Workers Memorial Day April 19, 2012

Let me first thank all those who participated in the April 4, 2012 service honoring the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. I thought we would be able to post a video of this outstanding event but the person who offered to provide this service experienced technical difficulties and was unable to record it. It is lost opportunity. We do have an audio recording, which I will edit and post. We may be able to get transcripts of some of the presentations. I will post my own written review soon.

As a representative of IWJ Kansas I have the honor of being invited to participate in a Workers Memorial Day Event, April 19th. I would like to encourage faith communities to remember workers killed or injured on the job and their families in your worship on April 20, 21 or 22. "A Prayer for the Fallen" written by Reverend Ian Lawton, which will be included in the service on the 19th, is included below.

Forty years ago in April the OSHA law and mine safety law were enacted promising workers in this country the right to a safe job. All over the country--in town squares and union halls, at worksites and memorials, in community after community--people gather to remember our sisters and brothers who have lost their lives and to fight for safe workplaces and for good jobs for all workers. Please share in this sacred time.

A Prayer for the Fallen by Reverend Ian Lawton

We remember those we have lost with great fondness.
They gave much to the world; as individuals, family members, friends and work colleagues.
We remember their families in their enormous sadness.
For those who have died at work building a better place for the rest of us.
Those who have died while constructing our buildings and expressways, hospitals and schools.
For those who have died young and innocent, victims of avoidable accidents.
May we learn from this loss, honour the memory of those lost
And work towards a safer workplace for all people
Where the rights and dignity of all workers are upheld above all else.