Aaron Favila / AP
WASHINGTON (PAI) From coast to coast, demands for passage of the PRO Act, the most pro-worker labor law overhaul in 86 years, will take center stage at May Day marches, teach-ins, and events, preceded by other pro-PRO Act actions that began on April 26.
The AFL-CIO reports more than 700 events are planned, and that count may be low, as individual unions check in with their own marches and meetings. And five big Bay Area labor councils joined together for a May Day march in San Francisco.
Add to those events and marches one big town hall, on May 2,
People’s World and the International Labor Communications Association.
Since 1989, unions have been observing April 28 as Workers Memorial Day.
“Workers killed on the job the previous year are commemorated in events across America,” explained Bill Londrigan, Kentucky State AFL-CIO president recently. “April 28th was chosen as Workers Memorial Day because the Occupational Safety and Health Administration was born on that date in 1970.”
Because of the continuing COVID-19 crisis, many Workers Memorial Day observances will be virtual again this year. Throughout the deadliest pandemic in a century, unions have stood in solidarity with scientists and doctors who are urging people to keep masking, hand sanitizing, and social distancing even if they’ve been vaccinated.
Event organizers highlight loss of life among workers on the frontline in the battle with COVID-19. Written By: Pamela D. Knudson | 7:45 pm, Apr. 28, 2021 ×
Mark Froemke, left, president of the Northern Valley Labor Council, speaks to attendees just before Ron Franz rings a bell in honor of workers who died on the job in 2020 during an event Wednesday, April 28, 2021, at Bringewatt Park in Grand Forks. (Korrie Wenzel/Grand Forks Herald)
The lives of people who died while on the job in 2020 – particularly those who died as a result of COVID-19 – were remembered at the annual Workers Memorial Service on Wednesday afternoon, April 28, at Bringewatt Park.
Willie Blakely, Erie s first Black firefighter, died from a cerebral hemorrhage on Oct. 24, 1982. The injury was believed to be the result of an accident suffered while responding to an emergency call.
His fellow firefighters believed his death should have been recognized as a line-of-duty death so that Blakely could be afforded the honors given to those in public safety who sacrificed their lives in the performance of their duties.
Wednesday evening, Blakely was given those honors during a Workers Memorial event at Perry Square. About 150 people attended the event, including Juan Scooter Blakely, the son of Wille Blakely.
Juan Blakely, a photographer with the Erie Bureau of Fire, said he was moved by the efforts made by Erie firefighters, past and present, to bring his father the recognition he deserved.