Canadian workers are dying. A thousand workers die from accidents at work each year, and a million others are injured. Thousands more die from diseases caused by toxic substances at work.

April 28 is recognized by the labour movement across Canada as the day when we mourn victims of workplace accidents or disease and remember their sacrifice. It is also a time for the renewal of our pledge to rededicate ourselves to the goal of making our workplace safer. We must continue to urge governments to improve health and safety standards and workers compensation benefits in the workplace.

The Saskatoon and District Labour Council would like to invite you to attend a commemorative service at Francis Morrison Library at 7:00p.m. on April 28, 2010. The program will feature speakers on health and safety in the workplace, and a memorial service followed by coffee.

If you or your local union would like to place a wreath on the cairn dedicated to workers who are injured, disabled or killed on the job to join us. If you would like to present a commemorative to your fellow workers, please contact the office at 384-0303.

We would like to extend this invitation to any employers that may be interested. If yours is one, please ensure they are invited.

We hope to see you and your friends on this matter.

• There are around a million workplace injuries a year in Canada - a compensable injury occurs every seven seconds of each working day.
• Deaths from workplace injury average nearly a thousand a year. In Canada, one worker is killed every two hours of each working day.
• Deaths from workplace diseases go largely unrecorded and uncompensated; they likely exceed deaths from workplace injuries.
• Despite this, many governments are weakening health and safety rules and their enforcement.

The tiny canary was once the only safeguard miners had against dangerous gas buildup. If the canary died, it was a signal to evacuate the mines... fast. Today, workers exposed to dangerous substances have no canaries to give them advance warning of danger.