Each year, thousands of workers are killed and millions more are injured or diseased because of their jobs. The unions of the AFL-CIO and people in hundreds of communities will remember these workers this Thursday, April 28, Workers Memorial Day. This Sunday, workers around the world will celebrate May Day, the international workers’ holiday that began in the United States and commemorates the struggle for the 8 hour day.
Beginning this week, and throughout the month of May, TWU members will wear “Imagine No Workers” buttons to work. We will ask members of the public (the people who rely on our services every day), politicians and our bosses to think about what it would be like if our members were not there. It’s a way to get people to be really aware of what the attacks on collective bargaining and the mass layoffs really mean.
In March, this was really brought home when the workers in those nuclear power plants in Japan had to leave—there was nobody there to prevent a catastrophe. The same thing is true when they start laying off teachers or transit workers or firefighters or rail or airline workers. How does that dishwasher get to work if there is no transit worker to drive the bus to get them there? How do people fly safely when their planes are repaired offshore or by non-union workers in unlicensed facilities? How do people travel safely on Amtrak when there aren’t qualified people to repair the tracks? It’s a scary thought. Without us, not a single wheel could turn.
During the entire month of May, we will ask people to try to imagine what life would be like without the workers they rely on every day.