For Immediate Release
Contact: Byron Orton
Telephone: (515) 281-8067
Printer Friendly PDF VersionDES MOINES, IOWA – Hundreds of Iowans are expected to gather Thursday, April 28, 2005, to honor their follow workers who died on the job last year. Fallen workers will be remembered at a Workers’ Memorial Day ceremony beginning at 11:15 a.m. at Iowa Workforce Development, 1000 E. Grand Avenue, Des Moines.
During calendar year 2004, 43 Iowans died from injuries in the workplace. Additionally, untold numbers of Iowans die each year from the long-term effects of toxic exposures in the workplace.
Governor Tom Vilsack will speak at the event and will be joined by Iowa Federation of Labor President Mark Smith, South Central Iowa Federation of Labor President Dan Albritton, and representatives from numerous labor organizations and local clergy in remembering Iowa’s deceased workers.
This year’s event marks the 17th anniversary of the national observance of Workers’ Memorial Day. It also commemorates the enactment of the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970.