GMB support International Workers Memorial Day 2019
We passionately believe that no organisation should put the health and safety of its workforce (or the community) at risk, says GMB London
GMB, the general workers’ union, will be commemorating International Workers Memorial Day at a number of events around London and the East of England. This year’s event in Milton Keynes is being organised by GMB London Region.
International Workers Memorial Day on Sunday 28th April is to remember the workers killed or injured at work and to step up efforts to prevent others being killed or injured in the future.
The day is also a way to commemorate workers all around the world, such as the those that died in the Amritsar Massacre, which had its 100th anniversary on 13 April 2019. This was when British Empire troops fired into a crowd of Indian workers who were on their lunch break gathered on a peaceful protest.
2019 also marks the 35th year of the Bhopal disaster where more than 8,000 workers are believed to have died as a result of the gas release (half at the time, half since), and more than 500,000 have suffered illness as a result.
GMB London Region will be raising awareness of both these tragedies with motions at this year’s GMB Congress.
Details of events in London and East of England are:
Saturday 27 April
12.00 PM
Rainham Library
Celtic Farm Rd
Rainham
RM13 9GP
A stone memorial will be placed on the green opposite Rainham Library on at. Refreshments available in the library after the commemoration.
Sunday 28 April
1:15 PM to 1:45 PM
9 Abbotts Park Rd,
Leyton,
E10 6HT
Event at Abbot's Park
Sunday 28 April
11:30 AM
Milton Keynes Rose
Campbell Park
Milton Keynes
MK9 4AJ
Speeches, minutes silence and wreath laying ceremony at the International Workers Memorial Day plinth.
Monday 29 April
12:30 PM
Memorial Tree
Central Park
24-26 Viaduct Rd,
Chelmsford
CM2 0FQ
Commemoration of IWMD. There will also be a health and safety exhibition in Chelmsford Library’s Remembrance Square from 29th April to 4th May.
Shaun Graham, GMB Regional Organiser said:
“International Workers’ Memorial Day is not a day for celebration. It is the day when we stop to remember those workers killed, disabled, injured or made unwell by their work.
“It is a day when we remember the dead, and pledge to fight like hell for the living. A day when we acknowledge the families of those who have lost their lives through the effects of work - and their friends, workmates and their communities who are still suffering these unbearable tragedies.
“This is also a time to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the events in Amritsar, a despicable massacre that was carried out in the name of the British Government of the time, and by implication, in the name of the British people. We believe the Government should use this day to issue a full and formal apology to the Indian people and the families.
“We also welcome all avenues to highlight environmental justice for the victims of the Bhopal disaster, in line with the principles behind the Corporate Manslaughter Act and corporate negligence.
“We passionately believe that no organisation should put the health and safety of its workforce (or the community) at risk.”
ENDS
Contact: Shaun Graham 07885 706556 or GMB London Press Office 07970 114762
