Taipei 101 monument will honor fallen workers

A monument commemorating the value of work will be erected at the Taipei 101 complex, labor-rights activists said yesterday.

It will be the country's first monument to be commissioned and erected by major labor organizations and business corporations to promote safety and health at work, said Huang Hsiao-ling (黃糸陵), secretary general of the Taiwan Association for Victims of Occupational Injury (TAVOI).

Construction of the monu-ment, to be titled Partners, will begin next Wednesday, which is also World Day for Safety and Health at Work, Huang said.

She said the monument also will be dedicated to the six workers who died in an accident during construction of the 101-story Taipei Financial Center, the world's tallest building.

"We hope the monument construction project will help raise public awareness of the importance of workplace safety and health," Huang said.

Quoting official tallies, she said that more than 60,000 workers died in occupational accidents between 1957 and 2002, while nearly 300,000 workers became disabled due to occupational injuries during the same period.

Huang said 168 countries around the world stage activities annually on World Day for Safety and Health at Work in memory of victims of fatal occupational accidents.

To persuade government officials and corporate managers to pay more attention to workplace safety and health issues, Huang said TAVOI and several other labor-rights groups will organize a series of activities.

These activities will include an exhibition of paintings created by occupational injury vic-tims, a musical production featuring the plight of such workers and a seminar focusing on overwork issues.

Huang said TAVOI also will press the government to amend the laws covering occupational-injury protections to offer victims better benefits and more assistance.