Group to dedicate memorial to workers who died on the job

Pocatello workers are planning to commemorate Workers’ Memorial Day Saturday with a big ceremony at Upper Ross Park.

During the ceremony, they’ll be unveiling a 5,000 pound, 7-foot-long stone memorial dedicated to Idaho’s fallen workers.

“When you come up to the stone itself, we’ll have different plaques coming up with all the names of those that were killed on the job since 1915,” said Nathan Millward, president of the Pocatello Central Labor Council.

Millward said the number of workers who die on the job is decreasing. Only 25 have died in Idaho since March 2014, he said.

“We’re trying to get that number down to zero, but it’s still along ways to go,” said Millward.

Millward’s group plans to read the names of all 25 workers at Saturday’s ceremony. Among them are two car mechanics who died in eastern Idaho early this year in separate incidents when the cars they were working on fell on top of them.

A subsequent investigation by OSHA determined neither company had basic safety precautions in place.

“It’s a good reminder to the community that, yes, we still do need those labor laws in tact. We still do need our labor unions here to keep those safety regulations enforced,” said Millward.

The ceremony takes place Saturday from 12 p.m. to 3 p.m. at Upper Ross Park.