Skip to main content
Health and safety under fire
After the Covid pandemic we are facing deregulation, massive increases in deaths and injuries at work and a bonfire being made of our rights — unless we fight for them, warns MICK HOLDER of Hazards Campaign
Government statistics on deaths from Covid since March 2020 until now totals 190,124, with the greater majority of deaths in the first year of the pandemic — this is regarded as being an underestimate due to methods of recording deaths.

ON International Workers Memorial Day, trade unionists, their families and friends around the globe will remember those killed, disabled, injured and made unwell by their work and re-commit to fighting like hell to prevent injury in the future.

Events will be held around the UK in Scotland, Wales, the North of Ireland and England. Events led by the Hazards Campaign including Scottish Hazards and Greater Manchester Hazards Centre with Families Against Corporate Killers and trade unions, such as doctors in Unite, at the National Covid Memorial Wall remembering the thousands of preventable deaths of workers and others during the pandemic, to people remembering the many thousands of deaths caused by the old Cape Asbestos factory in Barking.

Globally, special attention will be drawn to this summer’s International Labour Conference, the only global tripartite institution, with equal numbers of union, employer and government delegates.

The 95th Anniversary Appeal
Support the Morning Star
You have reached the free limit.
Subscribe to continue reading.
Similar stories
Union members and climate activists drop banner on Brighton Beach in response to government inaction on extreme UK temperatures. Photography Léo Bodelle
Climate Breakdown / 8 July 2026
8 July 2026

Unions and climate activists pressure government to consider legislation for maximum working temperature

A health worker doing admin
Features / 17 June 2026
17 June 2026

The new Employment Rights Act is a step forward, but restoring collective bargaining and union power remains essential to tackling insecurity, outsourcing and low pay, says PAUL WHITEHOUSE

RIGHTS NEEDED: Prison officers face a uniquely tough working environment and must be able to flex their industrial muscle
TUC Congress 2025 / 8 September 2025
8 September 2025

Our members face serious violence, crumbling workplaces and exposure to dangerous drugs — it is outrageous we still cannot legally use our industrial muscle to fight back and defend ourselves, writes STEVE GILLAN