Workplace Deaths

from NY Times:

December 27, 2016

To the Editor:

“Workplace Deaths in 2015 Reached Six-Year High” (news article, nytimes.com, Dec. 20) outlined what those of us in the labor movement have known for quite some time: Workplace fatalities are occurring at an alarming rate.

According to the New York Committee for Occupational Safety and Health, 30 construction workers died on the job in the last two years, and 27 have occurred at nonunion sites. The most recent nonunion construction death occurred on Dec. 23.

Unions have long fought for worker benefits and protections through industry standards and exceptional apprenticeship programs, but we cannot do it alone. Our local elected officials must step in to hold bad employers legally accountable for conditions on their work sites.

All workers deserve to return home safely after a day on the job, whether that job is on a construction site, operating a train or a bus, caring for patients, washing cars or anywhere in between.

Going to work to support yourself and your family should not be a death sentence. Working men and women are looking to our elected officials to take action. We cannot afford to wait.

VINCENT ALVAREZ

President, New York City

Central Labor Council, A.F.L.-C.I.O.

New York