Kingston Day of Mourning Ceremony

April 15, 2023

The Kingston & District Labour Council’s Day of Mourning ceremony will be taking place on Friday, April 28 at the OPSEU Hall at 824 John Counter Boulevard in Kingston from 10:30am to 12pm.

The ceremony will be conducted in-person with an option for zoom participation. Please contact kingstonlabourcouncil@gmail.com for zoom details.

Our program will include guest speakers, and a moment of silence at 11am.

A light lunch and refreshment will be provided.

Guest Speakers:

  • Dorothy Wigmore is a long-time health and safety activist and specialist who still has a placard from the first Day of Mourning in 1986. Trained as an occupation hygienist, ergonomist and stress specialist, she has worked with and for unions, universities, governments, occupational health centres and NGOs in Canada, the U.S., and Mocambique. These days, she’s working for the Occupational Health Clinics for Ontario Workers (OHCOW) on its migrant/temporary foreign workers and rubber workers projects and is writing a book about the pandemic and the sciences that have harmed and helped workers in particular.
  • Gabriel Allahdua is originally from St. Lucia and was a migrant farm worker in the Seasonal Agricultural Worker Program for four years, from 2012 to 2015, before leaving the program to seek permanent residency in Canada. Now a leading voice in the migrant justice movement, Allahdua is an organizer with Justicia for Migrant Workers and an outreach worker with The Neighbourhood Organization, providing services to migrant workers across southwestern Ontario.
  • Liz James is an education worker in the Algonquin and Lakeshore Catholic District School Board and president of CUPE Local 1479.

About the April 28 Day of Mourning

April 28 is a day for workers, our unions, friends and family to remember those killed and injured on the job and the importance of robust health and safety regulations. About one thousand workers in Canada are killed on the job each year, and many more are injured or become sick from exposure to hazardous materials.

April 28 was first declared as a day of mourning by the Canadian Labour Congress in 1984. It has since been recognized by the Government of Canada as a National Day of Mourning and is also observed by over 100 countries around the globe.