B.C. observes Day of Mourning for workers who were killed or injured on the job
Posted April 28, 2024 3:12 pm.
Last Updated April 28, 2024 4:10 pm.
Every April 28th, the Canadian Centre for Occupational Health and Safety holds the National Day of Mourning — a day to honour workers who have been killed or become sick or injured on the job, and the province observed the occasion with an event in downtown Vancouver.
Genevieve Cragg was one of many speakers at the event. Cragg’s 25-year-old son, Charlie, died while working on a tugboat near Kitimat Feb. 10, 2021 — his first day on the job.
“All these employers that are willing to put their workers at risk, they need to be penalised or put out of business. It can’t go on,” she said.
“He didn’t die doing something that he loved, like skiing or surfing. He was taken out by corporate greed, and the next day, this person was on the water making money again. So none of that feels good at all.”
Suzanne Skidmore, president of the BC Federation of Labour, is a human rights, social justice, and queer rights activist and an advocate for working people.
“We have to shift the focus even more to accountability for employers and to increasing prevention and enforcement,” she said.
“We have to treat psychological injury with the same dignity and standards that we do physical injury. We have to bring in standards and worker protections that reflect the dangers of our changing climate. We have to address workplace violence. So today, let’s commit ourselves to that action.”
According to the Association of Workers’ Compensation Boards of Canada, there were 993 workplace fatalities recorded in Canada in 2022.
Among these deaths, 33 were young workers aged 15-24.
