WNYLaborToday.com Editor’s Note: Pictured above, a collage of photos taken earlier this week at the Buffalo AFL-CIO Central Labor Council/Western New York AFL-CIO Area Labor Federation’s 2025 Workers Memorial Ceremony that was held at Chestnut Ridge Park in Orchard Park, just south of Buffalo. Unionists, Elected Officials and Friends of Labor gathered there to honor the dead and recommit to fight like hell for the living. (WNYLaborToday.com Photos)

(ORCHARD PARK, NEW YORK) – With the weakening of Health and Safety Rules at a host of major Federal Government Agencies under the Trump Administration, former Western New York AFL-CIO Area Labor Federation (WNYALF) President Richard Lipsitz told those Unionists, Elected Officials and Friends of Labor who gathered at the WNYALF’s and Buffalo AFL-CIO Central Labor Council’s Workers’ Memorial in Orchard Park earlier this week: “‘We are living in turbulent and perilous times and the question of standing up in the workplace has become very different.’ ‘But it requires us to be brave - and it is contagious when one steps up, others will too.’”

It was a poignant point Lipsitz made while standing in front of an awe-inspiring monument with dozens of etched names and their Union affiliations of Workers who went to work in the morning but failed to come home at night. 

But the yearly event to honor the dead also served as a venue to issue a renewed call to action to recommit to fight like hell for the living.

“This is a ‘solemn’ day,” Lipsitz (pictured below) told those in attendance. “‘Unfortunately, we are here to honor the ones we have lost, but it also a day of action to advocate for safer’ workplaces. ‘We have to put into the forefront the Working Class’s unflinching demand for maximum effort when it comes to a safe and healthy work environment.’”

Ahead of Workers Memorial Day, the National AFL-CIO released its 34th annual Death On The Job: The Toll Of Neglect Report, a comprehensive analysis of the state of Workers’ health and safety at the National and State levels.

Findings included: Inadequate Workplace Safety Laws and policies resulted in the deaths of 5,283 Workers on the job in 2023, the latest year of data available, and an estimated 135,304 Workers from occupational diseases; Black and Latino Workers are still disproportionately dying on the job, both at rates higher than the national job fatality rate; the report shows 659 Black Worker deaths, the second-highest number in more than two decades;’ and the report also shows 1,250 Latino Worker deaths, making Latino workers the group at the greatest risk of dying on the job among all demographics. 

(WNYLaborToday.com Editor’s Note: For More, Read: New National AFL-CIO Report Finds Worker Deaths On The Job ‘Will Worsen Under Trump Administration Policies’ - WNY Labor Today: Your On-Line Labor Newspaper, Bringing You Labor News From Across The Nation, New York State & Western New York)

The names of several local Workers who died from on-the-job injuries or disease were read by WNYALF Field Coordinator Austin Morgan, who was followed by New York Stated United Teachers Representative Union Mike Fiels: “This is an ‘international day of mourning and a place to reflect on those who put their lives on the line without any thought to a safe workplace.’ ‘An emphasis must be place on right to influence how jobs are done.”’

Erie County Executive Mark Poloncarz also spoke, telling all: “We ‘don’t want anymore names on this memorial.’ ‘We truly have to have safe’ work environments. ‘We must also ensure (the Workers whose names appear on the memorial) are not forgotten, but we have to do better.’”

Lipsitz, meanwhile, pointed to the Center For Occupational & Environmental Medicine (COEM) - housed within Buffalo’s Erie County Medical Center which Western New York Labor helped establish nearly 11 years ago, saying he was “proud” to have such a fine Regional Health Facility to take care of Workers in our own backyard.

Over the course of time that it has been in operation, the COEM has served more than 36,000 patients who are dealing with a variety of environmental and occupational conditions and injuries that they’ve suffered in the workplace.

COEM Program Manager Elaine Laskowski, who’s worked at the clinic since day one, spoke, saying: “There is ‘urgent need for change’ (for more workplace safety measures to be put in place). ‘There are so many chemicals that Workers have been exposed to (inside plants) that are fatal because of a lack of ventilation.’ ‘We must all make a commitment that no one else with be injured or die’ (in the future).”

(WNYLaborToday.com Editor’s Note: For More On The COEM, Read: Labor & The Erie County Medical Center Join Together To ‘Celebrate’ The Center For Occupational & Environmental Medicine’s 10th Anniversary - Union-Collaborated Facility ‘Helps’ Workers Exposed To Adverse Conditions & Injuries In The Workplace - WNY Labor Today: Your On-Line Labor Newspaper, Bringing You Labor News From Across The Nation, New York State & Western New York)