National Day of Mourning marked in Cape Breton, honours those killed on the job

Family members and co-workers of people killed on the job were partof a ceremony in Sydney to mark theNational Day of Mourning.

The Day of Mourning was launched by the Canadian Labour Congress in 1983 to focus attention on workplace deaths and to press for improvements inworkplace safety.

Thursday's ceremony washeld at the WhitneyPier legion.

'Grim task'

Former coal minerOmarMacPhersonof Bridgeportwas working the night of anexplosion in Number 26 colliery inGlaceBay that killed 12 men in 1979.

"We had the grim task of taking out six or sevenof them young fellas who were dead," he recalled.

Hughie MacArthurof Sydneywent to work in the mines when he was 17.He later became safety officer for the United MIneWorkers union.

MacArthur says the Day of Mourning is an important day for him.

'I think of those guys every day'

"[I] actually witnessed three coal miners that were killed during my duration when Iwas underground in the coal mine and that stays with me every day," he said.

"Ithink of those guys every single day and there's been many other miners who have lost their lives in the mine dueto accident. It's avery dangerous occupation."

Bennie O'Neilof Sydneyworked at the steel plant. He was also on the executive of the steelworkers union.

"The accidents that took place, in some instances, were Iguess unforeseen," he said. "Other ones, we turned around and made changes in policy in working procedures, hoping that it would not happen again."

'One is to too many'

There were 1,321 deaths reported in Cape Breton's mines between1866 to 1987.Three hundred and eightmen were killed over the nearly100-year life of the steelplant.

The Cape Breton District Labour Council hosted the event in Sydney. The council'sCarmie Erickson said there were 27 deaths in Nova Scotia workplaces in 2015.

"'One is too many, " he said. "Everybody should go home at the end of the day."