Hyslop Marks West Lothian International Workers Memorial Day
Local Constituency MSP Fiona Hyslop attended West Lothian’s International Workers Memorial Day in Bathgate on Sunday (28th April).
Commenting on the day, Fiona said;
“I was pleased to attend such an important event, to mark International Workers’ Memorial Day – a tribute in remembering workers who have died, been injured or made seriously ill through work. It was particularly poignant because of the awful devastation and death of workers this week in Bangladesh.
“West Lothian was an early pioneer of commemorating this day and would like to thank West Lothian Trades Council for developing the day.
“Each year, across the world, more than 2 million men and women die as a result of work related accidents and diseases. Annually, asbestos claims 100,000 lives wordwide. To put this into perspective, across the globe, one worker will die every 15 seconds, that’s 6,000 workers every day.
“As the MSP for Linlithgow constituency I am very pleased that we have a Parliament which, with cross party support, took forward the Damages Asbestos Related Conditions (Scotland) Act (2009), which was later successfully defended by the Scottish Government when the Supreme Court dismissed a legal challenge from insurers in a real triumph for progressive politics. (October 2011)
“This day is about marking international solidarity, the need for political and legal change but it is also about people – the people we have lost and those that are still living. The 28th of April memorial day helps us to remember these workers around the world and rededicate ourselves to fight for health and safety for the living.”