CWA Honors Lost Members for Workers Memorial Day

Every year on April 28, Workers Memorial Day, we take time to remember workers who have died on the job from work-related accidents and illnesses, and we commit to fighting for safe work conditions and protections.

No worker gives up their right to life and health when they clock in. And yet, every year, thousands of American workers die on the job. This year, the stakes are even higher. Cuts by the Trump Administration and Elon Musk’s DOGE increase the risk of injury and death for every worker as federal agencies tasked with investigating and mitigating occupational hazards and other threats are gutted. The ability to feed one’s family, provide for education, and take time away from work to rest and recover are all on the chopping block.

The Workers Memorial Day theme for this year is “Fight for Our Lives: Safe Jobs Now.” The AFL-CIO has posted a Workers Memorial Day toolkit with resources you can use as you raise awareness and commemorate the lives of those we have lost. In addition, you can download their “Death on the Job: The Toll of Neglect” report here.

This Workers Memorial Day, we honor the memories of these CWA members and others whose deaths over the past year were work-related. They will never be forgotten.

Osmar Chavarria, 39, a shop steward with CWA Local 2108, worked as a service technician for Verizon in Gaithersburg, Md. On July 9, 2024, he was killed while working in a bucket truck when the fiber optic cable he was working with crossed over a 7,620-volt power line. Osmar Chavarria is survived by his wife, Carmen Chavarria, and three children.

Rodney Smith, 53, a member of CWA Local 83799 in Crystal Springs, Miss., worked as a service technician for Hitachi Energy. He died while working inside a transformer due to lack of oxygen in a confined space. Rodney is mourned by his six sons.

Ian Epstein, 54, and Danasia Elder, 34, lost their lives in the fatal crash of American Eagle PSA Flight 5342 on January 29, 2025. Ian and Danasia were Charlotte-based Flight Attendants and members of AFA-CWA Local 23075 who began flying in 2020 and 2024, respectively.

CWA, along with other labor unions and organizations, continues to fight for worker safety against unnecessary and destructive cuts that will inevitably lead to increased worker-related injuries, illnesses, and deaths.

Our job is never finished when it comes to worker health and safety protections. We must safeguard the rights we have won and keep fighting for safer working conditions in every workplace, industry, and sector. That is why on Workers Memorial Day we mourn the dead and fight for the living.

Click these links to learn more about President Trump’s attacks on OSHA and the dismantling of NIOSH.

With the unfairness of our current tax system on many Americans’ minds, CWA members and retirees are demanding action from elected officials. Union activists have been educating their co-workers about two important bills and encouraging them to contact their congressional representatives..

The “No Tax Breaks for Union Busting” bill (H.R.2692/S.1310) would classify corporations’ union-busting expenditures as political speech under the tax code. It would ban any money spent toward busting unions from being tax-deductible business expenses. The second bill, titled “Tax Fairness for Workers” (H.R.2671/S.1286), would restore the deduction for union dues and make it an above-the-line tax deduction, allowing workers to claim the tax credit without itemizing their taxes.

Union activists are also visiting lawmakers in person during the congressional in-state work period to build support for pro-worker legislation and oppose attempts to cut Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, and other critical programs.

CWA members and retirees took action across the country last week to build support for pro-worker legislation and demand that lawmakers fight back against cuts to critical programs. Clockwise from upper left: CWA activists mobilized in Peekskill, N.Y.; at the office of Florida congressional ally Mario Diaz-Balart; in Nashville, Tenn.; in Texas; at the office of California Congresswoman Young Kim; and at an IUE-CWA worksite in Ohio.

After 15 months of bargaining, social workers represented by CWA Local 1084 in Camden County, N.J., staged a lunchtime Protest Picket last week to demand a fair contract and an end to the county’s delays. Approximately 150 workers and allies participated in the mobilization, filling the Camden County Board of Social Services meeting. Allies included CWA Local 1014, members of Rutgers-AAUP-AFT, and members of Citizen Action NJ.

Member concerns include bridging pay disparities between workers in similar positions and securing a pay increase to keep up with rebounding inflation. A top issue facing members is the unaffordability of healthcare.

“We want a fair and transformational contract,” said CWA Local 1084 President Stephen Johnson. “Workers haven’t seen a raise in eight years. Inflation and healthcare costs are dragging more and more dedicated public servants below the poverty line.

CWA Local 1084 members, with CWA Local 1014 members, supporters, and allies from AAUP-AFT and Citizen Action NJ, picketed outside the Camden County Board of Social Services office before entering to demand progress in bargaining.

On Monday in New Jersey, hundreds of CWA members rallied and held a press conference alongside representatives from AFSCME N.J., AAUP-AFT, the New Jersey State AFL-CIO, and others, calling on state lawmakers to take urgent action to address the unaffordable healthcare crisis. Since 2022, state workers have seen healthcare costs increase by 40%, while local government workers have borne the brunt of a nearly 60% increase.

“Healthcare costs in N.J. have been a runaway train, and it’s long past time that our elected leaders step up and work with us to put a stop to it,” said CWA District 1 Vice President Dennis Trainor. “It’s simply unacceptable that we have workers forced to rely on food stamps to make ends meet while working full time for the state. This isn’t right, and it’s not sustainable. Lawmakers MUST make it a priority to fix this broken system and care for this state.”

“Public workers are now faced with a devastating choice: their healthcare or their financial stability,” said CWA Local 1084 Vice President Tammy Carr. “Promotions, which should be a cause of celebration, now come with a heavy burden of higher healthcare costs to the point where dedicated employees are requesting demotions to afford their healthcare.”

Hundreds of CWA members, along with coalition allies and supporters, rallied to call on New Jersey state lawmakers to take urgent action to address the unaffordable healthcare crisis.

In what may prove to be one of the most successful citizen-led referendum campaigns in the country, a 19-member labor coalition, including CWA, has delivered 320,000 signatures to the Utah legislature in opposition to an anti-labor law (H.B. 267) passed in February. The law effectively strips bargaining rights from public workers, including teachers and healthcare workers.

The coalition of labor activists needed roughly 141,000 signatures but, harnessing the deeply negative public sentiment H.B. 267 has garnered, averaged 11,000 signatures per day during the 30 days allotted for the campaign.

“House Bill 267 is wildly unpopular, and the public spoke out very loudly, but the legislature ignored us. The governor shrugged and signed it into law anyway. So you know what we did? We took it to the people, and the people, in just 30 days, showed up,” said CWA Local 7765 President and Registered Nurse Jessica Stauffer.

Final tallies will come in June, and if the signatures are validated, the public will be able to vote on whether or not to repeal H.B. 267 in November.

You can read more about this effort at ABC4.com.

May 1—May Day—is International Workers’ Day. On May Day, we remember and honor the sacrifices of workers who fought for the eight-hour workday.

This year, working people, including CWA members and retirees, will join events in over 100 cities to call for stronger neighborhoods, safer communities, and better wages for all working families. We will unite against corporate executives and billionaires who have had far too much control over our lives for far too long.

Find an event near you on the May Day Strong website.