Maryland leaders honor those who died on the job during Workers' Memorial Day ceremony
Maryland leaders held a Workers' Memorial Day ceremony Monday to honor people who have died on the job or those who have suffered work-related injuries.
During the ceremony at Baltimore City Hall, leaders and workers called for job safety protections and the freedom to join unions.
Attendees also discussed the weakening of job safety agencies facilitated by the Trump administration. According to organizers, the administration's actions are putting workers in danger by undermining safety standards and enforcement.
After the ceremony, the Baltimore City Council will introduce a resolution recognizing April 28 as Workers' Memorial Day.
Trump administration's federal staffing cuts endanger workers
According to union leaders and state officials, progress toward job safety is at risk due to President Trump's ongoing cuts to federal staffing and funding.
Through the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), the president has facilitated wide-reaching cuts to federal funding and staffing with the goal of lowering spending.
"This is the most hostile administration in Washington, D.C. when it comes to working people that I have seen in my lifetime," Baltimore City Council President Zeke Cohen said Monday, criticizing the Trump administration.
The task force has directed government agencies to implement layoffs, prompting some state and county leaders to provide additional resources for workers who lost their jobs.
According to union leaders and workers, the Trump administration's effort to defund or eliminate staff from federal job safety agencies would have a negative impact on working people.
"Efforts to fire federal workers means we will have fewer job safety inspectors to ensure corporations follow the law," event organizers said in a statement. "Efforts to undermine independent federal agencies erode workers' only safeguard against employers who endanger them or retaliate for reporting unsafe working conditions."
According to event organizers, data shows that 5,283 workers were killed on the job and 2.6 million cases of workplace illness or injury were reported across the U.S. in 2023.
"Under the Trump administration, new anti-worker attacks threaten to increase those numbers," leaders said.
Workers killed on the job in Maryland
There were 59 workplace fatalities reported in Maryland in 2020, according to the Maryland Department of Labor. The number of work-related deaths declined from 78 in 2019.
According to 2020 data, the occupations with the highest number of workplace deaths were transportation and material moving.
In August 2024, a Baltimore City Department of Public Works (DPW) employee died while on the job. Ronald Silver II died from heat exhaustion while working.
It's incidents like Silver's death that Cohen said he wants the city council to prevent.
"This council is focused on oversight, which is about making sure we are holding our agency leadership accountable to make sure our workers are safe," Cohen said.
His death sparked investigations and led DPW to be cited with a serious violation for failing to protect employees from dangerous heat.
The investigations by the Maryland Occupational Safety and Health Agency (MOSH) and Baltimore City's Inspector General both identified red flags, including bad working conditions, lack of training and a culture of fear.
In November 2024, the agency faced scrutiny again after a waste collector was trapped by a trash truck and died. Timothy Cartwell's death sparked renewed calls for change at DPW.
Following the investigations into Silver's death, DPW's director promised changes in safety measures and workplace culture.
