Category Archives: 2023

Europe: Asbestos victims urge EU to stop workplace cancer scandal #iwmd23

.

Victims of occupational cancer and their families are today, on International Workers Memorial Day, calling on EU leaders to give workers the highest possible level of protection from asbestos.

Around 90,000 people lose their lives to asbestos-related cancer in the EU every year, making it the leading cause of workplace fatalities.

Between 4 and 7 million workers across the EU are exposed to asbestos and that number is expected to grow by 4% over the next decade as a result of building renovations as part of the EU Green Deal.

The EU is currently reviewing the asbestos exposure limit but the European Commission and European Council want to keep it at a dangerously high level in order to minimise costs for businesses.

To show the consequences of such a decision, trade unions are publishing the testimonies of those whose lives have been blighted by cancer caused by exposure to asbestos at work. They include:

  •      Two sisters who lost both parents: “A disease with no possibility of treatment, terribly distressing for the whole family… it suffocates you.”
  •      A retired transport worker: “This is like a sword of Damocles. At any moment, I could pass away.”
  •     Two brothers who lost both parents: “Death was ultimately redemption from torment we had to endure.”
  •     Campaigner who lost parents and brothers: “Asbestos is still in buildings of the ’60s and ’70s, getting old, falling apart, being inhaled. People need to be aware.”

Trade unions are calling for the safest possible occupational exposure limit for asbestos: 1,000 fibres/m3 as recommended by the International Commission of Occupational Health and supported by the European Parliament.

That would cut the number of asbestos-related cancer deaths expected over the next 40 years from 884 to 26, according to a study for the European Commission.

However, the European Commission and European Council still argue that would be a “disproportionate burden on businesses” and want a limit which is ten times higher (10,000 fibres/m3).

That is same or higher than the current asbestos exposure limit in Denmark, France, Germany and the Netherlands, meaning their preferred limit would bring no benefit to a third of the EU’s population.

It would also see almost 10 times the number of people die from asbestos-related cancer (221) than if an exposure limit of 1,000 fibres/mwas adopted.

ETUC Deputy General Secretary Claes-Mikael Stahl said:

“Although asbestos has been banned in Europe for almost two decades, its use has left a long legacy of pain and suffering which still sees tens of thousands of families torn apart by cancer every year.

“Workers have paid with their lives for low safety standards for too long. We know now that asbestos is Europe’s most deadly workplace threat so there is no excuse for half measures.

“The much-needed renovation of buildings as part of the Green Deal is going to lead to an increase in workers being exposed to asbestos. EU leaders therefore have a moral responsibility to provide them with the safest possible working conditions.

“On International Workers Memorial Day, it’s time for politicians to learn the lessons of the past and finally put people’s safety above profits at any costs.”

European Federation of Building and Woodworkers General Secretary Tom Deleu said:

“On this International Workers Memorial Day, we focus our attention on asbestos, a threat that is still out there, in private and public buildings, in schools, hospitals, in our homes.

“It is still killing construction workers, who inhale this deadly material every day in their workday whenever a renovation takes place. It is time to put workers lives and health before profit.

“Let us stop this pandemic. The Renovation Wave is vital, but it must be done in a safe way for workers. We have to lower the exposure level, we have to train these workers, we have to protect them.

“Ensuring workers’ safety, saving lives, is in the hands of the European Commission who must act and guarantee a level of protection of 1,000 fibres/m³.”

Case studies

Martin and Grega Velušček, family of victims – Read full case study

“After the diagnosis was confirmed, our mother was given all the care she needed, and alternative treatments were sought, including abroad. But life expectancy of these patients is less than a year, so the sufferer and those close to her have mixed feelings of hope, hopelessness, and disbelief. Last days before death of patients in palliative care are everyway psychologically exhausting.
“A year after our mother’s death, also our father felt pain in his back, and tests showed that he already had bone metastases and that he too had pleural mesothelioma. Alongside conventional treatment we tried to arrange immunotherapy treatment for him in Heidelberg, Germany. The most striking aspect of visit at that hospital was the doctor’s question as to whether our father was aware of the seriousness and incurability of the disease. The answer was, of course, yes. The hospital in Heidelberg carried out all the tests and, a good three months later, announced that treatment could be attempted. But by then our father was already dead.
“Facing a diagnosis that offers little hope of getting better was extremely mentally exhausting for both parents and the whole family. The time leading up to death was practically nothing but taking farewell, and death was ultimately redemption from torment we had to endure.”

Isidoro Aparicio, victim

“I have a series of scars on my lungs. Every six months I am checked at the hospital. I was never informed of the risk of my work. I started working in the Madrid metro in the 1960s. At first I was a driver and after passing a public competition I went to the workshops, in the pneumatics department. I was a technician and I had an assistant: he and I repaired the opening of the doors, which worked with asbestos belts. To make the asbestos stick a little better, we used to put it in our mouths. Real atrocities. All this information has been kept hidden.
“What angers me the most is that I have never been told anything and that the people responsible for this are getting off without a trace and none of those responsible have wanted to know anything about it. The medical team in the metro should also have known something.
“I underwent an operation and a lot of tests were carried out. When I went to see the results, the oncologist told me that my lungs were damaged. From now on I am being closely monitored.  I thank the trade unions, their lawyers, the prosecutor’s office and the labour inspector for their help.
“I get more and more tired. I used to love hiking in the mountains. Now I can’t do it anymore, because I get exhausted. This is like a sword of Damocles in which, at any moment, what I have inside of me could wake up and I could pass away. I would also ask that this sort of thing should never happen again. Politicians must apologise they have never apologised to us.”

Eric Jonckheere, president of Belgium Association of Asbestos Victims (Abeva) and victim

“I started as an activist against asbestos, only later did I discover that I was too a victim. My father died of mesothelioma, then my mother got sick too. She had me and my brothers tested to know if we had been in contact with asbestos. All of us had it. My parents and brothers ended up dying of asbestos exposure. Before dying, my mother moved a court action against Eternit and her desire was to make people aware of the dangers. The industry lied about the danger of asbestos and moved from Europe to less developed countries. I want to point the finger to the industry, because they move for profit, the health of their bank account is more important than the health of workers and peoples’ lives. They knew the dangers and they hid them from workers, from legislators, just for profit. Asbestos is still in buildings of the 60s and 70s, getting old, falling apart, being inhaled. People need to be aware of this. As president of ABEVA we help families, with paperwork, we give support. It is not only about those who are sick, for the families, everything is exhausting too. How do you explain to a multinational that the place next to you in bed is empty?

“I knew I had asbestos in my lungs, but then you move on, until the moment when you learn that you are the next in line. Everything you planned goes down the drain, it is like a tsunami that takes everything away from you: your health, your job, your plans. And in my lack of chance, I was privileged because I already knew that I had it in me, we did not waste any time with tests. I was one of the 5% who are operable, the doctors removed everything. So, two years later, here I am.”

Maria Jesús and Yolanda Masa García, family of victims – Read full case study

“Our father died in 1997 from mesothelioma pneumonia at the age of 66. A disease with no possibility of treatment, terribly distressing for the whole family… it suffocates you. When the symptoms worsened, the doctors told us about the possible link between their activity and this disease in the direct members of the family. When he died, my sister was 26 years old, and I was 32. My mother, Matilde García Lopez, a housewife by profession, became a widow at the age of 65.
“During this time, we received news periodically of colleagues of my father who were passing away. In January 2003, my mother began to suffer from back pain, which became progressively worse. Everyone thought it was caused by muscle pain, bad posture… This pain increased and after several medical tests at the University Hospital of Palencia, the University Hospital of Valdecilla and confirmation during a visit to the University Clinic of Navarra, she was diagnosed with pleural mesothelioma in May of the same year. This type of cancer is specific to direct contact with asbestos due to coexistence and handling of work clothes. She died on 24 September 2003. Since our family has been suffering from the terrible scourge of asbestos.”

Lenie Stormbroek, victim

“I never thought I would get sick from asbestos. I had heard of it, but always thought it occurred in men who had worked a lot with asbestos. We think it comes from the demolition and rubble work my father used to do. He ensured that old buildings, sheds and stables were demolished and the rubble was removed again. My father’s company moved around my parental home, which sometimes also contained asbestos-containing debris from my father’s demolition projects. From a young age until I got married, I regularly helped my mother beat and clean my father’s work clothes and my brother who also worked in the company. We suspect that I developed mesothelioma because of this. Until recently I didn’t know how dangerous asbestos really is.”

Juan Carlos, trade union representative

“In 2003 the social security bodies asked for information about train parts containing asbestos. A report was made which was kept hidden from the workers. The unions then went to court, where the report was made public by the police. We did not find out about this report until 2017. Metro de Madrid did not inform any workers until 2017, so the prosecutor’s office said that there was a crime against the health of the workers.
“7 people in charge of Metro were charged, but they were middle management. The directors are politicians of the Community of Madrid, who were not charged.  The old trains had asbestos everywhere, for example the floors, the paint and the brakes. In 2005 we started to build new trains without asbestos, but we are still finding parts with asbestos because we have been asked to move parts from the old trains to the new ones.
“In the Madrid metro we have 14 deaths due to asbestos and 7 sick colleagues. Most of the workers who have contracted this disease are already retired, due to the long latency period of this disease. We believe that there are colleagues who died without knowing that it was due to asbestosis.
“Thanks to the work of the trade union, these compensations were achieved, as well as a map of asbestos where all the continuous pieces are included. The union has managed to get the Social Security to carry out medical check-ups for workers who have been retired for many years. This was not easy, because as they were no longer workers the right and obligation to undergo medical examinations did not apply anymore.
“For active workers, what they demand from us is the possibility of an early retirement, as it is very likely that they will contract the disease in the future. We also demand more comprehensive medical examinations. If only X-rays are used, the asbestos is found when it is already too late for the disease. We want CT scans to be used. We also want a lower level of exposure to asbestos”.

Marco Galuppi, victim

In 2016 Marco Galuppi was diagnosed a neurodegenerative disease due to the exposure to chemicals and mutagens and carcinogens substances like asbestos link to his work as a firefighter. He was a chief of firefighters in Frosinone, Lazio (Italy). He has stopped working and he is slowly waiting his death.

In 2017 the doctors made a link between his profession and his illness.

Here is the full story of the firefighters federation of CGIL: Particella_Pazza_25-1.pdf (fpcgil.it)

USA: NYCOSH raises big issues on #iwmd23, in front of an ‘organise’ banner #iwmd23

NYCOSH raises big issues on #iwmd23, in front of an ‘organise’ banner.

 

View this post on Instagram

 

A post shared by NYCOSH (@nycoshofficial)

Global: Organising for safer workplaces this International Workers’ Memorial Day | ITF Global #iwmd23

Unions remember workers lost to negligent employers and safety standards

Today, the 28th of April, marks International Workers’ Memorial Day, when trade unions around the world remember and mourn the loss of the colleagues, friends and family who never came home from work.

Most of these tragedies were preventable. Yet the negligence of employers and a lack of adequate occupational safety and health standards continue to kill and injure transport workers across the world.

In the past year, many transport workers have lost their lives in the workplace and millions more have suffered life-changing injuries and ill health, including:

  • Shocking reports that revealed that as many as 100,000 fishers were killed last year, in an industry where forced labour and human trafficking continue to be linked to fatalities.
  • Road transport remained the deadliest industry in many countries around the world, as truck drivers’ continue to be forced to take deadly risks to deliver goods at lower costs due to unsustainable rates of pay.
  • Tugboat workers’ safety continued to be put at risk from a lack of adequate safety standards, regulation and enforcement that can allow boats to operate for 50 years without a single inspection.

That’s why we fight to ensure workers’ have a seat at the table in setting occupational standards for safety and health in every transport sector.

International Workers’ Memorial Day is a day to mourn all the workers who have needlessly lost their lives to negligent employers. And it reminds us to organise so it doesn’t happen again.

We’re taking action today to honour the memories of colleagues and friends. Read on to see how you can take part.

This year’s theme: organising for health and safety – a crucial part of union action

In June 2022, unions secured the landmark decision from the International Labour Organization (ILO) to include ‘a safe and healthy working environment’ in its framework of fundamental principles and rights at work.

But words need action. This year, the ITF has outlined safety and health as the first priority in our annual report, and committed to keep working to put this right into practice.

These examples show our 2023 plans to be on front line of pushing for better health and safety standards:

  • We’ll continue to expose the impact of the poor working conditions on the mental health of young people working in public transport.
  • We’ll expand our call to #RatifyC190 so that countries everywhere commit to ending violence and harassment at work.
  • We’ll fight globally to support unions in winning Safe Rates for road transport workers.
  • We’ll keep organising migrant fishers to stand up for their safety and rights in Ireland, Thailand and the UK.
  • We’ll roll out ITF’s OSH Protocols for Safer Ports with more terminal operators and continue to campaign to improve waterfront safety standards and educate unions and dockers worldwide. Our unions are winning for their members in countries like New Zealand where deaths have scarred their communities.
  • We’ll be pushing for better international safety laws, guidelines and recommendations in international policy bodies, like the ILO Technical Meeting on aviation that’s happening this week in Geneva.
  • And we’ll continue to support our affiliates to fight for justice for the families, like the families of Troy Pearson and Charley Cragg, who have lost loved ones at the hands of negligent employers, including campaigning and lobbying for the introduction of industrial manslaughter laws.

Transport workers practise acts of health and safety with every shift, and often go far beyond. From the heroic tug crew Todd Dutton and Shaun Kirkpatrick who saved the life of a 14 year old girl from the torrents of the Fraser River, to the thousands of transport workers who support relief efforts of natural disasters, like the devastating earthquakes that hit Türkiye and Syria in February, and war zones from Palestine and Sudan to Ukraine and Yemen.

We look out for workmates in hazardous areas, spot each other when loading cargo, remind each other to ‘bend at the knees’, and are there for each other when the strain of the job is just too much for our body or mind.

Protecting workers’ lives, preventing injuries and demanding safe workplaces has always been at the heart of our movement – and always will.

We will keep fighting for safe and healthy workplaces – whether it’s securing freedom for abandoned seafarers, drawing up more safety agreements with airport operators, or campaigning to end gender-based violence in the workplace.

Organised workplaces are safer workplaces. That’s why we’ll continue to remember the dead, and fight hard for the living.

Attend an IWMD event near you

Today, workers around the world will be paying their respects to lost colleagues and friends. We invite you to attend an event, vigil or ceremony near you to honour their memories.

Use the 28 April global map to find an event near you.

Alternatively, attend a memorial event if your union is holding one.

Put your work boots out and share a photo on social media

Can’t attend an event in person? We’re also inviting you to put your work boots out in honour of workers who have died on the job.

Make sure to share a photo on social media with the hashtag #IWMD2023 to contribute to the record of remembrances on the day.

Celebrate the ILO’s decision to declare ‘a safe and healthy working environment’ as a fundamental right

On 28 April 2023, the ILO will celebrate the decision to include safe workplaces in its fundamental principles, bringing together experts and constituents to discuss the implications it has for the world of work, as well as how to practically implement this right in the world of work.

Join the ILO global dialogue on from 13:30 to 15:00 CEST: How can we promote the fundamental right to a safe and healthy working environment? 

To inform 28 April discussions, ILO has also produced a detailed report: ‘Implementing a safe and healthy working environment: Where are we now?’

USA: On 28 April NIOSH says ‘learn from the past, prepare for the future’ – #iwmd23

 

Worker Memorial Day Poster

Workers’ Memorial Day, April 281, was established to recognize workers who died or suffered from exposures to hazards at work. It also encourages us to think of ways in which we all can help to achieve the goal of safer and healthier workplaces.

In 2021, work-related injuries claimed the lives of 5,190 U.S. workers, an 8.9% increase from 2020. This number represents a rate of 3.6 fatal injuries per 100 full time equivalent workers2. Although deaths resulting from work-related injuries are captured by surveillance systems, most deaths resulting from work-related illness are not. In 2007, an estimated 53,445 people died from work-related illness3. In 2021, employers reported approximately 2.6 million nonfatal injuries and illnesses to private industry workers via the annual Survey of Occupational Injuries and Illnesses 4. An estimate of the annual burden of chronic occupational illness in the U.S. is between 460,534 and 709,792 additional cases per year 5.

Occupational injuries and illnesses have broad social and economic impacts on workers and their families, on employers, and on society as a whole. There are several ways to estimate those consequences, such as methods that focus on medical costs, productivity losses, health-related quality of life losses, or risk-money tradeoffs that consider pain and suffering. Based on methods that focus on medical costs and productivity losses, the societal cost of work-related fatalities, injuries, and illnesses was estimated at $250 billion in 20073. Methods that include consideration of pain and suffering would result in a higher estimated societal cost6.

There are multiple sources of statistics for work-related injuries and illnesses in the United States. The NIOSH webpage, Worker Health Charts, allows for the creation of custom charts from multiple data sources. Users can visualize rates, distribution, and trends in workplace injuries, illnesses and deaths, using data not easily available elsewhere.

NIOSH is working to better describe the burden of fatalities, injuries, and illnesses suffered by workers; learn more about “Burden, Need and Impact” the NIOSH framework for identifying research priorities.

While significant progress has occurred since the passage of the Occupational Safety and Health Act, much more remains to be made. Even as we continue efforts to eliminate the legacy hazards of the 20th Century, we are also called to address the emerging challenges of the 21st Century economy.

Reference

  1. Workers Memorial Day was established in 1970 by the American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO).
  2. Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries Summary, 2021. https://www.bls.gov/news.release/cfoi.nr0.htm
  3. Leigh JP. Economic burden of occupational injury and illness in the United States. Milbank Q 2011;89:728–72
  4. Employer-Reported Workplace Injuries and Illnesses, 2021. https://www.bls.gov/news.release/osh.nr0.htm
  5. Groenewold, M, Brown, L, Smith, E, Sweeney, MH, Pana‐Cryan, R, Schnorr, T. Burden of occupational morbidity from selected causes in the United States overall and by NORA industry sector, 2012: A conservative estimate. Am J Ind Med. 2019; 62: 1117– 1134. https://doi.org/10.1002/ajim.23048external icon
  6. Haddix AC, Teutsch SM, Corso PS, eds. Prevention effectiveness: a guide to decision analysis and economic evaluation. New York, NY: Oxford University Press;2003:74.

https://www.cdc.gov/niosh/topics/workmemorial/default.html

Argentina: On 28 April we will commemorate the dead and call for an end to workplace killing – #iwmd23

CTA Capital - Central de Trabajadores de la Argentina - Autónoma
Marcelo Fiscina, Secretary of Occupational Health of CTA-A Capital said: Today  in Argentina we will do this activity to commemorate April 28, 2023.  As Secretary of Occupational Health of Capital CTA-A. So they don’t keep killing us on the job.”

May be an image of 1 person and text that says "28 de abril Día mundial de la Salud y Seguridad Jornada de Reflexión y Propuesta: La Salud y Seguridad como Principio y Derecho Fundamental del Trabajo. Dónde estamos y hacia dónde vamos Organiza: Secretaría Nacional de CyMAT Modalidad virtual presencial DE10A13HS DE MITRE 744 CABA GTA central de trabajadores/as laargentina autónoma ctaa.org.ar ar CTAAutonoma f Autónoma CTAAutonoma"

Ireland: ICTU General Secretary calls for early ratification of ILO Safety Convention 187

Image

At the ceremony to mark #WorkersMemorialDay at the Garden of Remembrance the General Secretary of the Irish Congress of Trade Unions  Owen Reidy looks forward to early ratification of ILO Convention 187 on Occupational Safety as the only outstanding fundamental convention yet to be ratified in Ireland. Twitter

Europe: On 28 April EPSU calls on EU to protect firefighters from asbestos poisoning – #iwmd23

Did you know that 7⃣8⃣% of occupational cancers are related to #asbestos?

Scotland: STUC says increase in worker fatalities is “unacceptable and frankly galling” #iwmd23

Commenting on an STV news report Scottish TUC said: “It’s unacceptable and frankly galling that the amount of workers in Scotland who have died at work has increased. We cannot allow this to pass unchecked and on #IWMD23, the STUC reiterate our call to remember the dead whilst fighting for the living.”

Workplace fatalities at highest level since 2019, study finds, STV News, 28 April 2023

Ireland: Teachers’ union CWU Ireland reminds members of their right to elect a workplace safety rep #iwmd23

Pat Kenny -Health and Safety Officer CWU on Workers Memorial Day reminded Workers of their right to select a fellow worker as a Safety Representative. #WorkersMemorialDay #iwmd23

#cwuireland

Image

Canada: Day of Mourning 2023: Workers’ empowerment key to workplace health and safety | Canadian Labour Congress #iwmd23

Day of Mourning 2023: Workers’ empowerment key to workplace health and safety

April 28, 2023

As unions across Canada mark the National Day of Mourning, the Canadian Labour Congress wants to ensure workers are empowered to know their health and safety rights in the workplace, defend existing gains and use the tools at their disposal.

April 28 is the National Day of Mourning, a day to commemorate those who have died or been injured as a result of their job. This year’s focus, “Know your rights; Use the tools; Defend our wins,” is aimed at supporting and empowering workers to actively participate in workplace health and safety.

“Workers deserve to arrive home safely at the end of the workday. We expect employers to do their part to keep workers safe, by upholding health and safety standards in the workplace, and providing necessary equipment and training,” said Bea Bruske, President of the CLC. “But we want workers to feel supported in standing up for their hard-won health and safety rights. We want to ensure that workers are empowered, not just to push back in unsafe situations, but to take an active role in the process of keeping themselves and their co-workers safe.”

Across Canada, there were 1,081 accepted workplace fatalities and 277,217 accepted lost time claims across Canada, marking a rise in cases from the previous year.

“One death is already one too many and it should be common sense that employers invest in proven prevention tools, like empowered, well-trained health and safety committees. Yet too many employers are quick to ignore their legal duty to provide safe working conditions and are willing to cut corners in the name of saving a few dollars,” said Bruske. “Make no mistake: we will always fight to uphold workers’ rights, and we won’t back down against anyone who would weaken health and safety legislation to appease businesses.”

Canada’s unions have long fought for better enforcement of existing occupational health and safety legislation, and the Westray sections of the Criminal Code of Canada.

Empowering workers starts with ensuring they know their rights, and how to apply and defend them. Workers should also feel supported in demanding better.

“The bare minimum isn’t good enough, and the stubbornly high number of worker injuries and deaths each year proves it. Employers and governments must respect their own duty to create safe work, call out unsafe work, and be part of a culture of safety and prevention. Workers deserve nothing less,” said Bruske.

https://canadianlabour.ca/day-of-mourning-2023-workers-empowerment-key-to-workplace-health-and-safety/