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Vol. 82/No. 19 May 14, 2018
‘Hardhat Mass’ marks deaths of construction workers
Count Me In
NEW YORK — Hundreds of construction workers from across the city
gathered after work outside St. Patrick’s Cathedral to attend the 10th
annual “Hardhat Mass” on Workers Memorial Day April 26. They were
commemorating the lives of 19 construction workers killed on worksites
here over the last year. Hardhats for each of them were placed on chairs
at the service along with a rose. Still wearing their own hardhats,
workers marched into the cathedral.
Events to mark Workers Memorial Day were organized by trade unions
around the country.
Presiding over the New York Mass, Father Brian Jordan said that 166
workers have been killed on construction sites in the decade since the
first mass to mark the deaths was held.
This includes 46 workers on union-organized sites and 116 nonunion
workers. “All the deceased are remembered regardless of their status,”
Jordan said. “We emphasize the dignity of each human person in the
construction industry.” Those killed were “disproportionately likely to
be immigrants and low-wage workers,” he said, and mostly undocumented.
The rising number of deaths in the industry is a consequence of the
construction bosses’ profit-driven assaults on all workers, union and
nonunion. This includes attacks on wages, speedup and disregard for safety.
One of those commemorated, Edgar Pazmino, 35, was killed March 13 on a
construction site in Queens that was shut down four times for safety
violations in 2017 by city authorities. The bosses there owe over
$67,000 in fines, a small price for them to pay to continue profiting
from conditions and speedup that endanger workers’ lives.
The ongoing deaths highlight the need for workers to build fighting
unions that can organize and unite all construction workers to win
workers control over production conditions and safety.
— TERRY EVANS
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Workers are starting to act up today. Join in!
South Africa workers strike, protest for wage raise, rights
On the Picket Line
Denver rallies demand school funding, pay raises
W.Va. workers proud of victory of teachers strike there
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