Stand Up for Safe Jobs on Workers' Memorial Day!

In December 2024, the National Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries in 2023 was released. According to the 2023 data, 5,283 fatal traumatic work injuries occurred in the U.S. On average, nearly 15 people died per day at work. Fifteen people woke up, said goodbye to their families, and never returned home.

That is a death rate of 3.5 deaths per 100,000 workers. The death rate for Black or African-American workers is 3.6 deaths per 100,000 workers, and for Hispanic or Latino workers it is 4.4 deaths per 100,000 workers. The death rate for White workers is 3.3 deaths per 100,000 workers.

The U.S. Postal Service remains one of the most dangerous companies to work for. In fiscal year 2023 (Oct. 1, 2022, to Sept. 30, 2023), 34,472 employees were injured or had occupational diseases. Additionally, five employees were killed on the job. This does not account for the thousands of unreported injuries or claims that were not approved by the Office of Workers’ Compensation Programs (OWCP). Your work is dangerous.

Each year, April 28 is a significant day for workers and unions worldwide. It is the day to honor the hundreds of thousands of workers who die and are injured on the job each year. It is a day of action, reflection, and mourning for workers and unions. It is known as Workers’ Memorial Day. April 28 was chosen because of its relationship with the Occupational Safety and Health Act going into effect on April 28, 1971. The law led to the creation of the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) to finally had a federal law that required workplace safety.

We cannot rely on OSHA to be there to enforce safety rules and regulations in 2025. Under the current Trump Administration, we are already seeing agencies gutted, starved of funds, and workers being asked to resign, such as government safety enforcement officials. Project 2025 is being implemented at a furious pace. One of its tenets calls for mass deregulation to include the dis- mantling or severe curtailing of OSHA operations. This would lead to safety enforcement being up to individual businesses. This will not lead to less injuries or deaths at work, I believe it will lead to more.

On April 28, I challenge all of you to be willing to Stand Up for Safe Jobs and take action on this day. There are many things you can do. Take a moment of silence at the beginning of your shift by yourself or with your coworkers to honor not just the postal employees injured or killed, but workers worldwide. Take a safe action on that day. Wear a high-visibility piece of clothing to make yourself visible at work but to also remind management and your co-workers of your dedication to workplace safety. You can also reinforce your right to a safe workplace! I challenge you to check your workplace and when you see a safety violation, report it! Complete PS Form 1767 - Report of Hazard, Unsafe Condition or Practice, turn it into your supervisor, and then make sure management follows the process required of them when this form is submitted. You can find some ideas of what can be reported in this Safety article.

The APWU contract with the Postal Service states in Article 14:

It is the responsibility of management to provide safe working conditions in all present and future installations and to develop a safe working force.

But not only does the contract require a safe workplace, so does the law! It is your right and all of us need to be willing to stand up and ght for that right!

STAND UP FOR SAFE JOBS! IT IS EVERY WORKER'S RIGHT! ■