No one should die for a paycheck
By Fabrizio Sasso
Executive Director, Sacramento CLC
On April 28, Workers’ Memorial Day, we honored those who have died on the job.
More than 140,000 women and men died from hazardous working condition in 2023, according to the annual AFL-CIO report that tracks worker safety. That’s about 385 people who lose their lives every day on the job. Our hearts go out to every family that has lost a loved one, simply for trying to earn a paycheck.
The report also makes clear the inequity of these deaths. Those most at risk for dying on the job are older workers, immigrant workers and people of color. Nearly one third of reported deaths involved workers over the age of 55. A full 67% of those who died at work were immigrants, with Latinos suffering the highest fatality rates.
Those statistics are likely to grow worse in coming years because the Trump administration is gutting the systems and agencies that protect workers.
He has all but eliminated the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH), which handles issues including firefighter safety and is responsible for recommending and researching best practices for all workers.
He has closed down nearly a dozen OSHA offices, often in states with the worst safety records.
He put on hold a new law meant to reduce silica exposure for coal miners and shuttered 34 offices of the Mine Safety and Health Administration.
And those are just a few of the actions Trump has taken to strip workers of protections and rights.
The Occupational Safety and Health Act that set in motion the organized protection of workers was signed 55 years ago, and today, it is more precarious than ever.
We must not let our safety, and our very lives, be jeopardized by this administration. We have so many battles to fight right now, from the protection of immigrants who are being unfairly deported to solidarity with federal workers who have been fired en masse. But we can’t let chaos and fatigue keep us from taking on this battle to protect our safety on the job.
No one should die for a paycheck, and we are ready to fight to ensure every working American makes it home to their family at the end of the day.