Philippine update: Unions to expand asbestos consciousness

17 February 2011: Manila, Philippines – The Building and Woodworkers International (BWI) affiliates would engage their construction safety officer-members in the campaign to ban asbestos in the Philippines. In a meeting Friday, February 11, 2011, the National Union of Building and Construction Workers (NUBCW) and the Association of Construction and Informal Workers (ACIW) volunteered their safety officers to be trained as asbestos advocates in the workplace.

The safety officers would orient workers on the hazards of asbestos in the toolbox meetings. The toolbox meeting fits because of asbestos-containing materials (ACMs) used in the building and construction industry. Workers are exposed to asbestos by installing, removing or fixing ACMs. NUBCW and ACIW said comics-style information materials would help spread the hazards of asbestos in the workplace.

The training of safety officers to be asbestos advocates and the orientation of workers in the toolbox meetings would strengthen the campaign urging the Senate to pass the bill banning asbestos. Safety officers and workers would then be encouraged to send the email urging the passage of the bill to the Senate Committee on Trade and Commerce.

It was suggested that union participation in the inspection of asbestos standards and safety measures would help ensure proper monitoring of compliance by companies engaged with asbestos. This would be brought up in the discussions in developing the National Program for the Elimination of Asbestos-Related (NPEAD).

BWI affiliates’ network that could support the campaign would be engaged. Other groups – victims, health and safety practitioners, health and safety NGOs, the academe, and professional associations – would enrich the discussions in the NPEAD.

The meeting sought to encourage the participation of BWI affiliates in the ban asbestos campaign through the BWI Philippine Affiliates Council (PAC). It introduced the BWI, Associated Labor Unions (ALU) and Trade Union Congress of the Philippines (TUCP) initiatives and updated them on the accomplishments and status of the campaign.