Workers who never came home to their families
Locals who died on the job remembered
Marvin Mulder’s life changed forever on Nov. 9, 2010.
The former mover went to work that day to “provide for (his) family” when he severely injured his back on the job.
“Unfortunately, people think if a worker is either killed or injured on the job, their lives or their family’s lives will be taken care of and able to eventually move forward,” he told a packed council chambers at Hamilton City Hall.
“The reality of this misconception is furthest from the truth.”
The subsequent years have been filled with fighting for basic compensation — “just to be able to put a roof over your head and bread on your table,” the Hamilton man said.
Mulder made his comments Sunday at the Day of Mourning ceremony, which is observed every April 28 to remember workers killed or injured on the job.
Over the decades in which the day has been marked, the list of names of workers who died on the job read aloud at the ceremony has become shorter, said Anthony Marco, president of the Hamilton and District Labour Council.
But there are inevitably workers lost whose names the organization does not know, and so attendees were asked to remember anyone not formally recognized when a bell tolled in their honour.
“Even just over the past couple of weeks in the newspaper, you see articles come up sometimes an hour after an injury has happened, saying a worker has fallen here and they’re in serious or critical condition, but we don’t know what happens after that,” Marco said.
Last week alone, a worker died in an accident at an industrial gas supplier’s plant in Paris, and another worker was being treated for life-threatening injuries after a late-night industrial accident in Ancaster.
Last month, a 19-year-old man involved in a workplace accident while changing flags on a flagpole in Flamborough succumbed to his injuries.
“There are plenty of people in this city who get injured and probably die as a result of those injuries, but we never hear the followup, and so we do want to have a space where we can recognize those (people) as well,” Marco said.
After the ceremony, a silent procession followed in which attendees laid wreaths at the Day of Mourning monument in front of City Hall.
Afterwards, Marco said he hopes attendees at Sunday’s ceremony recognize it is their job to report a workplace hazard.
“It’s sometimes tough to stand up to your boss and say, ‘This is an unsafe workplace,’ especially if you’re a young worker or precarious worker,” he said.
But not doing that puts everyone at risk, he said.
‘‘It’s sometimes tough to stand up to your boss and say, ‘This is an unsafe workplace.’ ANTHONY MARCO