Friday, October 10, 2014

Every day, workers are dying horrible deaths -- on the job

Every year an average of 4,400 workers are killed at work in the United States. That's 12 workers every day. Now and then you may hear or read about a worker who died at a worksite in your community: crushed under heavy equipment, struck by a vehicle, pinned by a forklift. But it seems like an isolated incident. 

It isn't. Just yesterday, a worker was killed in a 50-foot fall from a bucket truck in Ogden, Pa. A construction worker died in northwest Iowa after he was pinned under a piece of equipment.

And those are just the two we know about. 

Low pay and part-time work can be as deadly as a dangerous machine. A 32-year-old Newark woman who worked at three Dunkin' Donuts died of asphyxiation recently when she tried to take a nap in her car between shifts. And an estimated 50,000 people die every year from occupational illnesses.

Here's a rundown of worker deaths we've followed recently (and we now include them in our daily news roundup, Today's Teamster News.


Remember that one of tne of the most important things your union does is to fight for workplace protections. 

And remember to stay safe out there!