The long-anticipated construction of the Fallen Workers Memorial on the State Capitol Mall in Salem is just about ready to proceed — when enough money is collected to get the green light.

The Oregon AFL-CIO’s Safety and Health Committee has been trying for more than three years to erect a permanent memorial in Salem to honor workers who have been killed or injured on the job. The idea for a permanent memorial came in the form of a resolution passed at an Oregon AFL-CIO convention in 2005.

The process to locate a site and get approval for the design have been finalized by the state. The problem now is cash.

The memorial will consist of a large boulder with an inscribed bronze plaque attached to it. The plaque will read:

“In memory of Oregon’s working men and women who suffered injury or loss of life on the job.

MOURN FOR THE DEAD, FIGHT FOR THE LIVING

Workers Memorial Day, April 28. Donated to the State of Oregon by the working men and women of the

Oregon AFL-CIO”

The boulder will rest within a landscaped sitting area near the main entrance of the Labor and Industries Building at 350 Winter St. NE, Salem.

The national AFL-CIO declared April 28 as Workers’ Memorial Day more than two decades ago to remember those who have been killed or injured on the job. Every year unions throughout the country hold services to remember those workers.

“We now have an accurate estimate of the cost using all union labor to prepare the site and construct the memorial,” said Al Dorgan, chair of the Oregon AFL-CIO’s Safety and Health Committee and the lead man on the project. Dorgan is president of Albany Steelworkers Local 7150.

LCG Pence Construction of Salem will be the contractor, with work being done by members of Laborers Local 320 and Carpenters Local 1065. “The contractor is ready to begin construction as soon as we have the funding,” Dorgan told the Oregon AFL-CIO Executive Board at its quarterly meeting Nov. 21.

To date, $20,514 has been collected, following a $5,000 contribution from the state labor federation. Total cost for the project is $49,765.

© Oregon Labor Press Publishing Co. Inc.