Editor’s Note. This story by Matt Alley first appeared on the BlueCollarWriter Labor Media site.
There are tragedies, and then there are failures so profound they shake the very bones of the labor movement. The killing of 20-year-old tradeswoman Amber Czech is not just a headline, not just another loss to “senseless violence.” It is an indictment. A warning. A reminder that our workplaces—our jobsites, our unions, our culture—are still not doing enough to protect every worker who shows up simply wanting to earn a living and make it home again.
Amber was a welder at the very beginning of what should have been a long, promising career. She did everything right. She chose a trade. She pursued a craft. She entered a field that needs more women, more young workers, more people willing to build the literal backbone of this country. Instead of being supported, mentored, and safeguarded, she was killed by a coworker in a place where safety should have been non-negotiable.
And let’s be absolutely clear: this is unacceptable. This is the kind of violent, preventable workplace horror that should leave every worker—union or not—furious.
Workplace safety is not just hard hats and harnesses. It’s culture. It’s accountability. It’s the collective responsibility of every single person on a jobsite. And men—especially men—must start holding other men to a higher standard. Too often, warnings go unspoken. Too often, “that’s just how he is” becomes an excuse. Too often, behaviors that make coworkers uncomfortable, unsafe, or unsure go unchecked until it’s far too late.
The truth is simple: We cannot build safe jobsites without addressing the culture on those jobsites. That means stamping out harassment, intimidation, threats, toxic behavior, and every red flag long before it becomes violence. It means speaking up even when it’s uncomfortable. It means refusing silence, refusing complicity, refusing to normalize the unacceptable.
Amber deserved a future. She deserved the solidarity this movement promises. She deserved a workplace where the people around her looked out for her, not a workplace where she could be hunted down and killed by someone wearing the same uniform.
Honoring her—really honoring her—means we don’t shrug off this moment. We don’t bury it under condolences. We face the truth of it: our commitment to safety, dignity, and solidarity is only real if we practice it every single day.
If we want a labor movement worthy of the people who depend on it, then this must be the line in the sand. No more silent bystanders. No more toxic jobsite cultures. No more pretending that violence “just happens.”
Amber’s death demands that we protect one another fiercely. Demands that we rebuild our workplaces into places where every worker—especially those newly entering the trades—can thrive without fear. Demands that we do better.
Her future was stolen. Our responsibility is not.
Matt Alley,
BlueCollarWriter Labor Media
Find Matt on Instagram at: https://www.instagram.com/bluecollarwriter
