“Mourn for the Dead and Fight for the Living” : International Day of Mourning to remember workers killed, injured, and made ill on the job

On April 28, trade unionists and labour activists came for the Day of Mourning ceremony held in London’s Ontario Public Service Employees Union (OPSEU) hall. 

This year’s London ceremony highlighted the recent death of a worker who was killed while working at the Maple Leaf Foods poultry processing plant on Wilton Grove Road on April 9.

The investigation into the workplace death is ongoing and further details haven’t been released at this time.

“We are all sharing in grief,” said Mike Mattioli, the regional union representative from the Union of Commercial and Food Workers (UFCW), which represents workers at the plant. 

Mattioli added that the Union is working with the Employer and Ministry of Labour to push for a thorough investigation into the workplace death.

“One death is far too many. Every worker deserves to be safe at work and come home at the end of the day,” said Mattioli.

Public condolences for the kabayan (Tagalog Filipino for “countryman”) have been shared on social media by members of the Filipino-Canadian community.

“We know there is an uneven risk of workplace health and safety,” said MPP Theresa Armstrong. “This is a day of solemn reflection, and the risk workers face is not confined to the past.”

At this year’s Day of Mourning ceremony, two local activists received awards for their contributions to workplace health and safety. Steve Holmes of the Amalgamated Transit Union (ATU) Local 741, London Transit, received the Lifetime Health and Safety Award. Jennifer Boswell of Ontario Public Service Employees Union (OPSEU) Local 110, Fanshawe College Faculty, received a 2026 Health and Safety Award.

Boswell accepted the award and dedicated it to  her father who was injured at work that resulted in a permanent disability at age 44.

“The only reason we didn’t end up in poverty was because he was unionized and thank god for that,” she said.

Justice for Migrant Workers

Occupational health and safety specialists have shown that racialized men face the highest overall workplace injury rates, risk that is further compounded by immigration and citizenship status.

Justice for Migrant Workers published an open letter addressed to Prime Minister Carney and Premier Ford as formal notice of their intention to file a complaint with the United Nations Human Rights Committee regarding the “disgraceful and unconscionable refusal to prevent the deaths of migrant agricultural workers in Canada”.

“For the past 25 years, through interactions with tens of thousands of migrant agricultural workers, we have observed how the racial subordination of migrants has led to workplace injuries and deaths,” read the letter. “The governments at all levels expect us to accept that the deaths of Black and Brown migrants are a natural consequence of Canada’s billion-dollar agricultural industry. We refuse to accept a system where indentured servitude is not merely a legacy but a clear and proud practice across the country.”

“Workers have given extensive evidence of the inadequate health and safety measures, horrific living conditions, discriminatory wages, and workplace abuses they must endure,” read the letter. “Every one of these hazards is foreseeable and preventable…Yet Canada has deliberately chosen not to mandate inquests or investigations for the deaths that inevitably result. This is a deliberate policy design to make these workers disposable.”

There were over 1,000 work-related deaths reported to workers’ compensation boards in 2024 according to a recent report. However, many of the deaths due to working conditions are not captured in these statistics.

History of the Day of Mourning

The day is observed annually  across the country. After years of advocacy by the Canadian Labour Congress and injured workers’ groups, April 28 was officially nationally recognized by the Parliament of Canada in 1991. Since then, over 100 countries also participate in international observance.

The Day of Mourning was originally prompted by Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) health and safety director Colin Lambert, who was a former steelworker and miner in Sudbury.

The date aligns with Ontario’s Workers’ Compensation Act, which was approved in 1914, the first of its kind in Canada. MPP Peggy Sattler spoke about the degradation of this system since its conversion to the Workplace Safety and Insurance Board (WSIB), which excludes 1 in 4 workers from coverage, disproportionately denies psychological mental health claims, and has given billions of dollars in rebates to employers.

“I’m so sick and tired of people saying, ‘you need to work safely.’ We need to make workplaces safe,” said Dan Armstrong, Workers Health and Safety Centre Director in London.  In his speech, MPP Terence Kernaghan connected the Day of Mourning’s history to the Ham Commission, the 1976 report that introduced the Internal Responsibility System for identifying and controlling workplace hazards. In 1974, unionized miners in Elliot Lake had led a wildcat strike to protest working conditions and safety regulations. These actions led to the Ham Commission and ultimately to the development of the Occupational Health and Safety Act that has been in effect since 1979.