The threat of Influenza A(H1N1) in the workplace and elsewhere has caught the attention of everyone.
Unremarked by the media, the threat of asbestos diseases puts workers, their families and the public in a similar if not more serious situation.
The construction industry provides the widest asbestos threat. Asbestos products are used in houses, buildings and structures as roofing felts or related products, cement roofing and flat sheets and plywood substitutes. Asbestos poses danger as long as these materials are in place.
Handling of asbestos wastes is alarming in companies with boilers, such as sugar centrals, and transport companies because of brake and clutch lining made of asbestos. Asbestos products are replaced every year not by specialist contractors but by ordinary workers who treat those asbestos wastes as ordinary wastes. The absence of special personnel protective equipments (PPEs) makes the situation more alarming. Workers are not even informed that asbestos is hazardous!
No amount of asbestos is considered safe. A worker exposed to asbestos is more likely to get an asbestos disease. Asbestosis and lung cancer are dose-related diseases, meaning the more asbestos one breathes, the more likely the person is to get sick. Mesothelioma is different—it can be obtained from very small amounts of asbestos. Asbestos workers’ families may get mesothelioma from the dust the workers brought home on their clothes, or from exposure to houses, buildings and materials with asbestos.
This belies Canada’s “safe use” claim. Canada is a top exporter of asbestos to the Philippines. It leads the propaganda for the asbestos industry and claims that asbestos is safe under controlled use. However, Canada has virtually banned asbestos itself and exports 95 percent of its asbestos to developing countries. Canada is spending hundreds of millions of dollars to remove asbestos from the Parliament Buildings and homes and schools across Canada. Asbestos use in homes and buildings is banned in the United States also.
On the occasion of Canada Day on July 1, 2009, the Associated Labor Unions (ALU), Trade Union Congress of the Philippines (TUCP) and Building and Woodworkers International (BWI) joined in making a worldwide appeal to the Government of Canada to end Canada’s asbestos export to developing countries.
In the Philippines, the passage of a law banning asbestos and the formulation of a national, inter-agency, multi-stakeholder program on the elimination of asbestos-related diseases are initial steps in the right direction.
GERARD SENO, Associated Labor Unions (ALU);
RAFAEL MAPALO,
Trade Union Congress of the Philippines (TUCP);
APOLINAR TOLENTINO,
Building and Woodworkers International (BWI)
It’s women’s month!
“Support women every day of the year!”
Invoke Article 33 of the ILO constitution
against the military junta in Myanmar to carry out the 2021 ILO Commission of Inquiry recommendations against serious violations of Forced Labour and Freedom of Association protocols.
Accept National Unity Government
(NUG) of Myanmar.
Reject Military!
#WearMask #WashHands #Distancing #TakePicturesVideos
Monthly Observances:
Women’s Role in History Month
Weekly Observances:
Week 1: Environmental Week
Women’s Week
Week 3: Philippine Industry and Made-in-the-Philippines
Products Week
Last Week: Protection and Gender-Fair Treatment
of the Girl Child Week
Daily Observances:
March 8: Women’s Rights and
International Peace Day;
National Women’s Day
Mar 4— Employee Appreciation Day
Mar 15 — World Consumer Rights Day
Mar 18 — Global Recycling Day
Mar 21 — International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination
Mar 23 — International Day for the Right to the Truth concerning Gross Human Rights Violations and for the Dignity of Victims
Mar 25 — International Day of Remembrance of the Victims of Slavery and the Transatlantic Slave Trade
Mar 27 — Earth Hour
