The Hamilton and District Labour Council is marking the National Day of Mourning in a virtual way.
President Anthony Marco says they’ve launched a video that spotlights the “mental strain” and “physical threat” being experienced by essential workers during the novel coronavirus pandemic.
The video features transit (HSR) drivers, hospital maintenance staff, grocery store employees and personal support workers.
The front-line workers talk of worrying about bringing the virus home to “those we love” and the “anxiety” of not knowing what is going to happen as they enter the workplace.
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Marco says about 1,000 workers, on average, die each year on the job in Canada.
He adds that we “must do better as a community to ensure every worker returns home safely to their family at the end of the day.”
The national day of mourning would normally include a ceremony in front of Hamilton’s monument to fallen workers, at Main and Bay Streets.
Instead, all Hamiltonians are being encouraged to light a candle or turn on a flashlight for 20 minutes at 8:20 p.m. (sunset) to remember the dead and fight for the living.
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