Workers Memorial Day
Workers Memorial Day, April 28, 2026, honors workers killed, injured or made sick while they were trying to make a living.
According to the International Labor Organization, a United Nations agency, nearly 3 million workers die annually from work-related accidents and diseases, while 395 million have non-fatal injuries — broken bones, lost limbs, sprains, back injuries, cuts and bruises, burns and so on.
Work-related diseases account for 2.6 million deaths, while accidents cause roughly 330,000 to 380,000 deaths. (tinyurl.com/chuzt7dv)
Workers’ Memorial Day is recognized as a national day in many countries, including Australia, Argentina, Belgium, Bermuda, Brazil, Canada, Dominican Republic, Gibraltar, Ireland, Luxembourg, Panama, Peru, Portugal, Spain, Thailand, Taiwan, United States and Britain.
Trade unions in other countries, including Benin, Czech Republic, Finland, Hungary, Malta, Nepal, New Zealand, Romania and Singapore, are pursuing government recognition.
Unions and labor organizations generally mark Workers’ Memorial Day, which began in the United States, with vigils and safety sessions focused on worker safety and health protections.
In 1989 the AFL-CIO declared April 28 to be “Workers’ Memorial Day.” It is the anniversary of the date when the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970 went into effect and when the Occupational Safety and Health Administration was formed on April 28, 1971.
The burden of occupational mortality and morbidity is not distributed equally across the world and among industries. About 65% of global work-related mortality is estimated to occur in Asia, followed by Africa (11.8%), Europe (11.7%), the Americas (10.9%) and Oceania (0.6%). The rates of fatal occupational accidents per 100,000 workers also show stark regional differences, with rates in Africa and Asia 4 to 5 times higher than those in Europe. (tinyurl.com/ms53c4s7)
Celebration of Workers Memorial Day in the United States
The major union confederation in the U. S., the AFL-CIO, called on its affiliates to observe Workers’ Memorial Day in a message that is on their website, which also has resources to use in explaining the reasons to observe it.
Some points that the message makes :
- After years of underinvesting, the Donald Trump administration has fired agency staff, defunded and outright decimated or eliminated federal job safety agencies.
- The situation is dire. Each day, more than 380 workers are killed and more than 8,600 suffer injury and illness because of dangerous working conditions that are preventable.
- Job safety inspections have never been so few. As of 2025, the United States now has the lowest number of OSHA inspectors and conducts the lowest number of OSHA inspections ever.
The AFL-CIO statement concludes with this call: “Together on this Workers Memorial Day, we don’t just mourn; we must step forward to hold the line and confront the moment we are in. We must hold employers accountable to keep workers safe. We must demand more — not fewer — government resources to do this. We must demand dignity at work.”
Observe Workers Memorial Day on April 28.
Workers should not have to risk death to provide for their families.
