WILLIAMSTOWN – The West Virginia AFL-CIO will hold a ceremony Saturday, April 28, at the Williamstown Welcome Center to remember the 18 West Virginians who lost their lives on the job last year.

“The unions of the AFL-CIO throughout the country set aside this day to remember and pay tribute to those who have lost their lives on the job,” West Virginia AFL-CIO Secretary-Treasurer Andy Walters said. “I am extremely saddened to report that we will be reading 18 names of West Virginians who left for work during 2017 -- whether at a stretch of  highway, a coal mine, a well pad, or an industrial plant -- and did not return home to their loved ones.”

Local and state union representatives will be on hand for the ceremony, which will begin at 2 p.m. at the Williamstown Welcome Center, where the Fallen Highway Worker Memorial was unveiled in October to honor West Virginia Division of Highways workers who have been killed by vehicle accidents while on the job. 

The program, hosted by the Parkersburg Area Labor Council, will include a reading of the names of 18 people who lost their lives in 2017 at the workplace and will feature tributes by local and state union representatives. 

“Despite significant progress over the years in making workplaces safer and protecting workers, an average of 150 workers die on the job in this country each day as a result of workplace injuries,” Walters said. “On this day, we renew our pledge to fight for safe and secure jobs, and ask all West Virginians to join us in honoring those families that have suffered the ultimate loss.”

* Mourn for the Dead, Fight for the Living *

WHAT: West Virginia Workers Memorial Day

WHEN: 2 p.m., Saturday, April 28, 2018

WHERE: Williamstown Welcome Center, Exit 185 of Interstate 77