Statement from NL NDP Leader Jim Dinn on National Day of Mourning

NL NDP
Apr 28
2 min read

For Immediate Release

April 28, 2025

Every worker in Newfoundland and Labrador deserves to go to work knowing they’ll return home safely. It’s a simple truth, but one that has often been forgotten. Too many lives have been lost, too many families shattered, because government fails to act with urgency and accountability.

On the National Day of Mourning, we remember the workers who never returned home or whose lives were changed irrevocably as the result of a workplace injury.

But remembering is not enough. Honouring the lives lost means doing everything we can to prevent future tragedies. It means creating a culture of safety that doesn’t just respond to workplace injuries, but prevents them in the first place.

We urge the government to take action to protect workers in our province by establishing an Occupational Health and Safety Clinic, increasing the number of Occupational Health and Safety investigators in the province, and begin collecting and publishing employer safety records to ensure accountability and protect workers.

According to Workplace NL 2024 numbers, 26 workers in Newfoundland and Labrador died because of a workplace illness or injury, 11 more than 2023. In the past five years,124 workers in this province have lost their lives at work. This is just not good enough. Government must do better to protect workers.

These numbers are why the NL NDP consistently highlights workplace safety and why we advocate on a range of issues, which includes occupational health and safety in classrooms and hospitals, offshore helicopter safety, the Labrador West silica dust study, and more.

Workers deserve more than just words. They deserve to be respected, valued, and protected, not only after something goes wrong, but every single day they show up to do their jobs. Because the best way to honour workers is to make sure every one of them gets home safe.

I will be attending the St. John’s and District Labour Council’s annual Day of Mourning service at the Ocean Ranger Memorial Site on the grounds of the Confederation Building to reaffirm the NDP’s commitment to strong workplace health and safety standards. Workers must always be our priority. Everyone deserves to come home safe at the end of the day.

-30-

For further information, contact Stephanie Curran, Media and Communications Officer, NDP Caucus at 330-0328 (o), or stephaniecurran@gov.nl.ca