The campaign to ban asbestos use in Asia took a step forward at a Building and Wood Workers’ International regional conference in Jakarta on August 2 to 4, 2010. The Australian Manufacturing Workers’ Union represented the IMF at the meeting.
ASIA: The Building and Wood Workers’ International (BWI) South East Asia Regional Conference on Ban Asbestos Campaign has called on the Canadian government to stop exporting white asbestos to Asia. The Quebec government is preparing to give a loan guarantee to allow the opening of the new Jeffery underground mine which plans to export 200,000 tonnes of asbestos a year to developing countries for the next 25 to 50 years.
The IMF was represented by the Australian Manufacturing Workers’ Union at the Regional Conference where BWI unions from the South East Asia region committed to country action plans in the campaign to ban the use of asbestos in the region. As the industrialized countries have banned asbestos use, the Canadian and Russian asbestos industries have aggressively marketed their deadly product to countries like India, Thailand and Indonesia.
To assist BWI affiliates in developing their action plans, the conference heard from Fiona Murie, Director BWI Global OHS program, Sugio Furuya Ban Asbestos Network Japan, Yeyong Choi, Ban Asbestos Network South Korea and Prof Le Van Trinh, Director of NILP from Vietnam. Fiona encouraged affiliates to use the joint ILO and WHO Outline for the Development of National Programs for the Elimination of Asbestos Related Diseases.
The ILO and WHO Outline clearly identifies the steps that governments and workplaces need to take to eliminate asbestos related diseases; to prevent further exposures and how to manage people who have already been exposed.
The AMWU reported on its rocky road for the banning of asbestos, the successful James Hardie campaign and measures that have to be taken in Australian workplaces to manage the legacy of the use of asbestos contamination in homes, workplaces and unfortunately the environment from poor waste management.
All the Conference presentations endorsed the ILO/WHO statement that: “there is no evidence of a threshold for the carcinogenic effect of both chrysotile and amphibole forms of asbestos and that increased cancer risks have been observed in populations exposed to very low levels, the most efficient way to eliminate asbestos-related diseases is to stop using all types of asbestos.” Aug 12, 2010 – Anita Gardner, IMF News
March –
IT’S WOMEN’S MONTH!
“Respect and support women
every day of the year/s!”
Invoke Article 33 of the ILO Constitution
against the military junta in Myanmar
to carry out the recommendations of the 2021 ILO Commission of Inquiry
against serious violations of protocols of
Forced Labour and Freedom of Association.
Accept the National Unity Government (NUG)
of Myanmar. Reject Military!
#WearMask #WashHands
#Report Corruption #SearchPosts #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
March 4: Employee Appreciation Day
March 15: World Consumer Rights Day
March 18: Global Recycling Day
March 21: International Day for the Elimination
of Racial Discrimination
March 23: International Day for the Right to the Truth
Concerning Gross Human Rights Violations
and for the Dignity of Victims
March 25: International Day of Remembrance of the
Victims of Slavery and the Transatlantic Slave Trade
March 27: Earth Hour
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Ut elit tellus, luctus nec ullamcorper mattis, pulvinar dapibus leo.
