In observance of Workers’ Memorial Day (April 28th), the NYC Central Labor Council and New York Committee for Occupational Safety and Health (NYCOSH) held a ceremony on Park Avenue between 49th and 50th Streets to honor the workers lost over the past year to work-related incidents, injuries, and illnesses. The location was chosen specifically due to the death of a worker who was employed by a non-union electrical contractor at the Waldorf Astoria hotel renovation when he fell to his death on January 2nd – the first casualty of 2025 in New York City’s construction industry.
Local 3 members working nearby and allies in the labor movement joined the midday ceremony to pay their respects. Fr. Brian Jordan (chaplain of the Catholic Council of Electrical Workers and pastor of the Workers Chapel at St. Francis of Assisi Church), Assistant Business Manager Joseph Santigate, City Council member Carmen De La Rosa (chairwoman of the Committee on Civil Service and Labor), NYCOSH Executive Director Charlene Obernauer, NYC CLC Secretary-Treasurer Janella T. Hinds, and American Guild of Musical Artists (AGMA) President Ned Hanlon delivered remarks during the program. It concluded with the reading of over 40 names of workers who died on the job since April 28, 2024, and a performance by the Sword of Light Pipe and Drums Band.
“We are here because we believe that every worker deserves to go home safe at the end of the day,” Assistant Business Manager Santigate said. “Safety is not a privilege – it’s a right rooted in human dignity, and it must be protected by strong laws, strong unions and strong collective action.”
Days before Workers’ Memorial Day, the AFL-CIO released its annual Death on the Job report, a comprehensive analysis of workers’ health and safety outcomes at the national and state levels and actionable solutions to these ongoing problems. The overall job fatality rate decreased, but the causes and effects are often disproportionate and underreported. NYCOSH released a similar report last month, Deadly Skyline, which argues for stricter enforcement of safety standards to limit injuries and deaths in the construction industry. More recently, however, the federal government under the Trump administration has cut regulations, staffing, and funding to essential labor-related agencies, threatening their ability to enforce laws that protect workers and uphold their rights.
