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The National Workers Memorial, a memorial dedicated to workers who lose their lives due to work-related injuries or illness, broke ground on April 28, 2009 in the center of the National Labor College campus in Silver Spring, Maryland (MD).

The memorial will be circular in design and surrounded by granite benches. Brick pavers engraved with the names of fallen workers are available for purchase at $125 each. Anyone may purchase a paver to commemorate a family member or friend who lost their life to their job.

The first brick was dedicated by Bricklayers (BAC) President John Flynn to BAC member Louis Mitchell, who died in 2007. The second was from Richard Trumka to honor his father, Frank, a Pennsylvania mine worker, who died in 1999 of black lung disease.

“[This memorial]comes from all of our desires to see that the memories of all fallen workers are forever honored and remembered by each generation of union members, leaders and activists who walk these grounds every day as they have for decades, ” said William Scheuerman, president of the National Labor College.

The memorial will hopefully increase awareness about work-related illness such as mesothelioma, a rare cancer caused by asbestos exposure. The more that people know about mesothelioma and asbestos, the more precautions that will be taken to protect future workers.

The memorial is expected to be completed in September 2009.