Under the banner of "Mourn for the Dead and Fight for the Living," hundreds of local union members and national and New York City labor and community leaders will hold a Workers Memorial Day service at 10 a.m. on Friday at Trinity Church in New York. The event honors workers killed on September 11 as well as all workers killed in New York last year. A bagpipe-led procession will lead the group from the church to the World Trade Center site.
Firefighters, construction workers from the World Trade Center site, telecommunications workers who have rebuilt the Lower Manhattan infrastructure, health care professionals, Windows on the World workers, janitors from the World Trade Center and other union members will attend the event. They will gather to recognize that though nothing could have saved the workers killed on September 11, one of the best ways to honor them is to work for safer workplaces.
Union members are calling for all workers in Lower Manhattan to observe a minute of silence at noon on Friday, and will pass out 100,000 leaflets and stickers at subway stops on Thursday and Friday reminding people to observe the minute of silence.
Speakers at the Workers Memorial Day event will include John Sweeney, president of the national AFL-CIO; Harold Schaitberger, president, International Association of Firefighters; Brian McLaughlin, president, New York City Central Labor Council; Ed Malloy, president, Building and Construction Trades of Greater New York; and family members of workers killed on September 11.
Workers Memorial Day is a worldwide annual event to honor workers killed and hurt on the job. Hundreds of similar events nationwide will feature yellow and black ribbons - black signifies mourning and yellow signifies hope and the fight for the living. Workers Memorial Day is Sunday, April 28.
by Sandy Smith ([email protected])