YORK's city walls will light up in memory of key workers lost to the pandemic today amid calls for "answers".

From Hull or Leeds to Bradford, town halls across the region will glow purple to mark International Workers Memorial Day.

A further national minute of silence will be held at midday to pay tribute to all working people who have died due to work in the past year.

It comes as the Trades Union Congress (TUC) calls on Yorkshire's MPs to support an immediate public inquiry into the handling of the Covid-19 pandemic.

International Workers’ Memorial Day is dedicated to those who have died or been injured or infected at work.

The TUC has asked Councils across Yorkshire to light up their civic buildings in purple to remember those who have died and the Archbishop of York will deliver a special message dedicated to the workers who have died this year.

Official figures show that almost 13,000 people in Yorkshire & the Humber have died as a result of COVID-19 since the pandemic began.

Answers and accountability

The TUC said there is cross-party support for a public inquiry into the handling and mishandling of the pandemic response.

But the union body today calls on the county's MPs to demand a date from the Prime Minister Boris Johnson by when the inquiry will start - and to launch a public consultation to shape what the inquiry will cover.

The TUC says that the voices of workers and the families of those who contracted the virus at work will be central to understanding what went wrong and learning lessons for the future.

The union body says that alongside scrutinising the quality of decision-making across the pandemic response in government, the public inquiry must specifically look at:

  • Infection control and workplace safety
  • The resilience and capacity of public services
  • The unequal impact of Covid-19 on different groups of workers, specifically Black and Minority Ethnic workers and those on insecure jobs 
  • The effect of the government’s economic support packages to ensure workers stayed in employment and businesses survived

Local councils in York, Rotherham, Hull, Calderdale, Leeds and Bradford have answered the TUC’s call to light their civic buildings purple as a special memorial this year to those who have died at work as a result of the pandemic.

Unions will also lead the national minute’s silence, held annually to remember those who have died at or because of unsafe workplaces, at the National Covid Memorial Wall in London at midday today.

The Most Reverend & Right Honourable Stephen Cottrell, Archbishop of York will deliver a special message to the families of workers who have died, via the TUC Yorkshire & Humber website and social channels at 11am.

TUC Regional Secretary Bill Adams will lay a wreath at Sheffield Town Hall as part of Sheffield Trades Council’s socially distant memorial. He will be joined by Lord Mayor Cllr. Tony Downing.

The TUC will also lay a wreath at the Workers’ Memorial on Victoria Square outside Leeds Library and Gallery.

Events to commemorate workers who have lost their lives over the past year will take place across the region.

TUC Regional Secretary Bill Adams said: "We’ll forever be in the debt of the workers who died during this pandemic - nurses, carers, bus drivers and so many more.

“They lost their lives looking after our loved ones and keeping our country running in the hardest of times.

“We owe it to them, and to their families, to get on with the public inquiry. The prime minister must announce a date when it will start.

“Any public inquiry must look at why workers were put at risk – be it through inadequate PPE or being unable to afford to self-isolate.

“This isn’t about settling scores. It’s about getting answers and learning the lessons to save lives in future.

“On International Workers’ Memorial Day, we remember those who have died, and pledge ourselves to fight for safe workplaces for everyone.”

Jo Goodman, co-Founder of Covid-19 Bereaved Families for Justice said: “Many of our loved ones lost their life after catching Covid-19 in their workplaces.

“From working in the factories that produced PPE for the NHS to the nurses and doctors who didn't have enough PPE at the start of the pandemic, they kept the country going and paid the ultimate price.

“An independent, judge-led statutory public inquiry is vital to making sure we learn lessons and save lives during the pandemic and for any future waves.

“The stories of our loved ones hold the answers to preventing more grief for other families.”