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Taking Time to Honor Our Collective Work
For many advocates, striving for a more just world is a lifelong endeavor. Their work is defined by passion, takes an immense amount of hands-on time, and is highly demanding of heart time, too. Advocates draw from that recipe within themselves that is one part visionary, one part dreamer, and equal parts innovator, inquisitor, and cultivator.
In our field, advocates include young people educating each other about hazards and parents struggling to feed their families while confronting workplace abuses. They include attorneys helping workers exercise their rights, health practitioners caring for the injured, and unions pushing back against unscrupulous employers. They include researchers combing through data for solutions, academics documenting and inspiring change, and poets whose odes are a benediction to the struggle.
Advocates are everywhere, but much of their work goes unnoticed because it happens behind-the-scenes — like construction bolts that fortify a house yet lie hidden behind drywall. It is because of their work that preventable tragedy is indeed prevented.
Worksafe is proud to host an annual event that honors advocates in our field. We like to think of it as a demonstration of communal self-care. On June 1st, we're doing this with an event called Turning the Tide: Advancing Worker Health & Safety in California. This year, we will again honor three Worker Health & Safety Heroes who have advanced the struggle for safe workplaces by contributing their time, energy, expertise, and spirit to the movement. Our 2018 Heroes are Assemblywoman Lorena Gonzalez Fletcher, Centro Legal de la Raza, and the workers and organizers of the Fair Future at Tesla campaign.
In addition to recognizing our amazing honorees, I like to think that this event is also about taking time for self reflection, self care, and self honoring. We also come together to celebrate you and your amazing work — in whatever form that work takes. I hope you can join us on June 1st to honor our Worker Health & Safety Heroes and, in turn, honor yourself.
In Solidarity, Jora Trang Managing Attorney
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| Observing Workers Memorial Day 2018
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On April 27th, Worksafe partnered with the UC Berkeley Labor Occupational Health Program (LOHP) to observe Workers Memorial Day 2018. The event highlighted the issue of workplace violence – the second leading cause of death among California workers – and lifted up current efforts to keep all workers safe.
Speakers described current organizing and policy efforts to protect workers from gun violence and physical assaults, as well as sexual harassment and sexual violence. It featured an interactive altar and debuted Dying at Work in California 2018, Worksafe's annual report that takes an in-depth look at the human toll of unsafe work in the state.
The program included speakers from Cal/OSHA and OSHA, labor organizations, and community groups who shared current efforts to protect workers and their families. Groups included California Nurses Association, SEIU United Service Workers West, and La Colectiva de Mujeres. Big thanks to our wonderful partners at LOHP.
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| Seeking Solutions to Workplace Violence
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On May 8, Worksafe participated in the Solutions Summit — a convening hosted by Futures Without Violence that brought together groups working to end workplace sexual harassment and violence. Labor advocates, sexual assault survivors, immigrant rights activist, and others came from around the nation to brainstorm a plan of action that centers the experiences of low-wage workers, women of color, immigrant women, and others vulnerable to harassment and violence at work.
One highlight was a powerful keynote address by Suzette Wright, a former Ford worker who was featured in a recent NY Times article about rampant sexual harassment at the company's Chicago plants. She spoke of her initial excitement at the prospect of the great benefits and pay of a union job. She courageously shared her story of the disappointment and fear that she and many other women in the plant experienced because of the pervasive sexual harassment. She spoke of the critical need for change and action.
At the Summit, a digital wall of commitments went live and will remain active through 2020 when the Summit is reconvened. The wall is intended to bring visibility to the incredible work so many organizations are doing to address this issue, as well as inspire others to take a stand in this potentially transformative moment. "Employers, philanthropists, associations, advocates, journalists, and more are invited to make public their commitment to ending sexual harassment and assault in the workplace."
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| Worksafe's 36th Anniversary Event - Join Us!
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Good food and drink. Fun raffle prizes. Worker Health & Safety Heroes. What more could you want? We hope you'll join us on Friday, June 1st as we honor: Want to get in on this special event? There's still time to participate:
Questions? Please contact us at celebrate@worksafe.org or call 510-922-8075. We can't wait to see you there. Let's turn the tide together!
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Be sure to check out Dying at Work in California 2018 – Worksafe’s seventh annual report on the state of safety and health protections for California workers. Please read and share.
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