April 28: World Day for Safety and Health at work
27 April 2009
On April 28, 2009, the World Day for Safety and Health at work, the WFTU sends a militant greeting to the working people and especially young workers who fight daily for better working conditions. A fight with many dead workers and many others facing occupational diseases.
There are at least 1.3 million worker deaths per year. 12,000 of those killed are children. Over 160 million new injuries and work related diseases are reported every year. Each year over 200 trade unionists are killed or “disappear”, 8.500 are arrested and 20.000 are fired for trying to improve basic working conditions. The death toll is particularly high in the developing countries in agriculture, logging, fishing and mining.
The intensification of work, the various antilabor systems to increase productivity, the violations of statutory working hours, the use of minors and women in inappropriate jobs, the exploitation of unemployment and the greed to increase the total working time with crazy rythms, exhaust physically and mentally workers.
People are forced to work in dangerous conditions, many times with minimal lighting, without adequate ventilation and at high temperatures, they suffer from musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs),many are exposed to radiation, they come into contact with chemicals and many of them die from asbestos.
Those who are responsible are the capital and its political representatives the governments and the employers who refuse to take measures to protect workers from the occupational risks, the governmental control is weak and ineffective, the inspectors are very few, the labor law is unequate and in most of the cases the employers remain unpunished, there is lack of a national system of research, diagnosis, prevention and treatment of occupational diseases, there is no national system of a reliable registration of occupational accidents and diseases.
Today, the risks for the health and safety at work are even bigger. The economic crisis makes the capitalists more aggressive against labor rights. In the pursuit of profit they refuse to take measures of safety and health.
The WFTU calls upon the workers of the world to struggle to improve our working environment. In the current difficult circumstances it is an important priority to fight not with words but with actions.