Local carpenters participate in Workers' Memorial Day parade

CLEVELAND - May 21, 2015 - PRLog -- Locals 373, 435 and 1090 of the Indiana/Kentucky/Ohio Regional Council of Carpenters (IKORCC) participated in the Workers' Memorial Day parade in late April. The parade took place before the Cleveland Indians versus Kansas City Royals game at Progressive Field.

125 IKORCC and United Brotherhood of Carpenters (UBC) members and their families participated in the parade to remember Workers' who have lost their lives while on the job.

Workers' Memorial Day, observed every year on April 28, is a day that honors workers who have died on the job, acknowledges the grief experienced by families and communities and focuses on recommitting workers to fight for safe and healthy workplaces for everyone. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) was also established on this day in 1971.

“On Workers' Memorial Day, we remember and honor all working men and women who lost their lives on the job,” commented Howard Eberts, OSHA Area Director. “In 1970, before the OSH Act created OSHA, 38 workers were killed on the job every day in America. Now, with a workforce twice as large, that number is twelve a day. And we continue to make strides because 12 lives lost each day are still twelve too many. So our work is far from done.”

“Years ago, I was on a project when a 26 year-old man lost his life,” said Kevin Ennis, IKORCC Representative. “At the funeral, we all signed Matt’s hard hat to be laid in his casket, so this day really hits home for me. Workers' Memorial Day is a day for all of us to take a moment and remember people like Matt and honor their memory.”

Bill Karkoff, IKORCC Representative, commented, “Holding the annual Workers' Memorial Day parade at Progressive Field is a great way for us to honor the workers whose lives were cut too short. We want their families to know that they aren’t forgotten. But, we also want to celebrate the life they did have alongside our own families by having a great day all together at the baseball game.”

For more information, please contact Kevin Ennis at kennis@ikorcc.com.

The Indiana/Kentucky/Ohio Regional Council of Carpenters represents more than 32,000 professional tradespeople in 43 locals in Indiana, Ohio, Kentucky and parts of West Virginia and Tennessee. A proud affiliate of the United Brotherhood of Carpenters, which has a century-plus tradition of representing the best of the building trades, the council works in partnership with more than 30,000 contractors, helping them find the best possible talent for their projects. The hallmark of the regional council is three-fold: training, professionalism and partnerships for economic development.