Workers Memorial Day – celebrated every April 28 – is an important opportunity to celebrate and honor those essential and frontline workers who lost their lives to the coronavirus pandemic this year.

Thousands of workers like Ed Nelson, who worked first as a janitor and then as a carpenter for Hurley Medical Center in Flint, Michigan have become casualties of the pandemic, and more losses are forecasted without additional congressional financial support for protection and job security in the coming months.

Workers Memorial Day marks the anniversary of the Occupational Safety and Health Act as well as the formation of the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), which is charged with ensuring safe and healthful working conditions for American workers.

Additional funding from Congress in the amount of $700 billion – with at least $300 billion in unrestricted aid to state and local governments and $200 billion each in education and health care funding – is necessary to keep workers safe, healthy, and employed as the virus continues to affect the country.

Read more about Workers Memorial Day and what Congress needs to do to support state and municipal employees around the country here.