Northern Ireland

Silent International Workers Memorial Day tribute followed by calls for protection for those risking their lives

Observe the minutes silence in honour healthcare staff who have died during the Coronavirus pandemic. Picture by Hugh Russell.
Observe the minutes silence in honour healthcare staff who have died during the Coronavirus pandemic. Picture by Hugh Russell. Observe the minutes silence in honour healthcare staff who have died during the Coronavirus pandemic. Picture by Hugh Russell.

THE silent tribute to mark International Workers Memorial Day (IWMD) has been followed by calls for recognition and protection for those putting their lives at risk during the coronavirus pandemic.

Healthcare workers led the strong show of support with medics at the Nightingale Covid-19 unit at Belfast City Hospital's tower block among those standing outside in respectful silence yesterday as the remembered dead colleagues.

Members of the Ulster Hospital emergency department forming a guard of honour in the corridor.

Senior nurse Roisin Devlin said: "When you lose a member of that team, it is like losing a family member."

Staff at the Children's Hospital also stepped outside for the minute's silence "for our brave colleagues who have lost their lives at this time".

Northern Ireland Prison Service joined the silence as "an opportunity to pay tribute to the sacrifice made during Covid-19... and thank those who continue to do vital work".

Proceedings in the assembly chamber in Stormont paused at 11am for the tribute which was this year dedicated to NHS staff and other key workers who have died after contracting coronavirus.

First Minister Arlene Foster said it was "our opportunity as a community to come together to remember all of those who, in their selfless devotion to the care of others, have lost their lives".

Deputy First Minister Michelle O'Neill said it is "particularly timely and poignant as we think of all those frontline workers who, in spite of the risk to themselves, are going out to work each day to serve the public in the fight back against Covid-19".

The Fire Brigades Union (FBU) called for the government to ensure the death of firefighters and key workers as a result of Covid-19 is automatically recognised as work-related, allowing their families to receive compensation.

The Westminster government has announced a life assurance scheme for the families of NHS and care staff, but thousands of other key workers and those who have been required to continue to work by their employer are not covered.

As well as the over 100 NHS and care staff that have lost their lives, dozens of transport workers are thought to have died along with other workers in both public and private sectors.

Firefighters across the UK have been moving dead bodies, driving ambulances, delivering medicines and food to vulnerable people and transporting patients to and from Nightingale Hospitals.

SDLP leader Colum Eastwood said it is "important to take this moment to reflect on those we've lost to this virus but it's more important to honour their memory by protecting their colleagues who continue to fight Covid-19 for us".

"People are still contracting this virus, they're still ending up in intensive care and our loved ones are still dying. If you want to thank the health workers on the front line, do it by staying at home and observing the lockdown guidance."

Green Party North Down councillor and GMU representative Barry McKee said while "this year the Covid-19 crisis has brought into sharp focus the dangers posed to workers right across society", every year "more people are killed at work than in wars".

"These brave men and women have been applauded and indeed lauded by Prime Minsters, First Ministers and citizens across Northern Ireland. The most appropriate way to say thank you is to provide the necessary PPE and roll out full support and assistance to workers today and into the future...

"Only months ago many of these workers were described as low skilled by Home Secretary Priti Patel. The Covid-19 crisis has exposed these comments as crude and incorrect."