Source: Wtov9 Fox
Date: April 28, 2025
WHEELING, W.Va. — The West Virginia AFL-CIO hosted its 37th annual Workers Day Memorial on Monday, emphasizing the theme “Fight for Our Lives.”
The event mourned the loss of eight West Virginians who died on the job last year, spanning industries from coal mining to transportation.
“The children now don’t have a father, right, or the wife is now a widow and she didn’t plan on this. She might be 20 years old or 25 years old or whatever. Maybe she doesn’t work and now has to find a job. The entire world gets turned upside down,” said Cecil Roberts, international president of the United Mine Workers of America.
Roberts also stressed the importance of not only remembering those who have died but also taking action to improve conditions for workers. He expressed concern over the diminishing resources available to union workers.
“Some of the agencies that are there to protect workers are pretty much being abolished,” he said. “Those agencies were created by Congress and only Congress should be able to do away with them.”
The ceremony took place in front of the Walter Reuther statue in Wheeling, honoring the former UMWA president and founder of the modern labor movement.
