Remembering Westray

In the early morning hours of May 9, 1992, an explosion ripped through the Westray coal mine in Canada. The explosion took the lives of 26 miners and forever changed the lives of the people of Plymouth and many surrounding communities. This year marks 30 years since the devastating disaster where an entire shift of workers perished and 11 bodies were never recovered. Those miners remain entombed in the underground wreckage of the mine, now covered by a memorial park where a monument stands as a lasting tribute. Our union never stopped fighting for justice for the Westray families and the thousands of families across Canada whose loved ones have been killed at work. In 2004, Steelworkers successfully had the Canadian government introduce the Westray Bill, which amended the Criminal Code of Canada to hold corporations criminally accountable for causing preventable death and injury on the job. #EverybodysUnion #1u