Workers Memorial Day
When: 4 p.m.
Where: The Machinists' lodge, 1100 Crawford St.
MIDDLETOWN — For the local union at AK Steel’s Middletown Works plant, there’s a fine balance between work safety and commemorating those who have lost their lives on the job.
“We try to do something each year to make our union hall better and make sure we don’t forget the memory of these people who have fallen,” said Jim Gomia, safety chairman of the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers Local Lodge 1943.
Today, April 28, the union will commemorate Workers Memorial Day in honor of the 104 workers who were killed on the job at AK Steel/Armco since 1903. It also marks the day Occupational Safety and Health Act went into effect — April 28, 1971.
Joseph Berry is the first name to be recorded into the log of workers killed due to some incident on the job. The last work-related death involving a union employee was July 10, 2003. AK maintenance worker Ralph Eric Jones, 41, of Waynesville, was killed while operating a forklift near the plant’s annealing line. Gomia said working at a steel mill can be a dangerous job, and while they are proud there have been no more fatalities, the event serves as a reminder of when the worst can happen. A candle will be lit and a bell rung for each of the 104 workers killed at the mill, Gomia said. This will be the 14th memorial for the Machinists union. The first one was held in 1995. During the AK Steel lockout, which lasted from March 1, 2006, to March 15, 2007, the event was not held because of a lack of funds, Gomia said. The event is open to the public. Occupational Safety and Health Administration Area Director Dick Gilgrist will be the guest speaker and Mayor Larry Mulligan will present a proclamation.
Contact this reporter at (513) 705-2843 or jheffner@coxohio.com.
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