Day of Mourning honours fallen workers
Lethbridge residents and dignitaries gathered around the Workers Memorial Site at the Mountain View Cemetery Thursday to honour those who lost their lives to workplace injuries.
The National Day of Mourning is a day for those who lost a loved one, a friend or a coworker due to workplace injury to honour their memory and to create awareness about worksite safety.
The National Day of Mourning was officially recognized by the Canadian government in 1991, eight years after the day of remembrance was launched by the Canadian Labour Congress. The Day of Mourning has since spread to about 80 countries around the world.
The Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) Local 70 and the City of Lethbridge hosted a Day of Mourning ceremony on Thursday, for the first time since 2019. Flags at City Hall were lowered to half-mast on this date to honour the occasion.
Emcee for the ceremony, Paul Kingsmith, said that even though the day is now recognized internationally, it began right here in Canada when unions in Sudbury first observed a day of mourning in 1984.
“The Canadian Labour Congress then held its first day of remembrance in 1986, and April 28th was chosen as the day to reflect the anniversary of the day that Ontario passed the Workers Compensation Act in 1914,” said Kingsmith.
Kingsmith added that in 1991 following the passage of an act in Parliament, Canada recognized its first National Day of Mourning for persons killed or injured in the workplace. It is a day when flags fly at halfmast and ceremonies are held across the country to recognize the lives needlessly lost and the tremendous suffering of those left in the wake of workplace tragedy.
“Workplace incidents continue to affect the lives of Albertans and Canadians every year. In 2021, 178 Albertans died due to workplace injury or illness and the most recent statistics from the Association of Workers Compensation Boards of Canada show 925 workplace fatalities across Canada,” said Kingsmith.
One of those Albertans affected by a workplace injury was Jim Jameson, who lost his life in 2014 while on the job, and his daughter Jackie Fuhrmann has been taking part in the National Day of Mourning ceremony ever since.
“My dad was a transport driver. On April 2, 2014 he was pushing to get his load off to make deadlines. It was done unsafely, and he ended up getting crushed by a load,” said Fuhrmann.
She said that even though she cries a lot during the ceremony every year, she receives comfort from being around others that understand what she is going through.
“There is so much support by organizers and other families that have gone through the same thing, that it is a really tough day but there’s definitely comfort in it,” said Fuhrmann.
She said it has been hard for the last couple of years having the ceremony virtually as she missed the connection that one only gets from in-person interactions, but she is happy that they continued to do it for people to be honoured and remembered.
“It’s so important for people to continue to remember and really highlight workplace safety so it brings awareness that it can happen, it does happen, it happens hundreds of times a year and without bringing this awareness people seem to forget about it,” said Fuhrmann.