Unite prepares for IWMD 2025

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Members to remember the dead on April 28

Wednesday, April 16th, 2025

Reading time: 6 min

Unite members are being urged to get involved with this year’s International Workers Memorial Day (IWMD), with plans well underway for country wide commemoration events to “remember the dead and fight for the living” later this month.

The annual event is held around the world every year on April 28 as workers gather to reflect on fellow workers lost or injured while just doing their jobs.

This year Unite members are organising memorials around the country, and joining in many others and the union has produced lots of resources and guides to help branches get involved.

For 2025 the International TUC theme is “Occupational health and safety: A fundamental right at work” including an explicit additional focus on the impact of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and digitisation on occupational health and safety.

Events will be happening across the country. In London construction workers will gather at the Building Workers memorial at Tower Hill, in Somerset workers from Hinkley Point C will mark the day at a memorial in Bridgwaters’ Blake Gardens and in Glasgow workers will gather at the memorial in the People’s Palace.

The central Birmingham event will highlight the safety-critical factor behind Unite’s local bins dispute, and remember David Carpenter, a binman for Coventry City Council, who died after being crushed in a bin lorry in 2023.

There are also events at the Unite Memorial in Liverpool, Lincoln Square in Manchester and many many more.

Global partners that Unite works with also have themes for the day of remembrance, for example BWI will highlight its “Too Hot to Work” campaign around the dangers of heat stress, as well as launching its “Stop Deadly Dust” campaign.

Unite branches and workplaces are being encouraged to Mobilise for IWMD 2025 It could be mental health, asbestos, exposure to chemicals or the environment – whatever matters to your workplace.

Though the day can have many themes, the central ITUC focus of the impact AI and will have is increasingly important, and something that Unite Health and Safety reps must be aware of.

In January Unite general secretary Sharon Graham said that, “Our members are already reporting major changes to working conditions due to the introduction of AI, which creates new risks and all too often results in workers feeling alienated and demotivated.”

Adding that union involvement was vital, and “The introduction of AI in the workplace must be something that happens with workers and not to workers. Government, employers, and unions all need to be working together to avoid the potential dangers of workplace AI.”

In an article this month for the Labour Research Department Unite national health and safety advisor Rob Miguel raised concerns about the way AI could be used to monitor employees.

This can impact on home working as well as production and manufacturing targets and even the way drivers carry out their work. All this can add to stress and a sense of not being in control of work tasks.

Rob pointed out that, “In the US alone, the number of medium-to-large employers using tools to track workers doubled in two years from March 2020 to 60% and is expected to rise to 70% by 2025.”

He also how employers use tools such as cameras, microphones and software to data such as track mouse clicks, keystrokes, app usage and other data.

Rob said, “Unite will be ensuring we are part of the discussions on any monitoring of workers proposals, with both government and employers.”

However, whatever workplace concerns you have, or colleagues you want to gather to remember, the most important thing is to get involved.

HOW TO GET INVOLVED WITH #IWMD25

Hold an event in your workplace to promote the issues of workers’ right to a safe job, or to remember colleagues that have died or been injured at work. Inform UniteLive and the Unite press office of your event.

Do you need materials to promote your event? Visit Unite’s dedicated IWMD web page here

Don’t forget to send us your IWMD pictures! If you’re marking IWMD, take a photo and send it to [email protected]. Remember to tell us the name of the workplace or branch. However please keep the number of photos to a minimum for each event.

Access TUC online memorial wall to remember someone who lost their life to work here

Ask your local council to sign up to our Stay Safe, Join a Union campaign here

TUC will be focussing on asbestos on IWMD through a one-day event at Congress House. Open to all H&S reps. Register for the in-person TUC conference, Asbestos: time to get rid of it! here

Below are just a small selection of some of the events happening across the country for this year’s International Workers Memorial Day.

But wherever you are, and whatever you do, get involved to remember the dead and fight for the living.

London – Tower Hill