Union leaders and bereaved family to attend Hartlepool Workers Memorial Day service

Trade unions are inviting the community to join them for the Workers’ Memorial Day Remembrance Service and Wreath-Laying Ceremony.

Taking place on Thursday, April 28, in Christ Church (Hartlepool Art Gallery) the event commemorates those who have been either killed or injured in workplace accidents.

It also aims to raise awareness among employers of the importance of effective health and safety measures with the slogan ‘Remember the Dead and Fight for the Living’.

Speakers will include national union leaders, and the first wreath will be laid by the family of Stephen Summerside, of Sunderland, who was killed in an industrial accident in Cornwall in 2016.

Edwin Jeffries, President of Hartlepool Trades Union Council, said: “Whether or not they have been affected by a tragedy at work, we hope that as many people as possible from across the region will join us to pay their respects and add their weight to the ongoing campaign to make all workplaces safe for workers.

“Once again, we will be providing individual flowers so that anybody attending the service can lay a flower in memory of a loved one.”

Stephen Summerside, a 44-year-old father of two and granddad of two tragically died after he was crushed while he was carrying out lift inspections on a ferry undergoing a refit in Falmouth Docks.

His widow Donna will be at the ceremony together with other members of the family.

She said: “All men and women should be safe when they go to work to earn a living.

“Stephen was an ordinary working man doing his best for his family. We miss him so much – he has three grandchildren he has never seen.

“Workers’ Memorial Day is a very important and poignant day for everyone to remember.”

Speakers will include GMB National President Barbara Plant, NASUWT General Secretary Dr Patrick Roach, David King of the National Executive Committee of the RMT and Professor Vicki Stone of Heriot-Watt University.

The service will start at 12.30pm and will finish with the wreath-laying around the Workers’ Memorial in Church Square.

For more information about the event, contact Edwin Jeffries on 07813 073186 or email [email protected]

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