With 19 countries now recognising 28 April as the official International Commemoration Day for Dead and Injured Workers, attention is now squarely on the United Nations General Assembly to also recognise the day.

To that end, on 3 May, a worker and trade union delegation will meet with officials of the Executive Office of the UN's Secretary General to update them on global labour's drive for recognition of the day. The meeting in New York City is hosted by the Support and Coordination Office of the UN's Economic and Social Council.

Trade union representatives from each continent, along with those from the ITUC, will update officials from the Secretary General's office on the growing number of 28 April activities scheduled for this week, as well as on priorities to be contained in the official recognition of such a day.

Those priorities include: Recognition and enforcement of worker and trade union rights to overcome barriers to occupational health and safety; A better understanding, tracking system, and response to occupational cancers; Ratification of global occupational health and safety instruments and measures by national governments, with aggressive promotion to strengthen reporting and enforcement.

A global ban on the production, use and commercialisation of asbestos in all of its forms; and the need for better and more enduring mechanisms to report performance of HIV/AIDS targets and commitments made by intergovernmental institutions, especially the G8.

Ed Thomas from the Canadian Union of Public Employees will lead the delegation. The Canadian labour movement is largely credited for the initial push, in 1984, to proclaim 28 April as Workers’ Memorial Day each year. The Canadian government formally recognised the day in 1991 when the Day of Morning Act was passed. Last year, the UN agreed to an annual reporting of 28 April by the ITUC.

"It has taken a long time to reach this point, but our goal draws closer every time another country adopts 28 April as a national observance day," said Thomas. "The recent decision by the governments of the Ukraine and the Andean Community, which will bring to 19 the number of countries that officially recognise the day, has injected fresh energy into the trade union delegation that will join me in New York."

The trade unionists heading to the UN on 3 May will be part of a broader trade union group that will attend this year's UN Commission on Sustainable Development. The unionists will highlight the importance of good industrial relations regarding workplace health and safety within the context of sustainable development.

The nations that have adopted 28 April as an official day of remembrance include: Argentina, Belgium, Bermuda, Bolivia, Brazil, Canada, Colombia, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Greece, Luxembourg, Panama, Peru, Poland, Portugal, Spain, Taiwan, Ukraine, and Venezuela.

In 1996, the UN's Commission on Sustainable Development first observed a global day to commemorate dead and injured workers when a trade union delegation was allowed to light a candle and incense at one of its sessions. At that time, Canada was the only country that had adopted 28 April as a national day of observance.

For Workers’ Memorial Day 2007, the ICEM has adopted a campaign encouraging affiliates to sign on to the global trade union lobby for a high-level G8 Working Group on HIV/AIDS as a major part of its comprehensive programme to combat the global pandemic.

The ICEM has urged its affiliates to send letters to the German embassy, or a German consulate in their home countries, requesting creation of such a high-level commission. Germany is host to the G8 Summit this year.

The ICEM strongly believes that such a Working Group is needed to guarantee there is progress on prior G8 commitments to achieve universal access to HIV/AIDS drugs, treatments, and care by 2010, and to escalate development of a vaccine to prevent HIV infection. ICEM believes that a more sustained political commitment and commitment of resources by the world's richest nations must occur to reverse this deadly pandemic plaguing workers in the developing world.

The letter for creation of such a high-level Working Group states: "The UN Declaration of Commitment on HIV/AIDS, signed by the G8 and other countries, promised a dedicated focus on HIV/AIDS. In so doing, countries agreed to time-bound commitments for ensuing progress to address the most serious global health threat known to our civilization.

"We therefore call upon the government of Germany, as the host of the next G8, to support our call for the fulfilment of these and other G8 commitments on HIV/AIDS. We are not suggesting that a new bureaucracy by created, but that a Working Group of experts of the G8 be set-up and that it be supported by the technical support of existing bodies such as UNAIDS and its co-sponsors."

The ICEM has launched several HIV/AIDS projects in recent years to address the negative work aspects of the pandemic. ICEM also sponsors projects to provide training for national coordinators in Africa so they can educate workers on HIV/AIDS and the necessity of testing. Such projects will in the future be extended to Latin America and Asia.

Austrian trade union federation OeGB will hold a candle-lighting ceremony in front of its headquarters in Vienna on Friday, 27 April, to mark Workers’ Memorial Day. OeGB President Rudolf Hundstorfer will also speak at this public event.

Hundstorfer's speech will mark the start of the federation's drive to have the 28 April day recognised by the government of Austria as the official International Commemoration Day for Dead and Injured Workers. The federation has urged its member unions across Austria to conduct similar public events, and is encouraging trade unionists to mark the day with candle-lighting ceremonies inside their workplaces.

Worker safety institutes in Australia have almost unanimously said the advent of Prime Minister John Howard’s WorkChoices law will ultimately be detrimental to workplace safety. Now comes wisdom from another organisation, the Victorian Safety Institute of Australia.

The institute says the government’s labour reforms, which dramatically changed union rights and employment rights, will pose the biggest threat to workplace safety since asbestos.

Speaking prior to a Safety in Action conference held recently in Melbourne, the Victorian Safety Institute’s vice president, Kevin Jones said: “WorkChoices is opening a Pandora’s box of new health problems stemming from stress and high workloads. It’s the greatest threat to workers’ health since asbestos, because it harms people from all walks of life in such an insidious way – millions of Australians will suffer its potentially devastating effects.”

The Bermuda Industrial Union is calling on union members and the general public to drive in the morning of 28 April with their headlights on to commemorate Workers’ Memorial Day.

The union is also calling on trade unionists to light a candle at 12h00 on that day.

Canada, as one of the biggest suppliers of asbestos, will be the target of protests on 28 April at the country's embassy in Washington, D.C., and at the Canadian High Commission in London. Organised by the London-based International Ban Asbestos Secretariat, the protest calls on the Canadian government to live up to its progressive global reputation by banning the mining and export of asbestos.

Canadian labour groups and activists are also using 28 April as a day to call on the government to halt asbestos production and export. They will issue a separate document on the issue.

Estimates are that one national asbestos-related death occurs for each 170 tonnes produced. In 126 years of asbestos mining, dating back to 1880, Canada has produced in excess of 65 million tonnes of asbestos.

The theme for this year's 28 April National Day of Mourning, as proclaimed by the Canadian Labour Congress (CLC), is "Safe and Healthy Workplaces for All Workers." The CLC calls on trade union bodies to demand that governments enforce existing laws by providing the necessary tools and resources. "Lives are not saved by governments simply adopting legislation," states the CLC. "Lives are saved by governments enforcing legislation."

One of Colombia’s national labour centres, United Workers’ Confederation (CUT) will cooperate with the National Trade Union School (Escuela Nacional Sindical) and the Inter Trade Union Organisation for the Health of Workers of Antioquía (INSISTA, or Intersindical De Salud Y Trabajo de Antioquía) to host a major seminar entitled “Work Related Accidents and Decent Work.”

The conference will be held on 30 April at the Antioquía University. An expected 200 union representatives and workplace safety experts will attend. In addition, a special publication called “Karoshi: To Die Working” will be available that provides analysis of Colombia’s workplace deaths in 2006.

The country’s Social Protection Ministry estimates that 870 workers – three per day – die each year due to workplace accidents, and that some 590,000 workplace health or safety incidents occur annually.

Colombia has ratified ILO Convention 174, the Prevention of Major Industrial Accidents Convention, but has not ratified ILO Convention 176, the Safety and Health in Mines Conventions, and ILO Convention 155, the Occupational Safety and Health Convention.

ICEM drew attention to the Colombian government’s non-ratification of these two conventions, following a pair of devastating coal mining accidents in early February. In one, in Gámeza, Boyacá state, where eight people died at an illegal mine, one of the fatalities was a 13-year-old boy. This disaster occurred on 6 February. Three days earlier, 32 miners perished when two inter-connected mines collapsed due to an underground explosion. That happened near Sardinata, Norte de Santander state.

The ICEM, together with the ITUC, expressed deep concern at not only the circumstances of the Gámeza disaster, but also the inadequate safety measures in place at the San Roque and La Preciosa mines in Norte de Santander state. The two global labour organisations called, on the deadly occasions of these twin catastrophes, on the government of Colombia to ratify ILO Conventions 176 and 155.

In past commemorations of 28 April Workers’ Memorial Day, Danish trade unions – like many others across the world – have done customary candle lighting ceremonies to honour the dead and injured. This year, the Danish Confederation of Trade Unions (LO), in combination with the Confederation of Salaried Employees and Civil Servants (FTF), are asking trade unions to mount torches outside union offices to honour the memories of workers killed while on the job or from job-related diseases.

The two labour federations have adopted the motto “Safe and Healthy Work for All – Welfare Centred on Health and Safety” for 28 April 2007. Activities are planned across Denmark, including conference, meetings, and street actions to call attention to health and safety at work.

Part of that focus will ask people of Denmark to examine global development, and how globalisation puts pressure on workers’ rights, including the right to a safe and hazard-free workplace. To look at materials and posters developed by the two labour federations, please visit www.lo.dk, or www.ftf.dk/28april.

On 28 April, the National Federation of Workers' Councils in Hungary (MOSZ) will again place wreathes at a memorial in the city of Pécs.

This year, however, the event will be followed by a Commemoration Day meeting with guests invited from all segments of Hungarian society. Additionally, in Budapest, MOSZ will host a conference to address workplace stress, reflecting negotiations now underway on that subject between worker and bosses inside the National Interest Reconciliation Council.

These negotiations are guided by the Hungarian legal system, and are held inside a framework agreement between the social partners as outlined by the European Union.

According to studies, over 50% of all Hungarian workers are employed in high-stress work environments. Trade unions are concerned that current human resources strategies are uncaring and callous in dealing with such workplace situations. This trend must be reversed, says MOSZ, and the 28 April conference and negotiations are aimed at bringing this about.

ICEM affiliate National Union of Petroleum Workers in Côte-d’Ivoire (SYNTEPCI-UGTCI) is using the days around 28 April’s International Commemoration Day for Dead and Injured Workers to mark a milestone: refinery workers have now worked 2,000 consecutive days at the Société Ivoirienne de Raffinage in Abidjan without a work accident.

SYNTEPCI has already marked the event with a 19 April “Open Door” at the refinery to highlight the achievements at the enterprise, as well as a 21 April National Day on Health and Safety.

On 26-27 April, the refinery’s Health and Safety Committee will take part in a training seminar, which will specifically address establishing national coordination of all workplace safety and health committees.

On 28 April, the union will pay tribute to comrades working at the refinery in a ceremony attended by the president of the country. Later that day, the Ministries of Work and Public Affairs will air a message on safety at work across Côte-d’Ivoire radio and television.

The ICEM congratulates the workers at this oil enterprise for their exemplary safety record, as well as SYNTEPCI and its General Secretary Adolpe Gyayoro for organising the work-safety events in Côte-d’Ivoire.

In Japan, “karoshi,” or death from overwork, is not a new phenomenon. But now it has become a topic inside the Japanese parliamentary system, as lawmakers of the Diet begin considering revisions to the Labor Standards Act, which regulates work time and salary.

At the centre of the political debate is the issue of excessive overtime, as well as the question if overtime pay should be raised from the current 1.25 times regular pay for work performed over and above eight hours a day, or 40 hours per week. According to the Japan Times, the government drafted a bill to raise overtime pay, but also included a white-collar exclusion rule to overtime pay. Supervisory and management ranks are already excluded from overtime pay.

The issue is expected to be hotly contested in political debates this year, and into the future. Employers are seeking workplace flexibility by giving workers a choice in the hours they work, figuring this will bring greater efficiency. But the unions counter that the white-collar exclusion rule will lead to heavier work loads and continuation of conditions that bring on “karoshi.”

In 2003, the Japanese government began collecting figures on “karoshi,” using application and awards of workers’ compensation to family members. In 2003, the number of applications was 213, of which 158 cases were recognised as death due to overwork. In 2005, the number of applications rose to 336, but the government only recognised 157 of those as being the result of “karoshi.”

In Vilnius, Lithuania, national trade union organisations have organised a round table discussion to take place in the country’s Parliament on 28 April. The theme of the discussion will be, “Health and Safety at Workplaces: How to Guarantee Efficient Implementation Measures.”

The conference is being hosted by the government’s Committee of Social Affairs and Labour, and is being sponsored by three labour groups: LTU Confederation, LTU Solidarumas, and the Lithuania Workers’ Federation.

Union leaders will discuss the health and safety in the country, as well as recently passed workplace legislation, with representatives from the State Labour Inspection agency, a delegation from the European Community, as well as with MPs and Social Affairs and Labour officials.

In Lithuania, according to the State Labour Inspectorate, one-third of all workplace fatalities occur in the building construction, and the fatality rate in this area is three times higher than the average in other EU countries. The agency says that one-half of all fatal accidents are caused by work that is badly organised and poorly managed.

On 17 April, a special commission, formed by the government of Peru, adopted a prohibition of asbestos and recommended a total ban on the product, which would take effect on 1 January 2009.

This means that 46 countries have now banned or will ban asbestos across the world. While making the decision, the Peruvian government's commission took into account debate and arguments from the Asbestos Ban Network, Peru's industry representatives, and the lobby of the International Asbestos Industry.

Peru currently imports 492 tons of asbestos per year. The government has not yet ratified ILO Convention 162 (Use of Asbestos at Work), or Convention 155 (Occupational Safety and Health).

Trade union federations in Peru were among the 16 labour groups in five Andean nations which helped to compile a recent document titled "Ban Asbestos in the Andean Sub-region." The document, written with the support of Dr. Eva Delgado and published by the Andean Labour Institute, was also aided by labour federations in Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador and Venezuela.

The Confederation of Trade Unions of the Slovak Republic (KOZ) will observe Workers’ Memorial Day on 27 April this year with an official tripartite conference, involving also the government and employers' groups, to discuss safety issues.

The conference will be held in the small Slovak town of Novaky, where last month’s tragedy struck inside a factory for de-activation of old military munitions. Eight civilian workers were killed, including three women. KOZ has arranged the tripartite meeting along with the Federation of Metallurgical Trade Unions.

The labour confederation's Safety and Health Department has prepared leaflets for this year's World Day for Safety and Health at Work. The Slovak Republic has an official workplace fatality rate of 11 per 100,000 workers. The government has ratified all ILO Conventions core labour standards, and has also adopted ILO Conventions 139 (Occupational Cancer), 155 (Occupational Safety and Health), 161 (Occupational Health Services), and the Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants.

In February 2007, South Korea's Labor Ministry announced a total ban on the manufacture, import, and use of asbestos, which will take effect in 2009. Under the plan, the Labor Ministry will restrict the use of products containing asbestos in steps through 2008, in order to allow for the examination of possible substitutes.

In 2009, all asbestos-removal companies will be required to register with the Labor Ministry, and all articles which involve the use of asbestos will be removed, according to Korea's construction laws and regulations.

The ministry, in making the announcement, noted that a number of countries in developed nations have already banned asbestos. It also said that when taken into the body, asbestos fibres can cause breathing problems by damaging the lungs, which causes asbestosis and an increased risk to cancer.

In Taiwan, the NGO Tavoi will again organise a demonstration to mark 28 April. But this year, a three-day workshop will follow the 28 April commemoration event.

The workshop will focus on occupational health and safety issues, and will be attended by trade unionists, other NGO members and scholars from India, Hong Kong, Japan, and other Asian countries.

Each day in Taiwan, five workers die from industrial accidents and 20 more workers become permanently injured. The economic miracle that has engulfed Taiwan for the past four decades has also left an appalling trail of workplace carnage.

In the UK, trade unions are calling attention to 28 April’s International Commemoration Day for Dead and Injured Workers. The GMB is asking all its 600,000 members to convince MPs to officially recognise the day in the UK, as well as making it a national holiday.

GMB wants more MPs to sign on to an “Early Day Motion” in the House of Commons calling for official recognition of the day. Labour MP Michael Clapham has submitted the motion, and GMB Health and Safety Officer John McClean said, “We need (MPs) to do more than just lift their pens” on the initiative. Clapham’s motion has 78 MPs signed on, and is also supported heavily by ICEM affiliate Amicus and the Communication Workers’ Union.

Amicus, meanwhile, has distributed a petition to its members, also asking the UK’s government to officially recognise the day.

Amicus Research Officer Chris O’Leary states: “Most workers don’t die of mystery ailments, or in tragic accidents. They did because an employer decided that their safety just wasn’t that important a priority. Sixteen-hundred people die each year in the UK while doing their job, and 20,000 die from work-related diseases. This country should remember them President Rudolf on this day, as they do in other countries and by doing so, reduce this slaughter.”

The ICEM is extremely grateful to the ITUC, and particularly to Lucien Royer at the ITUC for tracking and distributing Workers’ Memorial Day 2007 activities. Much of the material in this special issue of InBrief originates from Lucien Royer.