: Aaron Pelo, apelo@miaflcio.org | 734.355.2741
Michigan AFL-CIO Commemorates Workers Killed on the Job
LANSING, Mich. – Today, on Workers Memorial Day, the Michigan AFL-CIO joins the labor movement nationwide in honoring workers who’ve been killed or injured on the job, and renews calls for action to keep workers safe.
“Every year, we’re faced with the tragedy of preventable deaths and injuries on the job,” said Michigan AFL-CIO President Ron BIEBER. “We’ve certainly come a long way in the decades-long fight to keep workers safe on the job and we owe that progress to labor unions. But our leaders simply must do more to prevent needless death and injury in the workplace. From stagnant OSHA funding, to the ever-increasing risk to workers posed by extreme heat, it’s clear we have a lot of work yet to do. This Workers Memorial Day, we are renewing our commitment as a labor federation to fight for Michigan workers’ fundamental right to return home from work as healthy as they came and welcome our legislative leaders to partner with us.”
The National AFL-CIO’s Death on the Job report released last week shows an increase in the job fatality rate from 2021 to 2022, with 5,486 workers dying on the job and an estimated 120,000 dying from occupational diseases. Workers of color continue to die on the job at a disproportionate rate, with Black and latino worker fatality rates increasing.
Michigan ranked 17th in the nation in workplace fatalities in 2022, with a rate per 100,000 workers of 3.2, below the national rate of 3.7. There are 69 workplace safety and health inspectors in the state of Michigan who conducted 3,406 inspections in fiscal year 2023. It would take OSHA 87 years to inspect every workplace once.
State leaders have formally recognized Workers Memorial Day. Governor Gretchen Whitmer issued a proclamation declaring April 28th 2024 Workers Memorial Day in Michigan. Both chambers of the Legislature passed resolutions last week in commemoration of workers killed or injured on the job. The House resolution was authored by Representative Jim Haadsma. Senator Darrin Camilleri introduced the upper chamber’s resolution. More than two dozen additional Michigan counties and municipalities have passed resolutions recognizing Workers Memorial Day.
The Michigan AFL-CIO, Michigan’s largest labor organization, is a federation representing forty different labor organizations, eighteen different central labor councils, and eight constituency groups representing over 1 million union members and their families.
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