Candlelit Covid Vigil

As you can see from our previous post Unison North West Women’s committee members and UNISON colleagues are busy making Yellow Hearts to commemorate lives lost to Covid on Workers Memorial Day on 28^th April.

In an exciting development to this initiative, Greater Manchester Hazards has asked if some of the hearts could be displayed at a Candlelit Vigil to be held on 11^th March – the anniversary of when the World Health Organisation declared Covid a pandemic.

UNISON North West is supporting this vigil as part of an on-going campaign to bring trade unions together to do more to support families bereaved by Covid and people living with Long-covid.

The North West has had the most Covid deaths in the country – more than Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales together –  and many thousands of workers have died because they have been exposed to infections because of their job.

We want to remind our politicians and authorities that no workers should have died, no worker should have been exposed to infection risks and workers are still facing these risks in the workplace every day.

If you are making hearts – or have asked others to make them – please do your best to create some in time for the vigil on 11^th March. The address to send them to is Jennifer Walley, Yellow Hearts, UNISON North West, Arena Point, 1 Hunt’s Bank, Manchester M3 1UN.

The vigil will take place on:

Friday 11^th March at 6.00pm

at the water side of the People’s History Museum

Left Bank

Spinningfields

Manchester M3 3ER

We will light candles, bring and hold up pictures of work colleagues and loved ones who have died and invite family members and work colleagues to say something about them.

Please do your best to attend and encourage others to attend.