OPINION: We’re still fighting to keep Alaska workers safe

Joelle Hall, president of Alaska AFL-CIO, addresses a crowd during a Workers Memorial Day event on Thursday, April 28, 2022 at the Fallen Firefighters Memorial in Anchorage. According to a 2020 national AFL-CIO report, Alaska’s rate of workplace fatalities is over three times the national average at 10.7 fatalities per 100,000 workers. The annual memorial day honors those who have lost their lives on the job, and recognizes the impact those losses have on families, co-workers, and communities. (Loren Holmes / ADN)

April 28 is Workers Memorial Day. This is a day when working families, union members and labor leaders come together to remember each worker killed, injured and sickened from their jobs, and to organize for an end to the unnecessary deaths of our brothers and sisters. Each year, thousands of workers are killed and millions more suffer injury or illness because of their jobs.

For years, Alaska has remained one of the most dangerous states to work. Some say it’s the nature of our economy and the harsh conditions of our state. While that may be true, I say we must do more to protect working people. The interests and safety of working families must be written into local, state and federal law and championed by public officials at all levels of government. And employers must follow the law and provide safe working conditions for their workers or be held accountable.

Far too many workers die from preventable safety hazards. Being safe at work is a fundamental right — and under the law, employers must provide workplaces free from hazards. Employers must be held accountable when they don’t.

A good job is a safe job. Unions are fighting for good and safe jobs for everyone. Winning strong standards raises the standard of practice on the shop floor. Educating working people on their rights keeps our most vulnerable from being silenced.

This year’s Workers Memorial Day comes at a time when child labor legislation is advancing in Iowa, Missouri, Ohio, Minnesota and Georgia. Earlier this year, the Department of Labor found that one of the nation’s largest food safety sanitation services providers employed at least 102 children -- from ages 13 to 17. These children use caustic chemicals to clean razor-sharp saws, other high-risk equipment at 13 meat processing facilities in eight states.

We should not be putting our most vulnerable in harm’s way in sacrifice of a better bottom line. There are ways to address a labor shortage without rolling back child labor laws and putting children in dangerous, life-threatening working conditions.

The fight for safe workplaces continues today, and unbelievably, the fight against child labor is back.

Workers and their unions are standing up, speaking out, fighting back and organizing. We won’t stop until the Occupational Safety and Health Administration protects all workers — until we have stronger standards to protect against harmful exposures and dangerous conditions, improved anti-retaliation protections, and so much more. Because enough is enough.

Alaska working families will fight today and everyday for our fundamental right to a safe job.

Joelle Hall is the president of the Alaska AFL-CIO.

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