Labor Photo: "Safe Jobs Save Lives"

(Metropolitan Washington Council, AFL-CIO)Michigan Bricklayer Tom Ward’s father died of silicosis when Ward was just 13. Tammy Miser’s Brother Shawn, 33, was killed in an aluminum dust explosion in 2003, severely burned both externally and internally. Ward and Miser were among the family members and workers who gathered in front of the Chamber of Commerce last Friday, laying out photos of friends and family members killed on the job. The early Workers' Memorial Day action was organized by the National Council for Occupational Safety and Health (COSH), and followed a hearing in the Senate on Thursday where the families urged Congress to move faster on implementing life-saving job safety rules. “We need to have these regulations passed now to protect the workers and protect families from having to go through what we went through,” said Miser. - photos: picket in front of the Chamber (right); a protester tells the story of his son’s workplace death (left); photos by Julia Kann