On Workers Memorial Day the Irish Health and Safety Agency published a new free 278 page book for all Irish health and Safety Representatives • Facebook
Global: ITF unions act on container safety on Workers’ Memorial Day
Members from the dockers’, road transport workers, railway workers and seafarers’ sections were part of 28 April activities highlighting the ITF container safety campaign. The issue of toxic gases in containers tied in with the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) theme for IWMD – removing exposure to hazardous substances at work. more
Albania: BSPSH activities on 28 April
A message from Gezim Kalaja President of BSPSH:
Today on 28 April the National Council of BSPSH for these important day BSPSH had a special event ( The Union of the Independent Trade Unions of Albania) and all other federations of BSPSH as well as Independent Trade Union of Albanian Miners, Independent Trade Union of Albanian Education Independent Trade Union of Albanian Health, Independent Trade Union of Albanian Telecom , -Independent Trade Union of Albanian Typography , Independent Trade Union of Civilian Employees of Defense and Order, Independent Trade Union of Industry and Textiles , Independent Trade Union of Tourism and Food Chemistry , -Independent Trade Union of Albanian Artists , -Independent Trade Union of Albanian Energy , -Independent Trade Union of Albanian Construction Workers and Public Works , – Independent Trade Union of Albanian Prision Police, -Independent Trade Union of Albanian Transmission System Operator.
We emphasized the role of the the trade union to promotes the prevention of occupational accidents , to fight for our workers , to have better conditions at the work place , and of course to have secure life, and to return safety home in their families , at their children .
The question was how to reduce the number of work-related deaths and injuries , especially for the miners , for worker construction ect. How to improve legislation according to EU directives and to implement the ILO Conventions and directives .Also for the International Commemoration Day for Dead and Injured we hold 1 minute of silence in memory of the workers which are not between us !!
In solidarity
President of BSPSH
Gezim KALAJA
Georgian unions protest at the ministry over safety ‘crisis’
Due to the number of lethal accidents in Georgia in the last year, we are in a crisis, says union confederation GTUC. Workplace trauma caused 30 fatalities and 32 serious injuries. Majority of these accidents are occurring at building sites and factories producing construction supplies. Following these professions is the metallurgical, chemical and quarry; energy production; petroleum and coal production; communications; railway; metro (subway); and other fields of labor. The mines and quarries of Tkibuli and Chiatura are also in a critical condition and prone to numerous risk factors.
These statistics are caused by numerous factors such as: an oversight agency of the government such as the ones in all of the western developed nations does not exist (Georgian government’s National Labor Inspection agency was abolished in 2006); technical oversight agency does not have representatives in the fields that are considered to be difficult, hazardous and dangerous; employer and employees are to settle the issues relating to compensation between themselves in cases of occupational injury; court cases and investigation of occupational injuries takes anywhere from 2 to 4 years; financial and organizational-technical priorities pertaining to lawyers are noticeably in favor of employers; the new law on “controlling technical dangers” does not have perspective in terms of implementation since a powerful system that could enforce health checks prior to and periodically during the employment does not exist, which means that the employee must periodically visit the doctor on his own and usually finds out about an occupational disease he or she incurred after it is too late to treat and the individual is practically handicapped.
The union thinks that a formation of governmental oversight agency (Labor Inspection) is necessary in order to improve the situation faced by the workers. This agency should be organized and modernized. It is necessary to foresee the trade union’s function as a social oversight organization within the law. The fact of the matter is that the critical situation that exists in the labor safety and health does not leave space for ignorance and neutrality.
On the 28th of April, Georgian Trade Unions Confederation will organize a performance-protest in front of the Ministry of Economy. Afterwards, the organization shall hold a mourning service in one of the churches of Tbilisi in order to honor those who suffered a fatal end while performing their occupational duties.
See Anabella Rosemberg’s blog in Equal Times
Global: Sesionará mañana encuentro sindical de constructores
Su agenda está relacionada con el Jornada Internacional de Conmemoración (JIC) de los Trabajadores Fallecidos y Heridoso.
El II Encuentro Sindical por la Unidad de acción de los Trabajadores, del sector de la construcción, será inaugurado mañana con la presencia de representantes de 17 países, anunciaron en esta capital sus organizadores.
Carlos Antonio de Dios Oquendo, secretario general del Sindicato Nacional de Trabajadores de la Construcción (SNTC) de Cuba, informó a la AIN que la mayoría de los delegados proviene de Brasil, Colombia, Costa Rica, Chile, Ecuador, Guatemala, Nicaragua, República Dominicana, Panamá y Uruguay.
Los restantes son de Australia, Reino Unido de Gran Bretaña e Irlanda del Norte, Bélgica, Francia y Suiza.
Todos intervendrán en el desfile por el Primero de Mayo, Día Internacional de los Trabajadores, en la Plaza de la Revolución José Martí, en un bloque de 30 mil obreros, aunque en las otras provincias la participación de los afiliados también será masiva, aseguró Oquendo.
Señaló que la promoción de la integración latinoamericana, la solidaridad, la cooperación por la justicia social y la equidad entre los integrantes del sector, constituyen los temas esenciales de la reunión de mañana.
Una de las sesiones de esta última será en la Unidad Empresarial de Base de Ariguanabo, de la Empresa Mixta Aguas de La Habana, en el municipio de San Antonio de los Baños, de la provincia de Artemisa; y la segunda en el Contingente de la Construcción Raúl Roa García, en La Habana.
En ambos encuentros estarán dirigentes del SNTC, de la Federación Latinoamericana de Trabajadores de la Construcción, Madera y Materiales de Construcción (FLEMACON) e Internacional de Trabajadores de la Construcción y la Madera (ICM), según el programa.
También asistirán directivos de la Unión Internacional de Trabajadores de la Construcción y la Madera, y de la Federación Sindical Mundial (FSM).
Hungary: Video from Liga of the 28 April action “Do not go through it!”
Thailand: Building unions stand up for safety
BWI construction union affiliates in Thailand took action on the planned Holcim-Lafarge merger. They said there could be no merger without unions and safety assurances.
Myanmar: Building unions stand up for safety
BWI construction union affiliates in Myanmar took action on the planned Holcim-Lafarge merger. They said there could be no merger without unions and safety assurances.
Belgium: ACV – CSC takes action on the 28 April
Every year ACV – CSC takes action on the 28th of April to raise awareness around health and safety at work. In 2015 focusing on the REFIT-program of the European Commission, several problems within the dangerous substances legislation (occupational limit values, carcinogens and reprotoxic substances) and organising a large information campaign on the use of dangerous substances. Following actions took place:
- In all Belgian companies with workers representatives, but also in some SME’s ACV-CSC distributed leaflets with information on the safe use of dangerous substances, employers and workers obligations. (leaflet in French and Dutch )
- ACV-CSC prepared a publication on the REFIT-program of the European Commission to explain what it is really about, a deregulation of workers rights, also in the field of health and safety (link to the REFIT-publication in French • More information.
- On Tuesday, 28th of April, together with FGTB, CGSLB and ETUC ACV-CSC visited our minister of labor, Kris Peeters and asked him:
- To make sure that REFIT won’t affect the health and safety of workers.
- To defend the necessary revision of the European carcinogens directive with a priority list of 50 binding occupational exposure limits and the integration of the reprotoxic substances in the scope of this directive.
- To defend a harmonisation of OELs in the European Community to prevent disloyal competition at the expense of workers health.
- To take action on a national level to integrate reprotoxics in Belgian legislation on carcinogens.
More information on this visit you can find here in French and in Dutch.
Netherlands: FNV DEMANDS RECOGNITION of chronic solvent-induced disease VICTIMS
With a wreath at the Workers’ Memorial Monument in Amsterdam, the FNV today commemorates those who have died through work. In the Netherlands, approximately 3,000 employees annually by dirty and dangerous work. This year the theme of the painter disease OPS (chronic solvent-induced disease). FNV director Coen van der Veer: “In the Netherlands we have a group of employees who are seriously ill by exposure to solvents. They are left to their fate. No compensation, no recognition of their miserable position. We want recognition for this group of people which has been hit hard by the work they did. ” more
