Day of Mourning
This weekend, labour groups across North America will gather to honour workers injured and killed on the job — and to renew their commitment to making work safer.
Monday’s tragic sawmill explosion in Prince George, BC has taken the life of two workers and seriously injured many others. It’s a sad and timely reminder that no one can take workplace safety for granted.
In fact, one in every 65 employed workers is injured or harmed on the job, according to Statistics Canada 2009 data. Construction and mining are the most dangerous, at 24 injuries per 1,000 workers, but Health and Social Work are not far behind at 19 per thousand.
Once again, Working Design was involved in designing materials for BC’s Day of Mourning. This year we created a poster for the BC Federation of Labour, based on a concept by Mike Konopacki. The quote is from Mary Harris “Mother” Jones, a dedicated labour activist and organizer in the late 1900s, and it’s just as powerful more than a century later: “Mourn for the dead and fight like hell for the living.”
The BC Fed is involved in two ceremonies in the Lower Mainland: On Friday, April 27 at 10:30 am at the New Vancouver Convention Centre, and on Saturday April 28 at 11 am at the New Westminster Quay. Find locations of other ceremonies throughout BC.
