Today, April 28, marks the National Day of Mourning, a time for all of us to stand together and remember the workers who have been killed on the job, suffered injury or illness, or experienced a workplace tragedy.
We especially commemorate those members of the International Union of Operating Engineers, Local 793, who have lost their lives at work, and the loved ones they left behind.
Tragically on November 17, 2023, 31-year-old Local 793 member Mike Murphy was killed while at work. Brother Mike, a hydrovac operator, was a six-year member of Local 793. He recently married and was just beginning his new life as a husband. Brother Mike leaves behind his wife, Hayley.
We operate in an industry where any error of judgement or slip in safety standards could lead to disaster. That is why my top priority as Business Manager has always been the safety and wellbeing of members.
It is also why Local 793 created the Everyone Deserves to Get Home Safe social media ad campaign late last year that educated the public on safety when travelling through a work zone. It is why we worked so long to push through new crane safety regulations that were finally brought in by the province at the start of this year. It is why we are now demanding mandatory training and compulsory certification for concrete pumps.
Today, I was honoured to represent this Union at the Oakville & District Labour Council Day of Mourning Service in Centennial Square, where I met a man whose young son had been killed while at work. That these often preventable tragedies keep occurring is truly heartbreaking and reminds us that the fight to keep workers safe will never end.
Today is also an opportunity for each member to restate their own commitment to upholding workplace safety – whether that is by always wearing the appropriate PPE and encouraging others to do so or by using their right under the Occupational Health and Safety Act (OHSA) to refuse work that could endanger themselves or others.
You are the eyes and ears of the Union, so I urge you to raise any and all safety concerns you may have with your Steward or Business Rep.
Please take a few moments now to read through the names below of the 47 Local 793 members who have been killed at work. Their names are carved into the memorial on the grounds of the Oakville head office, standing as a permanent reminder of what can happen when worker safety is not prioritized.
We must all continue to work to ensure that the list does not grow any longer.
Yours fraternally,
Mike Gallagher
Business Manager, IUOE Local 793
LOCAL 793 MEMBERS WHO DIED AS A RESULT OF CONSTRUCTION SITE ACCIDENTS OR DUE TO OCCUPATIONAL ILLNESSES:
- William Henry Munroe – November 4, 1970
- Lambros Kordas – March 21, 1977
- Joe Petrik – March 21, 1977
- John W. Jr. Hunt – September 2, 1980
- Bruce Norman Higgs – February 6, 1981
- Roger Michael Sokoloski – November 2, 1984
- Gerard Drapeau – August 5, 1987
- Robert Jr. Baxter – September 25, 1987
- Lynda Baker – September 14, 1989
- Marc Roy – July 23, 1992
- Elzear Dignard – August 4, 1992
- Wallace Culp – November 16, 1993
- Charles Barton – December 20, 1994
- Robert Gerritsen – September 17, 1995
- Donald Crawley – October 6, 1995
- Earl Anness – January 17, 1996
- Ronald Girard – May 17, 1996
- Patrick Kelly – October 20, 1997
- Edward Cox – June 14, 2001
- Scott Mason – August 8, 2001
- James Clement – October 26, 2001
- Ryan Clement – October 26, 2001
- Kenneth Gardiner – January 11, 2002
- John Aarts – February 8, 2002
- Allen Manchester – November 3, 2003
- Michael Hipson – January 23, 2006
- Kent Walker – May 15, 2006
- Donald Duncan – October 13, 2007
- Major Singh Dhadda – October 29, 2007
- Giovanni De Francesco – January 1, 2009
- Keith Gudmundson – January 19, 2010
- Vince De Paepe – July 3, 2011
- Patrick Gartlan – July 15, 2011
- Kyle Knox – October 11, 2011
- Maurice La Chapelle – March 9, 2012
- Lee Antoniak – April 9, 2012
- Renato Marchione – July 12, 2012
- Jamie Drew Davis – July 12, 2015
- Marc Normand – November 2, 2015
- Claude Joly – December 15, 2016
- Wayne H. McPhail – April 6, 2017
- Eric Wheeler – May 6, 2019
- Sylvio Paquette – July 10, 2019
- Cody Proulx – February 24, 2021
- James DiMarco – June 3, 2021
- Ernesto Campoli – June 1, 2022
- Mike Murphy – November 17, 2023