Worker Memorial Day: Pray for the dead, fight like hell for the living

Today is the day that we honor those among us that have died on the job, some by preventable accidents, some by preventable occupational diseases.

This week the government released the new statistics on work-related deaths and injuries among youth workers, 15-24 years old. In the U.S. an average of about 500 youth workers per year have been killed on the job.

From 2003--2007, the greatest number of deaths among younger workers occurred in the services (32%), construction (28%), wholesale and retail trade (10%), and agriculture (10%) industry sectors. Younger workers experienced the highest rates of fatal injury in mining (36.5 per 100,000 full-time employees, FTE), agriculture (21.3 per 100,000 FTE), and construction (10.9 per 100,000 FTE).

Safety and health are two things nobody should ever have to exchange for a day's wages. And, yet, dying for a living is still a reality for many of our brothers and sisters, fathers and mothers, daughters and sons.

Pray for the dead, fight like hell for the living. -Mother Jones