Remember the Dead, Fight for the Living: Activists Rally on International Workers Memorial Day”
About two dozen activists, from several unions, took part in the annual International Workers Memorial Day event organised by Waltham Forest Trades Council at Walthamstow Town Hall.
Among the speakers, both George Thomson from PCS and Susan Wills from UCU spoke of the mental health effects of stress and bullying at work. Glenroy Watson from the RMT spoke about the particular hazards of working in a safety-critical occupation. WFTC’s Mick Holder presented figures from the ILO showing that globally more than 8000 workers die every day as a result ofwork-related accident or disease, and more than 1 million are injured every day in a workplace accident. He also noted that the mass repeal of EU legislation proposed by the government threatened to remove most of the legal requirements on employers to provide a safe and healthy work environment This was expanded on by John Cryer, MP for Leyton and Wanstead, who pointed out that although the repeal of EU legislation did not directly affect what he described as the “gold standard” Health and Safety at Work Act, this too was in Tory sights and they were preparing to repeal it and return workplaces to Victorian conditions.
Each speech was greeted with a resounding chant of “Remember the dead, and fight like hell for the living!” Following a one-minutes silence in honour of Waltham Forest victims of workplace death, two memorial wreaths were placed at the foot of the borough’s flagpole.
Thank you to Mick Holder for use of the images.
Art Book Review Books Capitalism China Climate Emergency Conservative Government Conservative Party COVID-19 Economics EcoSocialism Elections Europe Fascism Film Film Review France Gaza Imperialism Israel Italy Keir Starmer Labour Party Long Read Marxism Palestine pandemic Protest Russia Solidarity Statement Trade Unionism Ukraine United States of America War
Latest articles
- Sacre (bleu) rouge! – Popular Front pushes back Le Pen
Dave Kellaway looks at the results of the second round of the French parliamentary elections - The far right has been pushed back by popular mobilisation – now we must implement the programme of the New Popular Front
A statement on last night’s election result in France from the NPA – Nouveau Parti Anticapitaliste - After the Landslide: Resistance and Realignment
Anti*Capitalist Resistance statement on the General Election. Tories annihilated, Labour have a ‘loveless’ landslide, and hard-right Farage surges. There is a challenge from the left and on Gaza: organise the resistance now. - An election without electors in IranIn the Islamic Republic of Iran, despite the facade of electoral processes, true power remains firmly in the hands of the Supreme Leader and his inner circle, with the recent elections underscoring the population’s widespread disillusionment and rejection of the regime. By Babak Kia.
- That Was the Election That Was
Dave Kellaway looks back at an election campaign that was over before it began