WORKERS’ Memorial Day was celebrated yesterday in Cardiff, with First Minister Eluned Morgan pledging to work with trade unions to fight for the living while honouring those who lost their lives in the workplace.

First Minister Eluned Morgan said: “Each year we come together to remember real people and remember mothers and fathers, daughters and sons, colleagues and friends — the people whose lives were cut short or forever changed.”

Ms Morgan said she often thought of the words of the song Joe Hill, about the US trade union organiser framed for murder and executed.

The First Minister said Mr Hill comes back to a friend in a dream and says: "I'm not dead" and that he should not mourn, but organise.

Ms Morgan said her government was committed to fair work and safe workplaces, and pledged to continue to fight for the living, in partnership with the trade union movement.

TUC Cymru general secretary Shavannah Taj said many key workers lost their lives during the Covid-19 pandemic as they carried on working during the health emergency.

TUC Cymru President Sian Gale said the United Nations’ International Labour Organisation has chosen the risks of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and technology as this year’s theme.

“In sectors like warehousing, parcel delivery and ride-sharing apps, management by AI can make work more hazardous as workers face unrealistic targets that cause them to rush, which can lead to accidents, injuries and death.

“In Uber’s first year of operations in Brazil, 16 of their drivers were killed at work, and we remember Gabriel Bringye from London, murdered while working for a ride-sharing app,” Ms Gale said.