Workers' Memorial Day and national days of mourning: what official and union pages say in six countries

This page reports what the official source says. It is not legal advice: ask the office named here. It describes remembrance days, not rules about work, and every entry comes from a page named under Sources and read on October 9, 2026. The pages remember workers in every industry, tree care among them. No individual who died is named here.

One entry per country, in the order United States, Canada, United Kingdom, Ireland, Australia, New Zealand
Country and source	What the page says
United States, OSHA	OSHA's Workers Memorial Day page calls April 28 a solemn occasion to honour the lives lost each year to workplace incidents, illness and disease. It carries a recording of a 2026 ceremony and wreath laying in Washington, DC, and a virtual Workers Memorial Wall that the page says honours workers who died of a work incident, illness or disease in the United States. Families are invited to send photographs to OSHA for the wall.
Canada, Canadian Centre for Occupational Health and Safety	Names April 28 the National Day of Mourning, for remembering workers who died, were injured or became ill through work. It says the Canadian Labour Congress launched the day of remembrance in 1983 and that in 1991 the Parliament of Canada passed the Workers Mourning Day Act making April 28 an official Day of Mourning. It says the flag flies at half-mast on Parliament Hill and federal buildings, that events include candles, wreaths, pins, ribbons, black armbands and a moment of silence, and asks organisations to observe a moment of silence at 11 am. It cites 1,057 workplace fatalities recorded in Canada in 2023 by the Association of Workers' Compensation Boards of Canada, and says the day has spread to more than 100 countries.
United Kingdom, GOV.UK consultation record	A Department for Work and Pensions consultation titled Workers Memorial Day, opened July 27, 2009 and ran to 11:59 PM on October 18, 2009, sought views on official recognition of the day in the UK. Its page describes April 28 as a day of remembrance for workers killed, injured or made ill by their work, and carries the government's response document. No page from the Trades Union Congress is reported: its site refused access on October 9, 2026.
Ireland, Irish Congress of Trade Unions	Traces the date to April 28, 1971, when the US Occupational Safety and Health Act took effect, says the Canadian Union of Public Employees marked it in 1984 and that Canada made it a National Day of Mourning in 1991, and says up to 80 countries now mark it. It says the Congress holds trade union events in Dublin and Belfast and that in 2015 the then Minister for Business and Employment called on the Health and Safety Authority, employers and public bodies to join the Congress in making the day a national event, with joint work continuing each year since.
Australia, Australian Council of Trade Unions	Lists events around the country for International Workers Memorial Day on Tuesday, April 28, 2026, including a Melbourne gathering at Argyle Square, Carlton at 10:30 am and an Adelaide memorial service at Pilgrim Uniting Church from 10 am to 11 am. It gives the international theme that year as Fighting Psychosocial Hazards at Work. No federal or state government page for the day was found on October 9, 2026.
New Zealand, New Zealand Council of Trade Unions	A Council page dated April 28, 2021 describes April 28 as the day working people around the world remember those killed at work. No WorkSafe New Zealand page for the day was found on October 9, 2026: the addresses tried returned not found responses.

Memorials held by tree care bodies

No official page found on October 9, 2026 for a remembrance day or memorial run by an arborist trade body. The home pages of the International Society of Arboriculture, the Tree Care Industry Association, the Arboricultural Association and New Zealand Arboricultural Association carried no memorial or remembrance item. Accident reports and fatality statistics for tree work are on the injury figures page and the cases the regulators have published are on the incident case library.

What the pages agree on

Every page above uses April 28. They differ on its origin and reach: the Canadian page says the day began with a Canadian Labour Congress remembrance in 1983 and spread to more than 100 countries, while the Irish Congress page traces it to the American Act of 1971 and says up to 80 countries mark it. The two counts are given as each source states them and have not been reconciled.