Workers Memorial Day

Please join the Tony Mazzocchi Center in commemorating Workers Memorial Day on April 28, 2025.

Nearly 55 years ago, on April 28, the Occupational Safety and Health Act was enacted, promising all workers the right to a safe job. We now recognize this significant date as Workers Memorial Day.

On Dec. 29, 1970, President Nixon signed the OSH Act passed by Congress and it went into effect on April 28, 1971. This Act also created the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, or OSHA.

This law was won because of the tireless efforts of the labor movement which organized for safer working conditions and demanded action to protect working people. Unions and our allies have continued to fight hard to make that promise a reality – winning protections that have made jobs safer and have prevented millions of workplace injuries and illnesses.

But our work is not done. According to the AFL-CIO, each day more than 340 workers are killed on the job, and more than 6,000 suffer injury and illness because of preventable hazardous conditions. Many hazards are still unregulated and uncontrolled. Some employers cut corners and violate the law, and dangerous work is contracted out. Workers who report job hazards or job injuries are disciplined and even fired. Workers continue to lose their lives on the job, become injured or made ill.

Every year on Workers Memorial Day, the United Steelworkers and USW Tony Mazzocchi Center remember those who lost their lives or were injured on the job. We also renew our promise to fight for safer, healthier workplaces for all workers.

For more information, including the 2025 toolkit and digital artwork, please visit the AFL-CIO’s Workers Memorial Day website.

If you are interested in health, safety and environmental training, please contact your staff representative, and the USWTMC at 412-562-2359 or webmaster@uswtmc.org. The TMC Course Catalog is available here.