Sue Boyd: Speech for Workers Memorial Day 2010

To the Editor:

Good afternoon and welcome to the 2010 Workers Memorial Day Observance, sponsored by the Missouri Slope Central Labor Council. My name is Sue Boyd and I am president of the Labor Council.
Workers Memorial Day is a time to remember those workers who were killed, injured or made ill on the job. At this time I would like to invite Pastor Ron Hilden from the New Salem Church of Christ to give us the invocation…Thank you, Ron.
2010 is the 40th year anniversary of the creation of OSHA, or the Occupational, Safety & Health Administration. Although injury and fatality rates have fallen since the OSHA Act was passed, too many workers are still being killed or injured on the job. Every day fourteen workers die from injuries and 137 from diseases.
Our own area is not immune to workplace diseases. The courthouse in Washburn is infested with bat dung, spreading illness to workers there. There is a building on the south west side of Bismarck in which a number of workers have also been made sick by their workplace environment.
One only has to look to the television or newspaper within the last month to know how precarious life at work can sometimes be. The loss of now 30 workers in the mine in Virginia was such a disaster. There are now 30 empty chairs at the families dining tables. There were no last good byes.
The Massey Energy Company, which runs the mine, has been hit with dozens of safety violations over the years, including 57 in March alone. The company had paid out 4.2 million dollars in criminal & civil fines during the last year.  According to a spokesperson from the United Mine Workers, the West Virginia’s Upper Branch Mine, the site of the disaster, is the fourth safest mine that Massey Energy operates. There are three other mines in worse condition.
The oil rig explosion in the Gulf area is another disaster that has reeled the country. This nation needs to do better to keep its workers safe at work. Workers need to be able to refuse to do jobs in which proper safety methods are not being used, without fearing for the loss of their jobs.
The oil industry in North Dakota is booming and there already have been at least a couple of fatalities this year so far. We need to keep our workers safe while they do this dangerous work. No job is worth dying for.
On this Workers Memorial Day, we call for an end to the unnecessary deaths of our brothers and sisters, and action on job hazards that kill and injure.
On this Workers Memorial Day we rededicate ourselves to ending injustice in the workplace - to fighting for stronger safety law and protection for all workers. 
On this day, we pledge to fight for the creation of millions of new good and safe jobs that will provide economic security and opportunity for all of our fellow citizens.
With that, I would like to introduce our first speaker, Brian Klipfel, Executive Director of North Dakota Workforce Safety & Insurance…
Our next speaker is Tom Deutcher, the newly appointed Area Director for OSHA. Congratulations on the new job…
At this time we will do the reading of the names of the 12 workers who died last year in North Dakota…

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