International Workers Memorial Day 28 April 2020 – Theme Announced by the ITUC: “Tackling Psychosocial Hazards at Work – Taking the Stress Out Of The Job”

International Workers Memorial Day 28 April 2020 – Theme Announced by the ITUC: “Tackling Psychosocial Hazards at Work – Taking the Stress Out Of The Job”

The International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) has just announced the theme for International Workers Memorial Day – Tuesday 28 April 2020.

The 28 April 2020 campaign theme will be ‎”Tackling Psychosocial Hazards at Work – Taking the Stress Out Of The Job’.

In the UK the Hazards Campaign plus TUC and UK Trade Unions will seek to highlight the harm caused by occupational work stress and related mental health conditions, including depression, anxiety, burnout, plus work-related alcohol and drug dependency plus work-related suicides.

The campaign will demand action from the new UK Government on all these issues, as well as workers’ rights and Union rights, linking up with existing Union and TUC campaigns on precarious work, zero hour contracts, poor working conditions, safe staffing etc., in line with the Hazards Campaign Manifesto and TUC policies.‎

‎The broad theme allows a campaign calling for action to remedy the broad range of contributory factors causing occupational health and safety problems for workers.

Further LTBs will be issued in the new year and both the Health, Safety and Environment Department, TUC and the Hazards Campaign will produce posters and leaflets, ribbons and pens etc. The Hazards Campaign will produce the purple ribbons plus other material which we will advertise in due course.

A national exhibition is to be arranged at the People’s History Museum (Manchester) and as usual there will be Workers Memorial Day events all over the UK. We will be liaising with the TUC to ensure their national listing of events is publicised to generate widespread support and participation across the UK.

To increase the profile of Workers Memorial Day and to make it bigger and better, the Hazards Campaign is considering a national event in the UK Parliament at the beginning of April to launch the national Workers Memorial Day activities.

Additionally, improved communications and social media campaigning is also being examined by the Hazards Campaign which the CWU will support.

Internationally, Trade Unions have identified a gap in the ILO instruments – which are not dealing explicitly with psychosocial hazards, so the 28 April International Workers Memorial Day will also be used as a platform to press for an ILO Convention on this subject matter and for an expansion of the ILO list of occupational diseases to include a more detailed entry on work-related psychosocial conditions and impacts, including an explicit reference to the need for action to prevent the growing problem of work-related suicide.

‎There is also scope to link up with existing international Union campaigns on dangerous work and other issues and to highlight best practice – safety laws, agreements, actions, Union resources and campaigns.

The ITUC will be providing further details on the 28 April 2020 campaign early in the new year.

Yours sincerely

Dave Joyce
National Health, Safety & Environment Officer

19LTB717 International Workers Memorial Day 28 April 2020