April 28, 2021
As a part of the annual National Workers Memorial Day ceremony, Mayor James Mueller and leaders of organized labor rededicated the Workers Memorial located at Howard Park and added a new plaque honoring the essential workers lost during the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Our City is eternally grateful to the essential workers who kept our economy running and continued to provide the services we all need,” said Mayor James Mueller. “Today, we honor our workers who were lost during the COVID-19 pandemic and from work-related incidents.”
The service was a time for workers, families, and community and faith leaders to gather and remember those who have lost their lives in the workplace or due to workplace conditions.
“The South Bend Chapter of the Northern Indiana Area Labor Federation will continue to ‘Honor the dead and Fight like hell for the living’ by working to strengthen worker protections and the passage of the PRO Act, which will go a long way towards providing workers more rights on the job,” said Dennis McCafferty, president of the Northern Indiana Area Labor Federation.
This year’s Workers Memorial Day also marks the 50th anniversary of the federal Occupational Safety and Health Act going into effect, which focuses on ensuring that employees are provided with a work environment free of workplace hazards.