Monday, 4/28 Workers’ Memorial Day in Ithaca to Feature NY Dairy Farmworker and OSHA Area Director

April 28 is Workers’ Memorial Day, which is when we remember those who have suffered and died on the job from workplace injuries and diseases. Nearly 5,000 workers die on the job in the U.S. every year. This year’s event is in memory of Francisco Ortiz, a Mexican dairy farmworker who was killed on a Town of Ithaca farm on February 5, 2013. Ortiz was pulled into a moving augur, a preventable tragedy. How can we stop these tragedies?

On Monday, April 28th, a speaker’s panel, followed by community response, will be talking about the dire situation of dairy farmworkers in Upstate New York. The event will take place from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. in the Borg-Warner Room at the Tompkins County Public Library (101 E. Green St., Ithaca) featuring the following speakers:

**Jose Canas: New York Dairy Farmworker; and
**Christopher Adams, Area Director of the Occupational Health and Safety Administration, OSHA, who will explain the Local Emphasis Program, which is to educate New York dairy farm owners about their responsibilities under OSHA and begin selected farm inspections in July 2014.

In addition, there will be a display on workplace fatalities taking place at the Tompkins Public Library for the entire week of April 21st through April 28th. Materials are being provided by the United Support Memorial for Workplace Fatalities.
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Sponsored by: Midstate COSH (Council for Occupational Safety & Health); Tompkins County Workers’ Center; Midstate Central Labor Council, AFL-CIO; Cornell Farmworker Program, Workers’ Center of Central NY, Worker Center Justice of NY.

For more information call (607) 277-5670 or (607) 269-0409.