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Global worker No1 2022

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With a 75% ratification vote announced late on 7 July, Canadian nickel mining and processing workers represented by United Steelworkers (USW) Locals 6500 and 6200 in Sudbury and Port Colborne, Ontario, ended a 360-day strike against Vale SA. The Brazilian mining company and 3,500 USW members now begin a five-year collective agreement after a contentious strike that ended with both sides compromising on terms in mediated bargaining. 
 
Those terms were pieced together in high-level mediation from 19-22 June in Toronto. But final accord still eluded both sides due to differences in setting forth a just process through arbitration of Vale&rsquo;s unilateral sacking of nine strikers. Over 3-4 July, through the insistence of Ontario Provincial Labour Minister Peter Fonseca, a process was established, opening the way for the 6-7 July contract vote. 
 
Still to be resolved, however, is another strike over a separate labour contract between Vale and USW Local 9508 involving 200 steelworkers in Voiseys Bay and Goose Bay, Labrador. Those strikers have been out since 1 August 2009. The USW and Vale are expected to return to bargaining in mid-July in eastern Canada&rsquo;s maritime province, and resolution appears imminent following the Ontario approval. There, 84% of total membership of the two branch unions turned out last week to ratify. 
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The contract acceptance in Ontario thus closes a chapter to one of Canada&rsquo;s most acrimonious labour disputes, a dispute that saw mining and other unions from around the world galvanize behind the USW in efforts to preserve previously negotiated wage and work terms. The ICEM and the International Metalworkers&rsquo; Federation (IMF) helped coordinate the global campaign. 
 
In a joint statement, ICEM and IMF General Secretaries Manfred Warda and Jyrki Raina said: &ldquo;The perseverance and character of USW members in Ontario and Labrador is what trade unions everywhere will remember about this strike. Their fight became our fight and thus they laid the building blocks on how to wage a coordinated global campaign.&rdquo; 
 
The five-year agreement in Ontario includes yearly wage increases that, coupled with cost-of-living increases, will increase salaries between C$2.25 and C$2.50 per hour over the life of the agreement. The existing defined benefit pension plan for current workers also increases in increments over the contract term, with cost-of-living indexing and life-time health care benefits preserved. 
 
In compromises made by the two sides, a defined contribution pension plan for new hires was agreed to that provides company contributions equal to 8% of employees&rsquo; regular basic earnings, with workers able to contribute additionally between 2% to 6% of regular earnings. This plan includes long-term disability coverage that is the same as that contained in the defined benefit pension plan. 
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The nickel production bonus was retained, although at levels less than the previously negotiated bonus. Workers can still supplement regular earnings by up to C$15,000 per year, with compromise struck on the price of nickel in which the trigger kicks in. The prior trigger of US$2.25 per pound was increased to US$3.75, less than the US$5.00-per-pound originally sought by Vale. 
 
The new contract includes a C$2,000 signing bonus for all returning and retiring employees, with two additional C$1,000 bonuses linked to production numbers in the last one-third of 2010. 
 
It also includes a side agreement setting forth rigid contracting-out criteria, which will serve as a job security measure. 
 
A retirement incentive bonus was negotiated that will give workers with 30 years service a one-time C$30,000 retirement stipend, with C$15,000 granted to those with 27-29 years. A reduction in force was also agreed to of 113 jobs, with those redundancies very likely to come by way of attrition. 
 
The return-to-work agreement calls for Vale to recall USW members beginning in the next to the last week of July, and no later that 11 August. In the separate agreement involving the fate of the nine discharged USW Local 6500 members, the two sides agreed to have the Ontario Labour Relations Board make a determination on whether or not the unjust firings will go to independent arbitration. Those governmental hearings began on 9 July. 
 
In the USW&rsquo;s statement announcing the ratification, District Six Director Wayne Fraser said, &quot;Our members have spoken and I believe everyone respects the decisions they have made in extremely difficult circumstances.&rdquo;

Canadian USW Members Ratify 5-Year Collective Agreement with Vale

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The ICEM affiliate, Turkish Electricity Authority of Cyprus Workers&rsquo; Trade Union (EL-SEN), conducted its General Assembly on 10 July 2010. The assembly was convened under the banner of anti-privatisation in the capital city Nicosia in central Cyprus. 
 
President Tuluy Kalyoncu was re-elected to continue as head of the trade union, with 171 votes, while a second candidate received 24 votes. 
 
The only candidate for General Secretary of EL-SEN, Huseyin Sonmezoglu, was re-elected to that position. The newly elected Executive Board will consist of Turgut Evlat, Ozan Alciner, Subhi Ozpasa, Ercan Koseoglu, Orhan Gurgoze, Ozgur Uzuner, Caglayan Cesurer, Toprak Altay, and Kamil Ozinal. 
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Bulent Erzeybek was elected as Assistant Secretary General, while Suphi Ozpasa was elected Financial Secretary, Ercan Koseoglu Education Secretary, Saffet Asiksoy Foreign Relations Secretary, Huseyin Korkmaz Organizing Secretary, Ozgur Uzuner Social Affairs Secretary, and Serhan Kayar was elected as Secretary of Propaganda. 
 
The General Assembly adopted four resolutions. Delegates resolved to struggle for peace and a solution to the Cyprus problem. Also prioritised was the need to continue education programmes for members. 
 
Delegates adopted a strong resolution against the government&rsquo;s moves toward privatisation of the Turkish Electricity Authority of Cyprus (KIB-TEK). Congress accused the government of misleading the public on the financial condition of the company. 
 
ICEM General Secretary Manfred Warda wrote to congratulate EL-SEN on its successful Congress.

Turkish-Cypriot Electricity Workers’ Take Stand Against Privatisation

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The ICEM-affiliated Mongolian union, the Federation of Energy, Geology and Mining Workers' Trade Unions (MEGM), hosted ICEM General Secretary Manfred Warda and Asia-Pacific Regional Contact Person Phee Jung-sun recently. 
 
Warda commended accelerated development in Mongolia over recent years, noting significantly improved infrastructure in the country. It is positive for the country that foreign investment has increased rapidly, and resource-rich Mongolia can benefit from such investment through exploration and development of gold mines and construction of power plants. Major investors are from Canada, China, and the US. 
 
MEGM President Gambold indicated that union members are facing new challenges through this period of foreign investment. Government and employers are attempting to change current labour laws toward creating a more &ldquo;flexible&rdquo; labour market in order to &ldquo;adapt to the global economy.&rdquo; 
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This means fewer restrictions on temporary work agencies, increasing the numbers of precarious jobs in the country. This is being countered by trade unions of Mongolia, which have created a new working group that will submit a counter proposal to the proposed legislation. 
 
The government is introducing a programme of privatisation of state-owned enterprises in the telecommunication and energy sectors. A number of major investment contracts with foreign companies are due to be signed during the second half of 2010. 
 
The ICEM, working with the local ILO office, the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC), and other Global Union Federations, will be supplying technical assistance for these critical issues to be addressed, so as to build a firm foundation for sustainable development in Mongolia, in line with ILO international labour standards. 
 
The experiences in many Asian countries, notably Korea and Vietnam, on business contracts with foreign companies are that these foreign companies often demand long-term contracts that are unacceptable with respect to labour protections and profit sharing. 
 
&ldquo;It is my sincere hope and firm belief that Mongolian government should listen to opinions of social partners. Through social dialogue and consensus, the government can build the confidence and mutual faith,&rdquo; stated Warda.

ICEM Shores Up Support to Mongolian Affiliate to Combat Privatisation, Contract Labour

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Thailand&rsquo;s Tripartite Industrial Relations Committee (IRC) ruled that French-based Michelin has violated provisions of the Industrial Relations Act 1975, and ordered that management at the Laem Chabang tyre factory reinstate 12 activists &ndash; members of ICEM-affiliated Petroleum and Chemical Workers&rsquo; Federation (PCFT) &ndash; to their rightful jobs. 
 
The ruling was given on 24 June, but notification and official documentation of the unfair labour practices complaint did not come to the PCFT until 20 July. The12 had been unfairly discriminated against by Michelin since leading a two-month dispute and company lockout at the plant in March and April 2009. 
 
The 12 had been kept on Michelin&rsquo;s payroll, but were assigned to a government-run skills centre in efforts to keep them away from the 1,800-member workforce. They refused the assignments, citing violations of their rights. 
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Standing, center, Michelin plant-level PCFT President Thanakorn Somsin (fist raised) and Secretary Sommoi Prawai (on his left), together with founders of the PCFT branch union 
The IRC ruling orders Michelin to provide work inside the factory to the 12 in positions not lower than their previous postings, and to do so within ten days. 
 
The dispute started when Michelin, in March 2009, attempted to institute 35% wage cut to everyone at the Chonburi Province plant. A petition surfaced protesting the unilateral cuts and managers then punished workers who refused to remove their names from the petition by locking them out of the factory. After unionists blockaded the plant, some were jailed, while Michelin supervisors filed criminal complaints against the union organisers. 
 
Even though tri-partite negotiations produced a partial resolve on 28 April, including recognition of the newly-formed plant union as part of PCFT, Michelin continued to discriminate against union leaders. The recent IRC ruling means that all union activists should be legally reinstated. 
 
Some 700 workers at Laem Chabang have taken up PCFT membership. Michelin has a 90% stake in three Thai tyre plants, the PCFT-represented Phra Padaeng factory in Samut Prakarn, the non-unionised Nong Khae plant in Sarburi, and Laem Chabang. The Siam Cement Group owns the minority shares in the three tyre plants.

Thai Labour Court Orders 12 Michelin Union Activists Back to Work

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US public criticism against a CEO and against his company in the wake of the deadly West Virginia coal mine explosion on 5 April has triggered measures for better and tighter overall workplace safety standards in the US Congress. The proposals stand as the first significant overhaul to the Occupational Safety and Health Act (OSHA) in its 40-year history. 
 
A panel of the US House of Representatives&rsquo; Education and Labor Committee gave approval, with a 30-17 vote on 21 July, to HR 5663, the Miner Safety and Health Act. The proposed legislation would finally put teeth into America&rsquo;s federal safety and health statute, and comes at a time when the US public is angry over the arrogance and power exhibited by companies following job-place deaths and ecological disasters, like BP&rsquo;s Deepwater Horizon explosion and deaths in the Gulf of Mexico. 
 
The lightning rod for the tougher safety standards in the US continues to be Massey Energy and its CEO, Don Blankenship. It was at Massey&rsquo;s Upper Big Branch mine near Montcoal, West Virginia, on 5 April, that a methane gas blast killed 29 non-union miners in a colliery where workers were ignored when they spoke up against poor air quality. Blankenship has used the deaths, contemptibly, to argue for less oversight by the US Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) and more reliance on business instincts in order to improve safety. 
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The proposed legislation is sweeping, and would lift the US statute to the level of some of the best safety laws in the world. OSHA violators could be charged with felony crimes, carrying heavy jail sentences and fines. It would grant expedited hearing, review, and protection in all-important whistle-blower cases, and it would give the US Labor Department&rsquo;s safety agency heightened power to shut unsafe workplaces. 
 
An existing but non-functioning &ldquo;pattern of violation&rdquo; status in the existing law would be given tougher enforcement mechanisms with strong penalties attached, and families and relatives of victims would receive more rights in the proposed legislation. 
 
Also in mining, workers would be given the undeniable right to refuse unsafe work and MSHA would have the power to shut down a mine without waiting for a company&rsquo;s appeals to exhaust, a common tactic used by Massey to continue production after safety violations are issued. At Upper Big Branch, Massey had been repeatedly cited for dust and ventilation problems, but the company&rsquo;s appeals caused penalties to be reduced and safety deficiencies to continue. 
 
Business and industry interests at the committee hearings in Washington, DC, opposed an updated OSHA, saying the proposed revisions are too much, too fast. 
 
That caused United Mine Workers of America (UMWA) President Cecil Roberts to say, &ldquo;If we&rsquo;re asking ourselves, &lsquo;Are we moving too fast?&rsquo; maybe we should ask ourselves if we&rsquo;re moving too slow, because miners keep dyin&rsquo; in our nation&rsquo;s coal mines.&rdquo; 
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UMWA President Cecil Roberts
The increase in US mining deaths to date in 2010 is markedly up, and on a pace not seen since the 1980s when US mining employment was half what it is now. So far in 2010, 40 miners have been killed, nearing the most recent record of 47 in 2006. 
 
Thirty-one of the 40 deaths have occurred at Massey collieries. On 1 July, an electrician was crushed to death by a coal-laden shuttle car inside Massey&rsquo;s non-union White Buck Coal Co. mine in West Virginia. And on 10 May, another miner was crushed between machinery and a longwall at Massey&rsquo;s non-union Ruby Energy mine, also in West Virginia. He died a week later in a hospital. 
 
Besides the BP disaster that occurred in American waters in the Gulf of Mexico on 20 April, killing 11 workers, the updated safety legislation is spurred by the 3 April explosion at Tesoro&rsquo;s oil refinery in the state of Washington that killed seven &ndash; all members of the United Steelworkers (USW) &ndash; and another explosion at a power station of Kleen Energy Systems in the state of Connecticut in February, killing six. These accidents raise among Americans a late-to-arrive consciousness that perhaps the cost of profits over people in a free society has come at too steep a price. 
 
The full US House of Representatives must now take up the safety bill, while the US Senate is standing back awaiting House action before it takes up the legislation.

Massey Arrogance Fuels Tougher Workplace Safety Standards for US

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Thanks to dogged persistence by ICEM affiliate Communications, Energy, Paperworkers (CEP) Union of Canada, the fate of the 133,000 barrel-per-day oil refinery Shell refinery in Montr&eacute;al is still open and subject to sale. Last week, following a second court injunction prohibiting dismantling of the refinery until 10 September, Shell announced it again would negotiate with the Delek Group of Israel over purchase of the refinery. 
 
At stake are the jobs of 500 workers represented by the CEP. In January 2010, Shell announced plans to radically restructure its global downstream operations, including closure of the Montr&eacute;al East refinery by 1 June. 
 
The Anglo-Dutch multinational said it would continue operating part of the site as a terminal and distribution centre for scores of Shell retail outlets scattered across Qu&eacute;bec and Canada&rsquo;s Maritime Provinces. Such continuance, however, would require only 30 workers. 
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The CEP and its Montr&eacute;al branch union, Local 121, has battled relentlessly to find a buyer, as well as to press provincial and federal authorities to keep the refinery operating. Shell rejected bids by potential operators last spring and union members believe Shell wants the refinery shut, with imported petroleum products distributed through the terminal. 
 
On 8 July, a Qu&eacute;bec Superior Court granted the union a ten-day injunction preventing any cannibalizing of the refinery. &ldquo;We believe that maintaining the equipment in good condition until we get satisfactory answers to our questions about offers to but the facility&rdquo; is in everybody&rsquo;s best interests, said Local 121 President Jean-Claude Rocheleau. 
 
On 16 July, that injunction was extended into September. Meanwhile, last week on 20 July, Shell stated at a federal parliamentary hearing of the House of Commons that it re-open talks with Delek, a holding company in which its wholly-owned subsidiary, US Holdings Inc., operates a crude pipeline, refinery, and hundreds of gasoline retail outlets in the southern US. 
 
Delek had been an earlier bidder for the refinery, but Shell rejected the bid as too low. The ICEM remains hopeful that CEP will succeed in achieving sale of the refinery, preserving jobs for the union&rsquo;s energy workers. Shell operates two smaller Canadian refineries, in Sarnia, Ontario, and in Edmonton, Alberta.

CEP Fights to Keep Shell’s Montréal Oil Refinery Operating

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In the rush to get copper production from the Cananea mine back on world markets, is Grupo M&eacute;xico disregarding the safety and health of contract workers? So it seems by an apparent undocumented rash of on-the-job accidents and injuries in the short six weeks since federal police opened the mine in Sonora State for the company. 
 
Following a 16 July accident in which a sub-contract worker was hospitalised after a five-metre fall, military police secured the perimeter of the hospital, not allowing anybody to enter. When leaders of Section 65 of the Mexican National Miners&rsquo; and Metalworkers&rsquo; Union (SNTMMSRM) tried to lend assistance to the injured worker, they were turned away by &ldquo;a violent and arrogant grenadier,&rdquo; according to a report. 
 
Workers of Los Mineros at Cananea claim there have been 20 such accidents with injuries since mine rehabilitation began following the military takeover on 6 June. But this cannot be confirmed because safety reporting, if it exists, is never verified. This non-transparency at a major copper recovery project is a pox on Grupo M&eacute;xico and a pox on federal Labour and Interior Ministries, and on the State of Sonora, the latter governmental agencies that have all taken up reconciliation roles. 
<img alt="" src="" width="220" height="148" />
Federal police violently take control at Cananea, 6 June 
Photo - IMF
The pitiful irony is that Grupo M&eacute;xico and federal police used brute force to reopen the Cananea mine on 6 June, crushing a strike that began over health and safety in 2007. Now they are at breakneck pace, using disposable contract workers, to re-start Cananea at a time &ndash; during first quarter 2010 &ndash; that world copper supply fell short of refined usage. 
 
In a media interview in late June, Grupo M&eacute;xico&rsquo;s Isaac Lopez Arzola, the director-general of Southern Copper&rsquo;s Mexicana de Cobre S.A., which functions as the company&rsquo;s copper operating and servicing subsidiary, said 700 workers are now employed at the mine, all non-direct to Grupo M&eacute;xico and Southern Copper, and the responsibility of individual contractors. That number is expected to climb to 1,700. 
 
Compared to a global investment strategy totaling US$2.8 billion, Grupo M&eacute;xico is spending only US$114 million to bring Cananea into production, rushing to get it done by first quarter 2011 to meet continued high copper prices. In turn, Southern Copper will double its global copper output over the next few years, making it the world&rsquo;s third largest copper producer. 
 
With copper prices doubling in early 2010 over copper pricing in early 2009, and considering that every 1% jump in the copper price equates to an estimated 1.3% rise in Grupo M&eacute;xico&rsquo;s equity value, should the company concern itself with safety, or the injuries of non-direct workers? 
 
Apparently not, except to surround them with militia so their stories cannot be heard.

Grupo México’s Infamous Safety Legacy Lives on at Cananea

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The ICEM has taken up a call for support to 430 paperworkers in Argentina, represented by affiliate Federation of Workers&rsquo; of the Paper, Carton, and Chemical (FOEIPCyQ) Unions. 
 
Employed by the Argentine company, Massuh SA, the workers did not receive wage payments in January and the second half of December 2008. The company is also guilty of non-payment of social benefits last year, in which cheques to public entities failed due to insufficient funds. 
 
FOEIPCyQ&rsquo;s Executive Council has given the situation high priority. The union is pressing the Ministry of Labour, Employment, and Social Security, as well as the Buenos Aires Provincial Ministry of Work to address the situation. FOEIPCyQ is also delivering food to families, as well as providing other support. 

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The ICEM has written to the financially troubled company demanding immediate payment of back wages to workers. &ldquo;The number one priority for any company should be the payment of fair compensation to workers,&rdquo; wrote the ICEM. &ldquo;We urge you to handle this matter in a socially responsible way, as well as to use full dialogue and commitment with the legitimate workers&rsquo; representative,&rdquo; the FOEIPCyQ. 
 
The ICEM strongly encourages affiliated trade unions to take the Spanish-language Letter of Support to Massuh workers, found <a href="/index.php?id=78&amp;la=EN&amp;doc=3014">here</a>, place it on your letterhead, and e-mail to the union, at <a href="mailto:fedpapel@speedy.com.ar">fedpapel@speedy.com.ar</a>. 
 
Massuh operates a pulp and paper mill with two paper machines in Quilmes, near Argentina.

ICEM Seeks Support for Argentine Paperworkers Who Have Been Denied Wages

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ICEM affiliate Sintracarb&oacute;n in Colombia last week achieved major wage and other gains, including 180 promotions for contract workers. The two-year contract, ratified 78-6 by the union&rsquo;s Delegates Assembly on 18 January, is with Carbones del Cerrej&oacute;n, the thermal coal exporter owned by AngloAmerica, BHP Billiton, and Xstrata. As reported in December by the ICEM, miners were seeking social improvements regarding family health, education, transportation, restrictions on outsourcing, and other social responses inside several Colombian communities in la Guijara state. 
 
The renewal agreement covers some 4,000 workers at Colombia&rsquo;s largest mining operation, and successful negotiation of the contract keeps in place a social dialogue commitment between management of Carbones del Cerrej&oacute;n and Sintracarb&oacute;n that the ICEM was instrumental in forging in 2004. 
 
Talks began on 1 December toward a 31 January 2009 expiration, with the union in early January giving a 17 January deadline for negotiations to conclude. 

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The contract grants an 11% pay increase to Cerrej&oacute;n miners and workers at the company&rsquo;s Puerto Bol&iacute;var export facility on the Caribbean for 2009, some 3% to 4% higher than the average negotiated settlements in Colombia. In 2010, workers will receive a 7% increase or 1.8% above the 2009 consumer price index, whichever is higher. 
 
Besides 180 precarious workers moving to full-time employment, the employer agrees to respect the right of contract workers to affiliate with Sintracarb&oacute;n. The negotiations also yielded improvements in transportation to and from the open-cast mines, education stipends for miners&rsquo; and port workers&rsquo; children, retiree benefits, and talks also produced financial sums to Sintracarb&oacute;n to perform benevolent deeds and community services. 
 
Besides improvements to health insurance, Cerrej&oacute;n management agreed to fund a study to be undertaken by the union related to workers&rsquo; health concerns. 
 
The Colombian union requested ICEM trigger international solidarity in the form of letters to the managing director, and that call was answered by numerous unions, which had a profound effect. ICEM General Secretary Manfred Warda wrote on behalf of the 20-million-member Global Union Federation supporting Sintracarb&oacute;n, warning the company that an expeditious settlement must come or strike action would result.
<img height="74" alt="" src="" width="160" />
Our union is grateful to all the unions, social organisations, NGOs, and community networks that exhibited national and international support that was fundamental and instrumental&rdquo; in achieving the contract, Sintracarb&oacute;n said in a statement. 
 
ICEM&rsquo;s Warda said the labour-management process of social dialogue at Carbones del Cerrej&oacute;n serves as an impressive example on what can accomplished through mutual respect and shared responsibility. 
 
The Colombian operation of the three multinationals mines a high-quality, low-sulphur thermal coal that meets stringent emissions standards in many countries. The company is embarking on a US$300 million modernisation plan this year to upgrade infrastructure, technology, and mining equipment. The mines produced 32 million tonnes of coal in 2008, with production expected to increase to 40 million tonnes by 2011.

Sintracarbón Miners Win Two-Year Renewal Contract at Colombia’s Biggest Coal Deposit

It was largely due to the efforts of those who suffered and their union representatives that governments, after decades of inaction, finally introduced regulations on the use of and exposure to asbestos. But asbestos is still around and there are those who continue to tout it as the &ldquo;magic mineral.&rdquo; While your brake linings and floor tiles may still contain asbestos, most of today's production is now exported to third world countries where weak regulation and enforcement allows people to be fatally exposed to the killer fibres. 
 
WHAT IS ASBESTOS? 
Asbestos is a class of silicate mineral fibre. There are three main asbestos minerals: chrysotile, crocidolite, and amosite. The most common type is chrysotile. 
 
Because of their chemical structure, they form long crystalline fibres of amazing strength and fire resistance which can be recovered from the mineral. Asbestos is used in textiles, cement products, brake linings, filters, roofing tiles, flooring, fillers for plastics and thousands of other products. 
 
While union activists in the 1970&rsquo;s and 80&rsquo;s managed to put the workplace hazards on the front burner and achieved enormous reforms on the job and legislatively, the fact is that asbestos is still in use. And the concerns initially raised by unionists 30 years ago, while still valid, have been somewhat muted by a well funded industry lobby, at times in sync with our governments. 
 
It is useful for health and safety activists to keep alert on the dangers inherent with the use of asbestos and to keep the focus where it should be: saving our members&rsquo; livelihoods and lives. 
 
There are a multitude of environmental and health related issues surrounding the use of asbestos in society. 
 
ASBESTOS RELATED ISSUES 
 
EXPOSURE LIMITS 
Even though there is no evidence that there is any &ldquo;safe&rdquo; level of exposure, most jurisdictions have enacted limits. Check what applies in your workplace. Workers need to assure themselves, when working with or near asbestos, that exposure limits are not being exceeded; that protective measures are adequate (respirators, clothing, etc.); and, that you are not endangering yourself. In many jurisdictions, you have the right to refuse unsafe work. 
 
SMOKING AND ASBESTOS 
An asbestos worker who smokes will have many times the risk of cancer than a non-smoking asbestos worker; or a non-asbestos exposed smoker, would have. But attempts to deflect the dangers of asbestos by blaming high cancer rates on smoking are irresponsible. The fact is that asbestos workers who have never smoked in their lives die of asbestos related cancers. 
 
BLUE vs WHITE 
There has been some suggestion that only &ldquo;blue&rdquo; (crocidolite) asbestos is a problem and that &ldquo;white&rdquo; (chrysotile) asbestos is relatively safe.. If true, why is asbestos related disease so widespread when crocidolite accounts for only 3% of all asbestos used? 
 
IMMOBILIZED FIBRES 
Industry makes the argument that the fibres are immobilized or bound together in such a way they cannot be released in many asbestos products. But, there are workers who must handle these fibres prior to their incorporation into such products and others who must saw, cut or fasten them in such a way that the fibres may, indeed be released. 
 
FIBRE MODIFICATION 
There is little or no evidence that chemically modifying asbestos fibres renders them safer and the only way to find out is to wait decades for workers to die or get sick. 
 
SUBSTITUTE PRODUCTS 
Fibreglass and other synthetic mineral fibres are the main asbestos substitutes. While it may be true that they are safer to work with than asbestos, the best approach for workers is to treat asbestos substitutes with suspicion and handle them with caution. The more similar the substitute is to asbestos, the more likely it is to have similar health effects. 
 
ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES 
Asbestos provides a good example of the link between occupational and environmental health and safety. Widespread environmental contamination with asbestos in asbestos producing region and near industries which use asbestos may be causing a &ldquo;cancer epidemic in slow motion.&rdquo; 
 
JUST TRANSITION 
Regrettably, the money already spent by some governments propping up this sunset industry could have been used to create a first class Just Transition programme for asbestos workers, their families and the communities that have depended on the asbestos industry. 
 
HOW ASBESTOS KILLS 
Asbestosis is one disease caused by asbestos in the lungs. Some scientists think that when asbestos fibres are inhaled, cells called macrophages attempt to engulf and digest them. The fibres are not easily dissolved by the digestive enzymes, however &ndash; although certain harmful chemical constituents of asbestos may be dissolved enough to be a problem in themselves. As well, the size and shape of asbestos fibres causes some of them to project through the cell wall of the macrophages, allowing these powerful enzymes to leak out and attack surrounding lung tissue. The end result is progressive scarring and damage to the lungs, resulting in loss of elasticity of the lung tissue. Damage can become severe enough to cause disability and death. 
 
Cancer is another consequence of asbestos exposure. Estimates of the number of cancer cases vary widely. Of the cancers that asbestos is known to cause, 80% are lung cancers; 10% are mesotheliomas; and 10% are others such as throat, stomach and intestinal. Although some asbestos cancers are difficult or impossible to distinguish from cancers caused by other agents; mesothelioma (cancer of the lining of the lungs or intenstines) is ONLY known to be caused in humans by asbestos. Mesothelioma is 100% fatal. 
 
IF YOU THINK THERE IS ASBESTOS IN YOUR WORKPLACE: 
Demand an immediate workplace Asbestos Survey. Your Joint Health and Safety Committee should lead the effort to identify and map all occurrences of asbestos and should be given all resources required to do the job. Once the asbestos has been identified, the JHSC should develop recommendations to control exposure. There are four generally accepted approaches. In order of preference, they are: 
 
1. Removal of the asbestos material: In all cases, this is the CEP&rsquo;s recommended solution. It is the only way to ensure the hazard is eliminated. Strict procedures must be followed and enforced which means careful planning and attention to the training of all workers and supervisors as well as to the choice of replacement materials. 
 
Of the four accepted approaches to dealing with asbestos, removal is best 
 
2. Encapsulation or sealing of the asbestos material: Coating or impregnating the asbestos material with a bonding agent immobilizes the fibres and reduces their release. Danger still exists, however, because the bonding material may deteriorate or work (cutting, grinding, repairs, etc.) may be performed on the material, creating the potential of fibres being released. Encapsulation should be considered a temporary measure with the objective of removing the asbestos material at some appropriate future date. 
 
3. Enclosure of the asbestos material: If neither removal nor encapsulation is possible within a reasonable time, the next best approach is to separate the asbestos material from the rest of the workplace by some kind of barrier (removable ceilings or walls are not acceptable). Enclosure is not a control measure and should be accepted only as a temporary means of protecting workers until removal can be completed. 
 
4. Asbestos management plan: If any materials cannot immediately be removed completely and safely, a management plan will be required. If any asbestos materials remain in the workplace, even if encapsulated or enclosed, an ongoing system is needed to: 
&bull; Maintain clear identification of the areas where exposure may take place; 
&bull; Educate people what to do if work must take place in or near these areas; 
&bull; Inspect the materials frequently for any changes; 
&bull; Formulate a complete removal strategy as quickly as possible. 
 
There are many lessons to be learned by union activists from the decades of battle which have been waged to protect ourselves and the public from asbestos hazards: 
 
&bull; Legislation and regulation on their own are not a total &ldquo;win&rdquo;. Regulatory solutions, too often, come after a problem becomes a crisis and while we need good laws, we also need better ways of identifying and controlling hazards before the death toll mounts. 
 
&bull; Our memory is too short. Having greatly reduced the uses and abuses of asbestos in the 1980&rsquo;s, too many people lowered their guard, believing the battle had been won. This has created an opportunity for the industry to rewrite history and win a rebirth. 
 
&bull; Scientists and other supposed independent authorities are just as vulnerable to undue influence as anyone when powerful economic forces are at work. 
 
&bull; Finally, the asbestos history reminds us that our best tool for building improved occupational health and safety is sold union activism at the shop floor level. 
 
DON&rsquo;T TAKE YOUR RIGHTS TO THE GRAVE 
If there is any doubt about whether the work is proceeding safely or not, remember that the regulations are a minimum standard. Compliance with regulations may not be sufficient in some cases. Remember, too, that workers in some cases have the right to refuse unsafe work. Don&rsquo;t take your rights to the grave!

ASBESTOS IS A KILLER

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