GLASWEGIANS vowed at the weekend to “fight for the future” before standing in silence to remember those killed at work.

At an International Workers’ Memorial Day event outside the People’s Palace on Glasgow Green, speakers from trade unions and justice campaigns warned of the importance of maintaining health and safety standards in the face of cuts.

Glasgow Lord Provost Eva Bolander told the crowd: “Someone’s red tape is another worker’s lifeline.”

Scottish TUC deputy general secretary Dave Moxham recalled how on Saturday morning a taxi driver told him of the deaths of two of his relatives at work — before going on to claim that health and safety regulations have gone “too far.”

Addressing the rally on Saturday morning, he said trade unionists must work to counter “the all-pervasive messaging of the right-wing press and employers.”

STUC president Lynn Henderson said: “It’s about fighting for the future as well as remembering those we have lost.”

She highlighted the impact of period poverty and the menopause on the workplace health and safety of women.

Solicitor Laura Blane, a partner at trade union firm Thompsons, said: “I am repeatedly humbled by the courage and determination shown by those left behind to keep memories alive and also to keep fighting for better health and safety.”

The event was one of many held across Scotland to remember the lives lost in workplace incidents.

Scottish Labour leader Richard Leonard addressed a commemoration in Coatbridge, while Labour MSP Neil Findlay and NEC member Rhea Wolfson attended a service in West Lothian.