For #IWMD21 Usdaw is promoting the International TUC theme of 'Health and safety is a fundamental right at work'. Usdaw is also joining the TUC and other affiliates in asking the public to observe a one-minute silence at noon on Wednesday 28 April, to remember all the working people who have died in the UK since the start of the Covid pandemic.
Paddy Lillis – Usdaw General Secretary says: “More people are killed at work than in wars. They die because their safety just wasn’t given priority. So on 28 April we ‘remember the dead and fight for the living’ by highlighting our all year round campaigning for better health and safety at work. A one-minute silence at noon today for all those we’ve lost since the start of the pandemic would be a fitting tribute and I hope it is widely observed.
“The pandemic has shown all too clearly why health and safety must be a right for everyone at work. Where unions are recognised we have been able to make sure that workers' have been consulted on risk assessments and that members get the protection they deserve.
“Whether it is Covid-19, occupational cancers, or workplace injuries and industrial diseases, every worker should have a right to a voice and a right to protection. No one should have to die to make a living and it is clear that the best way to ensure your rights is to join a union. Union-organised workplaces are safer and healthier.”
Notes for editors:
Usdaw (Union of Shop, Distributive and Allied Workers) is the UK's fifth biggest trade union with over 400,000 members. Membership has increased by more than one-third over the last couple of decades. Most Usdaw members work in the retail sector, but the union also has many members in transport, distribution, food manufacturing, chemicals and other trades.
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