Twelve truck drivers, four loggers, and three farmers were among 41 workers who died in job-related accidents in Oregon last year. All were remembered at Workers Memorial Day ceremonies held in Portland and Salem April 25 and 28 by the Northwest Oregon Labor Council (NOLC) and Oregon AFL-CIO, respectively.
“Achieving prosperity in Oregon should include all workers returning home safely at the end of their shifts,” Oregon Gov. Kate Brown said in a press statement prior to the ceremony at the Fallen Workers Memorial outside the Labor and Industries Building in Salem. Brown also issued a proclamation declaring April 28 Workers Memorial Day in Oregon.
In Portland, as the names of the deceased workers were read, a bell rang and an American flag was raised in their honor.
“The list is dramatically shorter than it was 20 years ago, or 30 years ago, or 50 years ago. That’s a success. That’s worth being proud of,” Oregon-OSHA Administrator Michael Woods said at the NOLC gathering. “But it’s not worth declaring job done. This mission isn’t accomplished.”
Woods called on union workers to look to the future with a good deal of impatience.
“Demand more from govern- ment regulators. Demand more from one another. And demand more from yourselves,” he said. “It is too easy to fall into a pattern of only worrying about the fatalities when they happen, and that’s simply too late.”
Workers Memorial Day serves as an annual nationwide day of remembrance. It recognizes the thousands of U.S. workers who die each year on the job and the more than 1 million who are injured each year at work. The observance is traditionally held on April 28 because Congress passed the Occupational Safety and Health Act on that date in 1970.
In Washington state, 84 workers were remembered at ceremonies held in several cities on April 28.
