April 28 - Workers' Mourning Day in Canada

nPosted on April 28, 2020

Key Points

nThere are dangers everywhere, I suppose – although certainly police officers, fire fighters, soldiers, and miners encounter more danger at their jobs than, say, executives, computer programmers, and musicians.

Today Canada honors the memories of those who have been killed or even injured while at work – and because of work.

nThe holiday started because two labor activists were delayed on the road by a funeral procession for a fire fighter who had been killed in the line of duty. They really liked the fact that this person was being honored, but they worried that some workers who die – or are injured – in the line of duty get no similar honor. They ended up deciding that a once-a-year opportunity for each of us to remember and honor people we know who died or were injured at work would be a valuable thing.

All over the world, people are applauding
medical workers from a safe distance at
shift changes. This is a great new tradition!

nRight now, in the face of the global pandemic, nurses, doctors, and other medical staff are putting their lives on the line for the rest of us. Also, many people who work in the production and delivery of food and other essential services – plumbers and sanitation workers, for example – are not able to #StayHome and stay safe like so many of us; by continuing to go to work, they are getting more exposure to the virus than most of us are.

nThese people are heroes, and we should be treating them as such – and certainly those medical personnel and essential workers who have fallen ill and especially those who have died from COVID-19 should be honored today.