March for Annual Workers’ Memorial Day!
New Brunswick, New Jersey: By Louis Kimmel
Over 200 members and supporters of New Labor and allied organizations collectively demanded “Safe Workplaces for All, free of retaliation and ICE” as they marched on April 26 in New Brunswick today to honor workers who have been killed or become sick or injured on the job.
The march, with coffins, handmade signs and chants to remember fallen workers, began and ended at Vorhees Hall on Rutgers campus in New Brunswick. It is one of many events taking place around the country and around the globe as part of Workers’ Memorial Day, which brings together workers, families, unions, and allies to honor those affected by unsafe working conditions and to advocate for better protections in the workplace.
This past year, workers in New Jersey died in their workplaces from causes such as falls, being crushed, struck by, electrocution, heat exposure and chemical exposure. Many workplace deaths may have been prevented had there been a right to refuse unsafe work, effective training, or a workplace health and safety committee. These and other systems of safety could have created different outcomes for many of these workplace deaths.
Demands from participants at the march included safe workplaces for ALL, Right to Refuse unsafe work without retaliation and labor protections for workers who speak out about unsafe working conditions, an end to workplace raids and deportations; over 60 workers have died due to ICE since 2025.
Several testimonies highlighted how ALL workers are essential and should not be seen as disposable when it comes to their health and safety.
“I don’t want anyone to go through what happened to my dad. No matter who you are, we all deserve respect and we’re not disposable,’ said Ana Rodriguez, member of New Labor whose father died in his workplace last year.
“The Indian Stone Workers Association of America was proud to join this event. We believe that all workers deserve dignity and safe working conditions–no matter their caste, race, or immigration status.”
“ALL workers deserve to be treated with respect and dignity. We are essential, not disposable!, We call on all employers to assure our workplaces are safe for ALL and free of ICE”, said Reynalda Cruz Organizer with New Labor.
Another major theme that marchers highlighted was the intersection of health and safety with gentrification.
“I thank everyone for their presence; this march means a great deal. Every year, we commemorate the workers who have died at their workplaces—while striving to earn a living for their families—and never returned home. A person died at the construction site behind us; and like that site, there are many others that are gradually pushing our community out. Right now, the New Labor office is being evicted; this place is our home, and it belongs to our community. This is an injustice; we must fight for our rights so that the destruction of schools and communities ceases.
We also demand that ICE be kept out of New Jersey—so that our community and university are no longer complicit in separating families, and so that there are no more deaths.” said Yanel Franco of New Labor.
Alarms were also sounded that baseline worker protections are disappearing. The current Administration has been gutting entities like NIOSH (National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health) and OSHA (Occupational Safety and Health Administration).
“If there are no baseline protections, we’re all we got. Safe workplaces are workplaces where we are respected. All workers go to work to make a living, not to die there. Safe workplaces will always put worker safety FIRST and have workers’ voices heard,” said Louis Kimmel, Executive Director of New Labor.
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New Labor, a membership-based organization of largely low-wage Latino workers that educates, organizes and fights for better working conditions. For more information, please visit www.newlabor.org.
