Campaigners from across Bolton pledged to remember the dead and 'fight like hell' for the living as the town observed International Workers Memorial Day.
Banners and floral wreaths adorned Victoria Square as workers from all walks of life paused on Thursday morning to reflect on the sacrifices of the generations before them and on the more recent struggles faced by their friends and co-workers.
This year’s event was all the more timely due to the immense battle faced by care and health workers in the face of the pandemic, as Unison Bolton branch secretary and national vice president Andrea Egan explained.
She said: “We always use the phrase, we remember the dead but fight like hell for the living.
“Because Unite and Unison, between us we cover so many different sectors and this year in particular because of the pandemic it's so much more poignant as we remember those who paid with their lives.”
A poem on display from public sector workers' union Unison
She added: “We’re also worried and angry that the government expects working class people to pay for the pandemic.
“Our members are mainly low paid working class people and we can’t have a situation where they are not able to heat their homes.
“So our demand is that those who have profited from the pandemic should have to pay for it.”
Bolton Unison branch secretary Andrea Egan paying her respects to fallen workers
Ms Egan also thanked the council for working with the trade union movement to make sure the event could go ahead.
International Workers Memorial Day is held across the world every year by the trade union movement and its supporters.
The event remembers those who have died or been injured or disabled at work and reminds campaigners to continue pursuing better conditions for those still with us.
Attendees gathered to hear speeches at the town hall
There were speeches from trade unionists, campaigners and civic leaders like Mayor Linda Thomas to assembled crowds near the cenotaph.
The ceremony also saw wreath laying and candles lit in memory of people who had died at work.
A minute’s silence was held at 11am to remember fallen workers the world over while speeches afterwards reminded attendees of the challenge that still lay before them.
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