On April 28, we honour those lost to preventable workplace tragedies by recommitting to collective action and safer standards for all. International Workers' Memorial Day is a warning as much as it is a remembrance. Every gain we've made can be undone if we let standards slip or voices be silenced.
A Day of Remembrance and Action
April 28 is not just another date on the calendar. For workers and unions across the world, it is a day of remembrance - and a call to action. International Workers' Memorial Day asks us to pause and honour those who never came home from work. They are not numbers. They are workmates, parents, sons and daughters. Their loss leaves a permanent mark on families, workplaces, and communities like ours here in the Hunter.
But remembrance alone is not enough. Because every workplace death tells a story - and too often, it's a story of something that should never have happened. A shortcut taken. A safety system ignored. A warning raised but not acted on. These are not accidents. They are preventable failures. That is why this day has always carried a second, equally important message: fight for the living.
Australia's Hard-Won Safety Laws
Australia has some of the strongest workplace safety laws in the world - and every one of them was fought for. Won through union organising. Won by workers who refused to accept that injury or death was "part of the job". And yet, workers are still dying. Across construction sites, farms, warehouses and mines, people continue to face risks that have no place in a modern economy. Beyond that, the toll of occupational disease continues to grow - silicosis, asbestos-related illness, and psychological injury that follows workers long after they leave the job.
In regions like the Hunter, built on generations of union strength, we know what collective action can achieve. The same movement that fought for decent wages and conditions also forced workplaces to become safer. That didn't happen by chance - and it won't be maintained by chance either.
Safety in Times of Change
As our region navigates the pressures of industrial change and the energy transition, the promise of jobs will be front and centre. But jobs cannot come at the cost of safety. Not here. Not anywhere. Because safety doesn't come from goodwill. It comes from enforcement. From strong laws. And from workers having the power to speak up - and be heard - without fear.
International Workers' Memorial Day is a warning as much as it is a remembrance. Every gain we've made can be undone if we let standards slip or voices be silenced. So on April 28, we remember those we've lost. But we also recommit - to standing together, to speaking up, and to demanding better. Because no one should leave for work and not come home. That is the promise we owe the dead. And it is the fight we owe the living.
Hunter Workers Secretary Leigh Shears
