Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

On Friday, April 25, 1997, Philaposh (Philadelphia Area Project on Occupational Safety & Health) hosted a memorial breakfast and service in honor of those who lost their lives at work in 1996 in the states of Delaware, New Jersey and Pennsylvania.

The theme this year was taken from a remark of Mother Jones, 19th century labor activist, "Pray for the dead and fight like hell for the living."

Following the 9th annual breakfast at the Sheetmetal Workers Hall, the mock funeral procession walked to Penn’s Landing where a number of labor representatives spoke, including BMWE General Chairman Jed Dodd, who called for "zero tolerance" of workers’ deaths on the job.

After the speeches, there was a reading of the names of those who lost their lives in the tri-state area in the last year. The reading was accompanied by the playing of "Amazing Grace" on bagpipes as participants cast flowers into the Delaware River to symbolize continuing life flow and reaffirming the struggle to prevent injury, disease and death on the job.

Trenton, Michigan

Semcosh (Southeast Michigan Coalition on Occupational Safety & Health) and a number of unions sponsored a memorial tribute on Sunday, April 27 to the 184 workers who lost their lives to their jobs in Michigan last year.

Elizabeth Park in Trenton, a Detroit suburb, was the site of the tribute, which also included a procession led by bagpipe and honor guard, a reading of the names of the dead and the casting of flowers into the Detroit River.

The theme this year was a variation of Mother Jones’ statement--Mourn for the Dead and Fight Like Hell for the Living--and the singing of "We Shall Not Be Moved" with the stanza "We fight for health and safety, We shall not be moved ..."

Washington, D.C.

The Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers (BLE) hosted an "Operation Thanos" march in Washington, D.C. on Monday, April 28, to commemorate not only those killed on the rails but all members of organized labor who lost their lives in the line of duty. (Thanos is derived from the ancient Greek work for death.)

The two-mile march left from Union Station, paused at the Association of American Railroads building, passed by the Department of Labor and ended on the east grounds of the U.S. Capitol, where speakers addressed the participants. As BLE President Clarence Monin introduced each speaker, he proclaimed the theme of the rally, "We’re not going to die for the railroads anymore."

Speakers included AFL-CIO Secretary-Treasurer Rich Trumka, BRS President Dan Pickett, TCU President Bob Scardelletti, several BLE officers and Jed Dodd for BMWE President Mac Fleming. Also, four Congressmen, David Bonior (D-MI), Jim Oberstar (D-MN), Bob Wise (D-WV), Nick Rahall (D-WV) and Harry Hoglander representing John Tierney (D-MA).

Oberstar, who is the ranking minority member of the House Transportation Committee, gave a fiery speech urging everyone to demand their Congressional representatives to pass safety laws with sharp teeth.

It was noted that China has not had a fatal train accident in over 30 years and France in over 15 years. "Isn’t the U.S. as good as other countries?" the crowd was asked.

The most moving speakers were those who opened the program: Molly Howson, fiancee of Wayne Kronberger, killed November 11, 1993, Kelso, Washington; Ann Shay, wife of Tom Shay killed August 20, 1996, Smithfield, West Virginia; Lisa Orr-Ketter, sister of Ricky Orr killed February 1996, Silver Spring, Maryland; and Jimmy N. Roybal, 18-year old son of Jimmy Roybal killed February 21, 1996, Leadville, Colorado.

All four were surprisingly eloquent speakers, who talked about the loved one they knew who has now become a statistic and challenged the railroad companies and government agencies (the Federal Railroad Administration in particular) to stop doing cost/benefit analyses and take action now to stop these preventable accidents. Roybal, highly articulate and knowledgeable for one so young (or anyone), also asked where all the activists from the ‘60s and ‘70s were and what they were doing now. He called on them, if they worked for the government today, to stand up like they did in years past and see that no one else has a loved one torn from them while simply working their job.