Dear Board Members, Health Tech Committee Members, community partners, and allies,
I am reaching out with both gratitude and hope as we prepare for this year’s statewide Workers’ Memorial Day efforts. This communication has a correction on the name of our respected honorees. We want to ensure the certainty of their recognition and ask for the grace of your patience as we navigate several relevant tasks to ensure the success of the memorials.
Each year, we gather to honor workers whose lives were lost because workplace safety failed them and because the protections they deserved did not come in time. This moment is always deeply personal. It is a time to stand with families, speak the names of those we have lost, and renew our shared responsibility to fight for the living.
This year carries even deeper meaning for us, as we also mark the 50th anniversary of the Massachusetts Coalition for Occupational Safety and Health. For five decades, MassCOSH has worked alongside workers, families, advocates, unions, and community partners to push for dignity, protection, and justice on the job. I hold that legacy with deep humility and appreciation for those who built this foundation before us and for all of you who continue to sustain it today.
As Executive Director, I walk with a deep awareness of the leaders, organizers, and workers who made this movement possible. I especially want to honor Marcy Goldstein-Gelb, Jody Sugerman-Brozan, Melba Juez Perrone, and founding members including Tish Davis, Tolle Graham, Nancy Lessin, Elisse Petcher, Rick Rabin, and so many others whose vision and courage helped shape health and safety advocacy in our communities.
We are inviting you to join us in this statewide initiative in whatever way you are able. We would be honored to have board members, committee members, partners, and allies attend one of our memorial events, help read the names of fallen workers, support outreach and coordination, stand with grieving families, or participate in the many efforts required to make these memorials meaningful and strong across the Commonwealth.
Your presence matters. Your voice matters. Your solidarity matters.
Workers’ Memorial Day is not only about remembrance. It is also about community, responsibility, and action. It is about making sure that fewer families experience this grief in the future. It is about affirming that worker health and safety must remain a shared priority across every region, every sector, and every community.
We invite you to join us in solidarity, unity, and service as we organize statewide memorial efforts and honor those we have lost by continuing the fight for those still working today.
Please let us know if you are willing to attend, read names, support memorial planning, or participate in another way. We would be grateful to stand beside you in this effort.
With appreciation and solidarity,
Tatiana Sofia Begault
Executive Director
Massachusetts Coalition for Occupational Safety and Health (MassCOSH)
