The Reminder is making its archives back to 2003 available on our website. Please note that, due to technical limitations, archive articles are presented without the usual formatting.
Wearing black arm bands and sombre expressions, residents bowed their heads in silence Sunday evening in honour of those killed or injured at the workplace. About 45 people gathered at the USW Local 7106 monument near the Trailer Court for a ceremony marking the International Day of Mourning. 'You shouldn't die going to work trying to feed your family,' USW health and safety rep Tom Lindsey told the mourners as the adjacent Canadian flag flapped loudly at half-mast. Standing on a rock ridge beside the monument on a blustery evening, Lindsey said workplace fatalities continue to be unacceptably common in Canada with over 1,000 workers dying last year. And that doesn't even include those who passed away from fatal diseases they contracted from asbestos and other health hazards at their workplace, he said. 'I guess we're not really getting where we need to go,' Lindsey said. While there were no local workplace deaths as a result of accidents in the last year, he said that was in some cases 'through sheer luck' but did not delve into detail. Lindsey said steps should be taken every day, not just once a year, to shine the spotlight on the need for safer workplaces. With MLA Clarence Pettersen absent, Alex McGilvery of the local NDP riding association told the crowd that the party is with those who want safer workplaces. Representatives from nearly 20 unions were called up one by one to lay wreathes along the rock slope beneath the monument. A moment of silence was also observed. Among those attending were a handful of firefighters in full uniform.
