TERRE HAUTE, Ind. (WTWO/WAWV) — Dozens gathered outside the Eugene V. Debs Museum on Sunday to celebrate Workers Memorial Day.
The event was sponsored by the Greater Terre Haute chapter of the NAACP, The Eugene V. Debs Foundation, and the Central Wabash Valley Building and Construction Trades Council. The ceremony commemorates the signing of the Occupational Safety and Health Act by congress in 1970, while also remembering lives lost in the workplace.
Debs Foundation board member Anne D’Orazio said it is important to continue the push for workplace rights.
“Thousands of workers are killed,” she said. More than thousands of workers are disabled every year and the conditions under which they are working are abysmal so we want to have this learning event as well as a somber dedication to their lives.”
Proclamations were also given by the Vigo County Council and Terre Haute City Council. D’Orazio added that the event will return to Terre Haute for years to come.