Over 100 people gathered inside Hamilton City Hall on Monday to commemorate those killed or seriously injured on the job.
The annual Day of Mourning ceremony carried additional weight this year, following the workplace death of City roads supervisor Nabil El Ahmed three weeks before the ceremony.
El Ahmed’s wife and family sat in the third row of the ceremony, weeping as CUPE 5167 City Outside Vice President Bobby Barnett delivered an address in El Ahmed’s memory.
“I’m here today as both a friend and co-worker of Nabil. A man whose life was tragically taken three weeks ago while simply doing his job.
I stand here with a heavy heart, trying to find the right words to honour him. Someone who meant so much to those who knew him, loved him, worked beside him, laughed with him, and called him brother.
Nabil wasn’t just a worker. He was a kind soul.”
Following speeches, the attendees walked in a procession to the Workers’ Memorial at Bay Street to lay wreaths. El Ahmed’s family were at the front, behind the President of the Hamilton & District Labour Council.
At the monument, the family were the first to lay roses, followed by other family and friends of those killed and injured at the workplace.
(On Thursday, three days after Monday’s ceremony, Hamilton Police charged the person operating the vehicle that struck and killed El Ahmed with careless operation causing death.)