Workers Memorial & the International Day of Mourning

Workers Memorial

A memorial service is held each year at the Workers Memorial rock (pictured).

The memorial rock was unveiled in 2000 to commemorate workers who have lost their lives as a result of their work.   Each year on (or near) the 28th of April, people gather together to remember their loved ones who were killed at work.

The inscription on the rock reads:

The memorial rock has enormous significance for so many of us.  It came from a site where a worker died.  The 'symbolic' cross was carved by a worker who lost his mate on the job, and it was erected after hours by two groups of workers, each having lost someone dear to them due to a workplace death.  The memorial rock honours all victims of work-related deaths and is a constant reminder of the number of people who lose their lives each year in Australia as a result of their work.

The erection of the Memorial was a collaborative effort between IDSA and the Trades Hall Literary Institute, VTHC and affiliated unions. It is located on the lawns outside the Victorian Trades Hall Council building, corner of Lygon Street and Victoria Street, Carlton South, Victoria, Australia.

Photos of the  2006 Workers Memorial

History of the International Day of Mourning

In 1984, the OH&S committee of a Canadian union organisation* recommended the creation of a remembrance day for workers killed or injured on the job.  By 1991 the Canadian government passed legislation declaring each April 28 "a day of remembrance for workers killed or injured at work."  Recognition of this "Workers Memorial Day" spread, and it was adopted internationally in 1996.   Now the day is marked in countries all around the world. 

Since 1997, the Australian union movement has observed the day with commemorative events organised by the state and territory trades and labour councils.  The day highlights the preventable nature of the majority of workplace accidents and ill health and promotes campaigns and union organisation in the fight for improvements in workplace safety.  The slogan for the day is Mourn the dead, fight for the living.

* The Canadian Union of Public Employees - CUPE