Labor College Dedicates National Workers Memorial
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The number on the brick in AFL-CIO Secretary-Treasurer Liz Shuler’s hand was 5,214.
This afternoon, she told the union members, job safety advocates and others at the National Labor College (NLC), 5,214 represents the number of workers killed on the job in 2008. In short, said Shuler:
That’s 14 a day.
Today, the NLC dedicated the National Workers Memorial in Workers Memorial Day ceremonies. The recently completed memorial features granite benches and brick pavers engraved with the name of union members killed on the job. The ceremony paid special tribute to the workers killed in the most recent workplace tragedies:
- 29 coal miners killed at Massey Energy Co.’s Upper Big Branch Mine in West Virginia;
- Seven workers killed at the Tesoro refinery in Washington State;
- Six victims at the Kleen Energy Systems plant in Connecticut; and
- 11 oil platform workers who are presumed dead following an explosion of the Transocean Ltd. rig in the Gulf of Mexico.
Honor Fallen Workers with Memorial Brick at Labor College Site
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Construction of the National Workers Memorial to honor individuals killed on the job is under way at the National Labor College (NLC).
Dedicated last April on Workers Memorial Day, the memorial with more than 10,000 bricks and scores of granite benches and pavers will be finished in time to commemorate this year’s Workers Memorial Day, April 28.
If you would like to have a brick or other remembrance engraved and installed in time for this year’s ceremonies at the campus in Silver Spring, Md., you need to purchase them by Feb. 28. Memorial bricks may be purchased for $125, pavers for $2,000 and granite benches for $10,000. For more information, click here.
National Memorial Dedicated to Fallen Workers
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| On Workers Memorial Day, Labor Secretary Hilda Solis and AFL-CIO Secretary-Treasurer Richard Trumka take part in a dedication for a national workers memorial at the National Labor College. |
The names were repeated in a chorus of tragedy. Conrad Johnson, a bus driver killed by a sniper while taking a rest break. Linda Redman, a factory worker who died a slow, painful death from “popcorn lung” disease. An elevator operator killed when an elaveator crushed him on the job. Thirteen coal miners killed by an explosion when they went into a mine to rescue injured co-workers.
Today, on Workers Memorial Day, these and dozens more workers were remembered by their co-workers, family and friends who placed bricks in their memory as part of the groundbreaking ceremonies for the new national workers memorial at the National Labor College (NLC) in Silver Spring, Md.
Hundreds of people who lost a loved one who was killed on the job have sponsored bricks for the memorial, which will be constructed in the center of the NLC campus.
