Remembering workers
Labor council holds ceremony in honor of those killed, injured in workplace accidents
Members of the Washington-Greene County Central Labor Council gathered Monday to honor injured and deceased members in observance of Workers’ Memorial Day.
Organizers also took time during the annual ceremony at the Trades and Labor Building in Washington to express their concern and opposition to cutbacks by the Trump administration, including layoffs of National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health workers engaged in research and improvement of products and practices that protect union workers.
“No matter what town you’re in, we all have the same grief, and that’s the loss of our workers,” said Chuck Knissel, vice president, District 2, United Mine Workers Association.
“In 2025, you’d think we wouldn’t have to deal with that anymore,” he said. “We’ve lost 100,000 coal miners since the 1890s. Then we lost at least 100,000 to black lung disease, the same disease they say doesn’t exist and the same disease they’re cutting money from. Cutting NIOSH is not the answer for that. Cutting miners’ protection in the mines is not going to be the answer.”
Workers Memorial Day is an international day of remembrance and action for workers killed, disabled, injured or suffering from ill health issues caused by their jobs. It also coincides with the legislative anniversary of the Occupation, Safety and Health Act (OSHA) of 1970.
Candles were lit in honor of those injured and deceased.
“We memorialize our workers that have been injured or lost their lives as a result of a work-related injury,” said Donna Patrina, president of the Washington/Greene County Central Labor Council. “Every year, we meet here. We stand here to memorialize our brothers and sisters. Now, we’re in terrible trouble with the Trump administration. They’ve cut the amount of workers. They’re laying off people, firing people.”
Patrina also expressed concern over the status of the OSHA Silica Rule, which requires employers to limit workers’ exposure to crystalline silica and take other steps to protect workers.
“It looks like it’s all being done away with,” she said. “It’s just terrible.”
Added Knissel: “There’s a lot of unknowns.”
The Washington/Greene County Central Labor Council is one of nearly 500 state and local labor councils of the AFL-CIO.
“We incorporate all of the local labor unions,” Patrina said. “We rally and stand up for rights when they’re being challenged, and right now it’s everything. Every week there’s somebody in (Washington) D.C. or Harrisburg. Everybody’s targeted. Nobody’s safe.”