The executive director of Canada’s Building Trades Unions, Sean Strickland, has issued a statement for Canada’s Day of Mourning urging workers and employers in the construction sector to “reflect upon our collective purpose, remember, acknowledge and offer our thoughts to those who have been injured, fallen ill or lost their life while at work.”
The 2024 Day of Mourning is today, April 28th.
“Canada’s Building Trades Unions stand in solidarity with workers across the country to recognize the National Day of Mourning, a day to remember workers who have died or been injured in workplace accidents or due to occupational disease,” stated Strickland. “Advocating for higher health and safety standards for our members and for all construction workers has always and will always be a priority for the Building Trades including focusing on prevention so that every worker goes home to their family at the end of the day.”
Statistics indicate 987 workers were killed in workplace incidents in 2022, the latest year for which comprehensive statistics are available, from the Association of Workers’ Compensation Boards of Canada.
“Unfortunately, despite tremendous work to adopt best practices, when taken as a whole construction is the fourth highest occupation group for workplace fatalities at 20.2 deaths per 100,000 workers,” stated Robert Kucheran, Chair of the Canadian Executive Board of Canada’s Building Trades Unions.
“We must remember the dead and continue to fight for the living.” says Strickland. “One life lost on the job is too many.”
