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Saturday 20, November, 2004 09:30 - 11:00, No.2 Conference Room Workshop C Trade Union Initiative Chairs: Shigeki Yamaguchi and Hajime Miyamoto Kinya Mizuguchi All Japan Shipbuilding and Engineering Union (ZENZOSEN) , Japan ABSTRACT: On May 8, 1982, the daily Yomiuri Shimbun reported that, in the space of five years, 39 shipyard workers at Yokosuka shipbuilding companies and the U.S. navy's Yokosuka Base had died one after another from asbestos-related lung cancer. At that time, we had in place a labor union for Sumitomo Heavy Industries shipyard workers (Uraga Union Branch) and a support network for retired shipyard workers. However, we did not know that asbestos had killed fellow members until we saw the article. The report called on All Japan Shipbuilding and Engineering Union(Zenzosen) to reflect on its efforts for workers' safety and health. The union, by assuming safety and health issues were the responsibilities of businesses, had failed to act, and this reflection spurred the Zenzosen headquarters and the Uraga Union Branch into action. The branch soon set up task forces to conduct health checkups and support victims in cooperation with related organizations. It demanded the industry stop using asbestos. In addition, it supported both damage suits by victims and out-of-court settlements through labor-management negotiations. The Zenzosen headquarters demanded the then-labor and transport ministries and the shipbuilding industries ban all asbestos use and also instructed its branches nationwide to eradicate asbestos from the workplace. As a result, currently no shipyard with affiliated unions uses asbestos. Over the last several years, some affiliated unions won compensation programs for asbestos-related diseases and pneumoconiosis after retirement. The programs are significant in that they give victims relief and clarify the industry's accountabilities. Asked who is responsible for shipyard workers' asbestos-related sufferings, we have to respond that we at Zenzoren also are responsible. Of course, the companies that forced workers to engage in the dangerous operations and the government that allowed the use of asbestos over the years without even checking its safety should shoulder much of the blame. But we believe that we cannot fully fulfill our responsibilities toward current and past union members if we do not remember our past failings. |