Remembering our missing colleagues on Workers’ Memorial Day

The annual Workers’ Memorial Day Remembrance Service and Wreath-Laying Ceremony takes place this year on Friday 28th April.  

It commemorates those who have been either killed or injured in workplace accidents and aims to raise awareness among employers of the importance of effective health and safety procedures.

The service will be held in the Christ Church (Hartlepool Art Gallery) in Church Square at 12.30pm and will conclude with the wreath-laying ceremony at the Workers’ Memorial in Church Square.

A lone Scottish piper will be playing at the Christ Church from 11.45am and will pipe people into the building at 12.20pm in time to take their seats for a one-minute silence at 12.30pm.

The speakers will include Ian Lavery MP, Chair of the Asbestos All Party Parliamentary Group, TUC Health and Safety Policy Officer Shelly Asquith, UNISON Northern Region Regional Secretary Clare Williams, ASLEF Company Council Secretary Andrew Botham and NASUWT North East Organiser John Brookes.

Following the service, wreaths will be laid by organisations and members of the public attending the event, including the Ceremonial Mayor of Hartlepool Councillor Brian Cowie.

The ceremony will end at about 1.45pm. Tea and coffee will be provided before the event and there will be a light buffet afterwards.       

Edwin Jeffries, President of Hartlepool Trades Union Council, said: “Whether or not they have been affected by a tragedy at work, we hope that as many people as possible from across the region will join us to pay their respects and add their weight to the ongoing campaign to make all workplaces safe for workers.

“Once again, we will be providing individual flowers so that anybody attending the service can lay a flower in memory of a loved one.

“On Workers’ Memorial Day, as our slogan for the event each year reminds us, we ‘Remember the Dead and Fight for the Living.’ ”

For more information about the event, please contact Edwin Jeffries on 07813 073186 or email ejeffries73@gmail.com

* Earlier in the day, at 11am, in a ceremony in front of Civic Centre, senior representatives of Hartlepool Borough Council and Hartlepool Joint Trade Union Committee will lower the flags, observe a minute’s silence and lay wreaths.