April 28 marks International Workers' Memorial Day. Under the banner "Remember the dead - fight for the living," it focuses attention on workers killed, disabled, injured, or made ill through their conditions of work, while upholding the rights of all.[1]

Saltwell Park, Gateshead

Workers' Memorial Day 2025 comes at a time when the so-called Labour government is taking the anti-social offensive further, taking up where the previous Conservative government left off, actively restructuring the state around the interests of the most powerful private interests, and removing regulations and constraints on how the government and big business can act. It also comes at a time of deepening crisis on all sides, economic, political, and in international relations, with Britain complicit in genocide and wars of destruction.

In these circumstances, the lives, livelihoods and conditions of the entire working class are under threat, as are the rights and security of all. The anti-social offensive and pro-war government, eroding the individual and collective claims of workers, is an affront to the dignity of labour and only serves to exacerbate unsafe working and living conditions. The social relation between employer and employed is in such disequilibrium, is so one-sided, that the general direction is towards increasing pressure and stress, longer working hours and weeks, cuts to safety measures, while decisions over working conditions are increasingly made through imposition in place of negotiation.

Recent tragedies underscore the resulting neglect. The most recent report is the inquest on the death of the West Bergholt Construction Worker, which opened on April 14, 2025. Lulzim Lleshi, a 45 year old agency worker from Dun Mow, sadly died in Colchester Road, near West Bergholt. The worker got trapped underneath heavy machinery and was killed. He died of multiple injuries. The Health and Safety Executive are involved in the investigation alongside Essex Police.

Also, a huge factor in excessive workload is the driver of stress and stress related illness. The ongoing crisis and capitalist offensive, is causing huge increases of physical exhaustion and mental health problems. Anxiety and depression are reflections of the suffering of people.

Teachers are engaging in discussions about action to deal with all educators, whose workload has reached critical proportions. They report becoming burned out, breathless and with endless migraines. The NEU reported that teacher workload has doubled since 2022.

Blackburn

Also, in the NHS, the scandal of exhausted staff nurses and doctors has continued since the pandemic. The cuts of Health Secretary Wes Streeting have once more intensified the crisis of their recruitment and retention. Pay is restricted in both education and health, causing problems of how people are to cope with the cost of living crisis and pay energy bills. Workers, pensioners and patients are dying because of impoverishment and the direction of the economy the ruling elites have taken.

According to the Health and Safety Executive [2]:

• " Approximately 1.7 million workers reported experiencing a work-related illness.
• " There were 138 fatal injuries to workers during this period.
• " Employers reported nearly 62,000 non-fatal injuries under the Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations.
• " An estimated 604,000 workers sustained non-fatal injuries at work, based on self-reports from the Labour Force Survey (LFS).
• " Approximately 33.7 million working days were lost due to ill health (29.6 million) and workplace injuries (4.1 million).

Clackmannanshire

The current strike of the Birmingham bin workers must be seen in this context, too. The health and safety situation facing the workers and their community cannot be separated. This is not simply about infestation either. The services were depleting before the strike occurred. The government and local authority have set up commissions to inflict a tragedy upon the people. The Unite union leader has castigated them for their disgraceful actions against low paid workers. The bin workers realise the important job they do in maintaining their dignity and securing the hygiene of the city. That it is essential.

Injuries and deaths are not inevitable; they stem from a lack of workers' control over their conditions of life and work. Accidents and diseases can be prevented by empowering workers to control their workplace conditions and safety measures. Sick pay and injury compensation systems must fully support workers and families. Workers must have the right to influence health and safety decisions and refuse unsafe work without fear of retaliation. Governments and employers must face strict consequences for neglecting worker safety or intimidating those who assert their rights.

International Workers' Memorial Day is, at essence, about workers speaking in their own name, rather than placing trust in those claiming to govern on their behalf. The working class and people must take up the fight for new arrangements that guarantee their interests and their right to decide on a safe human-centred system.

Fight for a future where the working class and people decide how the economy is organised, how things are done, and what they need to serve the interests of everyone in society! Our safety and security lies in our fight for the rights of all.

Notes

1. For events across England, Scotland and Wales, see:
https://www.megaphone.org.uk/calendars/workers-memorial-day-2021 [sic]

2. Health and Safety Executive, https://www.hse.gov.uk

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