Latino workers die on the job more than any other group

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Black workers’ job fatality rates are the highest they’ve been in nearly 15 years, and Latino workers die on the job more than any other group, according to a new report from the AFL-CIO, a coalition of dozens of unions representing 12.5 million people.

In 2022, the most recent data available, 734 Black workers died while working — largely in transportation accidents, homicides or exposure to harmful substances or environments — up from 543 in 2003, with 2022 recording the most fatalities in 19 years. Meanwhile, the number of Latino worker deaths went from 794 in 2003 to 1,248 in 2022. Sixty percent of Latinos killed on the job were immigrants.

“The alarming disparities in workplace fatalities among workers of color are unacceptable, symptomatic of deeply ingrained racial inequity and the need to pay increased attention to the dangerous industries that treat workers as disposable,” AFL-CIO President Liz Shuler said in a statement.

The death rates on the job by race are in stark contrast with the racial breakdown of the American workforce. As of 2021, the most recent data available, white people made up 77% of the United States’ workforce, while Latino workers made up 18% and Black employees 13%, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

“This report exposes an urgent crisis for workers of color and reaffirms what we’ve long known: When we talk about justice for workers, we must prioritize racial equity.”

The report’s researchers point to Republican-led efforts to deregulate and pass legislation that shift responsibility for safety from employers to individuals. In 2023, conservatives passed a handful of laws, like the REINS Act, introduced by Florida Rep. Kat Cammack, and the Separation of Powers Restoration Act, by Arizona Rep. Paul Gosar, that essentially limit the federal government’s involvement in work-related regulations. Cammack said the REINS Act would limit “executive overreach” and “save the American people trillions each year in compliance costs.” Gosar shared similar sentiments about the Separation of Powers Restoration Act, writing that it would “restore the separation of powers and rein in an over-reaching executive branch.”