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UNION SAFETY EFFECT
LATEST NEWS
Turkey
Union protests win safety concessions
Italy National
one-hour stoppage for safety
USA Unions
win in Las Vegas strike deal
Global Worldwide
safety pact with steel giant
Britain RMT
victory on rail assault pay
Mexico Massive
miner walkout for safety
France Safety
reps improve safety
Australia Workers
need access to union help
South Africa Strike
puts mine safety on agenda
Britain Ergo cabs
follow union campaign
Turkey:
Union protests win safety concessions
More than 5,000 supporters joined 300 striking shipyard workers in a 16
June protest in Turkey’s Tuzla shipyards. The high profile action,
which was in response to horrific rates of work-related deaths and injuries,
led within days to safety commitments from the Turkish prime minister.
IMF
news release • Turkish
Daily News • Risks
362
Hazards news, 28 June 2008
Italy:
National one-hour stoppage for safety
Metalworkers across Italy downed tools from 11am to noon on 17 June in
support of a new draft law on health and safety at work. The action follows
a public outcry at the escalating toll of workplace deaths in Italy, including
a series of recent tragedies.
IMF
news release • BBC
News Online • Risks
361
Hazards news, 21 June 2008
USA:
Unions win in Las Vegas strike deal
A construction safety strike that started on the Las Vegas strip on Monday
2 June, ended on Tuesday after unions secured major safety commitments.
Construction workers had marched in circles outside the locked gates of
the massive $9.2 million CityCenter development, picket signs raised above
their heads reading “Unsafe job site.”
Las Vegas Sun feature
and coverage
of company statement • Risks
359
Hazards news, 7 June 2008
Global:
Worldwide safety pact with steel giant
The world's largest steel company and trade unions representing its employees
worldwide have signed a groundbreaking agreement to improve health and
standards throughout the company. The global union federation for the
metalworking sector, IMF, said the agreement with ArcelorMittal recognises
the vital role played by trade unions in improving health and safety.
IMF
news release and global agreement [pdf]
• Risks
359
Hazards news, 7 June 2008
Britain:
RMT victory on rail assault pay
A Northern Rail policy which would have reduced pay to many to workers
injured in violent workplace attacks has been withdrawn. The move came
after pressure from rail union RMT, which said the policy would have meant
victims of assault who had not suffered ‘severe physical injury’
would lose money if they needed time off work.
Risks
341
Hazards news, 2 February 2008
Mexico:
Massive miner walkout for safety
Over a quarter of a million Mexican miners walked off the job on 16 January,
denouncing a government attack on workers striking over horrendous health
and safety conditions at Mexico’s largest copper mine, Cananea,
in the northern state of Sonora.
IMF
news release • Workplace health and safety survey and medical
screening of miners at Grupo Mexico’s copper mine Cananea, Sonora,
Mexico, October 5-8, 2007, final Report, MHSSN, January 2008 [pdf]
• Cananea
site photogallery • MHSSN
website • Risks
340
Hazards news, 26 January 2008
France:
Safety reps improve safety
Health and safety representatives clearly help to improve the quality
of prevention policies in workplaces where they are present, according
to an official French government report. Thomas Coutrot from the Dares,
the research institute of the French labour ministry, reviewed recent
studies and concluded: “Employees and their representatives can
therefore significantly influence the prevention policies implemented,
either through conflict, co-operation, or more likely, a combination of
the two.”
Dares report [pdf]
• Risks
339
Hazards news, 19 January 2008
Australia:
Workers need access to union help
Australian unions have called for the elimination of ‘artificial
restrictions’ on the right of union occupational health and safety
experts and officials to represent workers at threat from workplace risks.
Ben Swan, assistant national secretary of mining union AWU, said Australian
Workplace Agreements (AWAs) – a system individual contracts introduced
by the previous government in a bid to curtail union power – were
being used to deny unions access to dangerous workplaces.
AWU
news release • Risks
339
Hazards news, 19 January 2008
South
Africa: Strike puts mine safety on agenda
A national strike by South Africa’s mineworkers has focused the
attention of government and mining firms on workplace safety. Over 200,000
miners are believed to have been involved in the action.
Mining
Weekly • Business
Report and related item on South
Africa’s inadequate workplace compensation system
Hazards news, 15 December 2007
Britain:
Ergo cabs follow union campaign
Rail firm Freightliner is improving train cabs after a campaign by drivers’
union ASLEF. Union general secretary Keith Norman says the company’s
production director has given an assurance the company is “more
than happy to involve ASLEF as much as possible in the ergonomics of any
new cab design.”
ASLEF
news release and Squash
campaign
Hazards news, 8 December 2007
Australia:
Federal court supports role of unions
Australia’s Federal Court has supported the role of unions, declaring
construction union CFMEU a “competent administrative authority”
with a right of access to workplaces to undertake safety probes. The court
also found it unlawful for a person to be sacked for reasons including
complaining to the union.
SafetyNet
Journal, number 128 • Read
the judgment online Claveria v Pilkington Australia Ltd [2007] FCA 1692
• Occupational
Health and Safety Act 2004
Hazards news, 1 December 2007
New
Zealand: Worker participation key to improvements
“Involving workers in managing health and safety at work is a key
to improving our record in this area,” NZCTU secretary Carol Beaumont
has said. Her comments followed the release of the New Zealand government’s
Workplace Health and Safety Strategy second progress report.
NZCTU
news release • NZ
Department of Labour news release
Hazards news, 24 November 2007
Global:
Unions and enforcement are the safe option
Rigorous enforcement backed up by active unions is the best way to deliver
safety at work, a new World Health Organisation report has concluded.
‘Employment conditions and health inequalities’ says contrary
to the current fashion for deregulation, regulations are not the problem.
Employment conditions and health inequalities: Final report,
WHO, 2007 [pdf]
• The report is a contribution to the WHO
Commission on Social Determinants of Health
Hazards news, 17 November 2007
Britain:
Study shows safety specialists cut accidents
The more firms invest in safety specialists, the safer they get, new research
suggests. The research commissioned by safety professionals’ organisation
IOSH and carried out by Glasgow Caledonian University researchers also
found organisations where health and safety personnel vet sub-contractors
have an accident rate almost 60 per cent lower than in those that don't.
IOSH
news release
• Glasgow
Caledonian University RISC project • Hazards union
effect webpages
Hazards news, 3 November 2007
Italy:
DHL forced to negotiate after strike
Managers at DHL’s air cargo fleet operations in Italy have promised
to enter into talks with unions over safety after their hand was forced
by strike action. Workers at DHL’s Bergamo hub went on strike on
10 October prompted by managers’ refusals to discuss safety concerns
following an accident that seriously injured a worker; he was crushed
by a 2000 kilogramme pallet that fell from a forklift truck.
ITF
news release
Hazards news, 27 October 2007
USA:
Tragedies spur calls for a union voice
Non-union workers at the Utah mine where six miners died in a 6 August
collapse and three workers were killed on 16 August in the abortive rescue
efforts have asked mining union UMWA to be their representative in discussions
with the company and the US Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA).
In a highly contentious move, however, the official mines safety watchdog
has turned down the request.
UMWA
news release • ICEM
In-Brief
Hazards news, 1 September 2007
Britain:
Safety reps mean action at work
Union safety reps make workplace safety campaigns effective, research
for the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) has found. The study looked
at the involvement of safety reps in HSE’s better backs campaign,
examining the impact of the training and support provided by Unite’s
Amicus section.
Hazards news
report, 1 September 2007 •
Hazards safety
reps’ webpage • Hazards
union effect webpage
Hazards news, 1 September 2007
Australia:
New charter to protect workers
A new charter of workplace rights that sets out baseline health and safety
and compensation standards has been launched by Australian national union
federation ACTU. ACTU president Sharan Burrow said: “The health
and safety of Australian workers is of paramount importance to the ACTU
and the union movement and this charter spells out a decent set of minimum
standards for workplace rights that can work in all workplaces across
Australia.”
ACTU
news release • ACTU occupational health and safety workplace
rights charter [pdf]
• ABC
News
Hazards news, 9 June 2007
Britain:
Community raises the alarm for safety
A union has demonstrated the safety protection unions can offer, even
when the employer refuses formal union recognition. Workers in Betfred
betting shops were concerned when the company switched off emergency alarms’
Community contacted the company and made sure that these were switched
straight back on. Community
news release and betting
shop campaign • Hazards
organising news and resources
Hazards news, 12 May 2007
Britain:
Loco campaign sets improvements in train
Train cabs riddled with comfort and safety problems
are being improved after a campaign by train drivers’ union ASLEF.
Risks 300, 31 March 2007
USA:
Unions wear down Bush in protective gear victory
The Bush administration has said it will issue
by November a final rule telling employers they must not charge for personal
protective equipment (PPE). The action follows a lawsuit filed by national
union federation AFL-CIO and the United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW)
in January this year to force implementation of the eight-year delayed
rule.
Risks 299, 24 March 2007
Britain:
Union reverses unsafe Royal Mail austerity drive
Royal Mail has backtracked after postal union
CWU revealed an end of year cost cutting exercise was undermining agreed
safety procedures. The problem started when Royal Mail managing director
Ian Griffiths introduced on 25 January a major “austerity”
drive across Royal Mail Letters, with an internal memo instructing managers
to cut all expenditure in the final weeks of this financial year.
Risks 295, 24 February 2007
Britain:
Food firm injuries fall thanks to union role
Carlisle-based company Cavaghan & Gray has
seen a dramatic fall in workplace injuries and dangerous incidents thanks
to a new hazard spotting approach agreed with unions. The company, part
of the Northern Foods group, struck a new deal agreed with Usdaw reps
that resulted in the introduction of a zero tolerance campaign, based
around a simple hazard/near miss reporting form.
Risks 295, 24 February 2007
Britain:
Union reps really make a difference
Despite clear evidence that union reps make
workplaces safer and more productive, they are seeing their careers damaged
as a result of their unpaid role. Research this week from Personnel Today
and the TUC reveals that 92 per cent of union reps - 38 per cent “definitely”
and 54 per cent “possibly” - believe they could sacrificing
their careers in order to represent their colleagues even though they
enjoy a largely positive, professional working relationship with their
organisations’ human relations departments.
Risks 292, 3 February 2007
USA:
Construction firms push unions as safer choice
With the number of construction deaths on non-union
sites skyrocketing, New York's largest building contractors’ association
has launched a $1 million (£0.5m) ad campaign to underscore the
importance of hiring union workers. The year-long media blitz is aimed
at “public policymakers and real estate developers,” said
Louis Coletti, president of the Building Trades Employers' Association
(BTEA).
Risks 287, 16 December 2006
USA:
Non-union workers at greater risk on site
Union members in New York are less likely to
be injured or killed at work, US safety officials have said. Richard Mendelson,
the Manhattan director for OSHA, decried the lax safety enforcement at
construction sites, and acknowledged a connection between union
presence and worker safety.
Risks 285, 2 December 2006
USA:
Safety No.1 reason to join a union
American workers rank workplace safety
as the top reason to join a union, according to new research. A poll by
the Employment Law Alliance, a network of management side employment lawyers,
found 63 per cent of workers surveyed identified health and safety as
an important factor in deciding to join a union, followed by getting better
benefits (60 per cent), obtaining higher wages (57 per cent) and increasing
job security (54 per cent).
Risks 274, 16 September 2006
Australia:
Protests as safety action is “criminalised”
Trade unionists from across Australia rallied
on 29 August in support of more than 100 West Australian construction
workers whose rowdy court appearance launched their fight against unprecedented
fines for striking. Unions are warning that the industrial relations changes
introduced by the federal government mean strike action on safety grounds
has been “criminalised”.
Risks 272, 2 September 2006 •
Hazards union effect webpages
Australia:
Union prosecutes bank for not deterring robbers
An Australian bank has been forced to
cough up Aus$145,000 (£59,000) in fines after a union took it to
court for leaving workers at risk from violent robbers. Half of the fine
from the current case will be paid to the official Workcover Authority
and the balance to the union.
Risks 250, 1 April 2006
China:
Premier stresses union role in work safety
Trade unions should and can play a major role in work safety supervision,
Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao has said. Trade unions at all levels should
be fully involved “especially in work safety supervision”
to better safeguard workers' interests, the premier said.
Risks 248, 18
March 2006
Britain:
Brent Council finds safety reps and committees make safer schools
Recently trained safety representatives are already making a
difference. A Brent NUT safety representatives survey, carried out in
June 2005, showed that after just one day's training safety representatives
carried out more than three times as many activities as untrained safety
representatives. Now with more training they are transforming school safety.
Brent NUT, 15 March 2006
USA:
Top lifesaving device in mines? A union
January’s mine tragedy in West Virginia, USA, which left 12 miners
dead and one critical, has prompted serious questions about what makes
mine safe. A report in Slate online magazine said: “The real obstacle
to safety reform is that miners no longer have a powerful union sticking
up for them.”
Risks 244, 18 February 2006
Australia:
Fifteen things you should know safety
If you thought knowing about risks and laws was the key to making your
workplace safe, think again. The first thing you need to know is how as
a union you can get the organisation and influence to put things right,
according to a 15 point checklist for union reps.
Risks 244, 18 February 2006
Britain:
Involve workers, minister tells local authorities
Local authorities should make union and worker involvement a “key
element” of their work programme, safety minister Lord Hunt has
said. He added: “Our ambitions for lower rates of injury and ill-health
cannot succeed without the participation and vigilance of those who work
with the risks and their representative organisations, the unions.”
Risks 238, 7 January 2006
Britain:
Non-union workplaces clueless on consultation
An investigation by Health and Safety Executive (HSE) boffins into workforce
participation in non-union workplaces has found most are clueless when
it comes to consultation rules and there is very limited participation
from the workforce as a whole.
Risks 237, 17 December 2005
Britain:
Accidents plummet in paper firm
A paper company working with print union Amicus has achieved a massive
cut in workplace accidents. Amicus says an effective employer and trade
union partnership had reduced accident rates by 63 per cent and improved
health and safety at St Regis mills.
Risks 233, 19 November 2005
Australia:
Reducing union site access is deadly
The Australian Council of Trade Unions (ACTU) has warned that federal
government plans to restrict union access to construction sites could
result in more deaths. Official studies in Australia have also confirmed
a marked union safety effect.
Risks 228, 15 October 2005
Britain:
Report confirms unions save lives on site
A report for a top Health and Safety Commission (HSC) committee has confirmed
the lifesaving impact of unions and safety reps in the construction industry.
Risks 220, 20 August 2005
New
Zealand: New union safety reps have saved lives
A 60 per cent reduction in workplace fatalities is a vindication a safety
law that resulted in thousands of new union safety reps in New Zealand,
a top union boss has said.
Risks 214, 9 July 2005
Britain:
HSE research shows safety reps work
A Health and Safety Executive report has confirmed the “positive
link” between the presence of union safety representatives and levels
of health and safety awareness and performance.
Risks 214, 9 July 2005
USA:
Union irons out laundry firm’s resistance
A US union campaign to organise a major laundry company with a poor safety
record has scored a notable victory. Textiles union UNITE HERE targeted
ABN AMRO, the finance company backing Angelica Corporation, in the run
up to the 28 April Workers’ Memorial Day this year.
Risks 212, 25 June 2005
USA:
Unions make workplaces healthier says CWA
Unions can have a dramatic impact on every aspect of workplace health
and safety, says US union CWA. CWA executive vice president Larry Cohen
commented: “Our health and safety work clearly distinguishes what
it means to work union, whether pushing for safety and health improvements
in a lead acid battery plant, a hospital, on the police force, or as an
outside technician or service rep.”
Risks 211, 18 June 2005
 TUC
report confirms unions are good for you
An August 2004 report from TUC shows
that UK unions are you best defence against work-related accidents and
ill-health. Report author, TUC head of safety Hugh Robertson, said: “This
report confirms in simple and clear terms that safety representatives
are one of the most significant factors in improving the safety culture
of an organisation. While unions have known this for along time, we need
employers to look at the evidence and start accepting the huge impact
that consultation can make.”
The
union effect, TUC briefing, August
2004 • Risks
168, 7 August 2004
USA: Unions cut costs,
grief and injuries says motor giant
A union drive for safer car production
at General Motors (GM) has led to a greatly improved safety record and better
industrial relations - and massive cash savings for the company. The United
Auto Workers union (UAW) says the Detroit-based automaker now has among
the lowest number of workdays lost to injury among major automakers in the
US.
Risks
119, 16 August 2003
USA: Unions take the
strain
Union members with strain injuries are
far more likely to receive compensation and less likely to suffer damaging
social consequences after a work-related injury than non-union workers,
says the American Journal of Industrial Medicine.
Tim Morse and others. The relationship
of unions to prevalence and claim filing for work-related upper-extremity
musculoskeletal disorders,
American Journal of Industrial Medicine, volume 44, Issue 1, pages 83-93,
2003 [abstract]
• Risks
115, 19 July 2003
BRITAIN : Safety chief
praises "immensely beneficial" union role
Britain’s top safety boss has praised the union role that leads to lower
accident rates in union workplaces. Health and Safety Commission chair Bill
Callaghan said: "The impact of trade unions on workplace health and safety
is immensely beneficial. We know that the presence of a recognised union
lowers the accident rate by a quarter compared with non-union establishments."
Risks
110, 14 June 2003
AUSTRALIA: Unions organise
for safer work
Australia’s trade unions have resolved
to put organising at the centre of their health and safety strategy. An
Australian Council of Trade Unions (ACTU) seminar this week attracted representatives
from over 20 unions and labour councils around the country and "confirmed
the fundamental importance of good occupational health and safety to all
workers, and its central role in union organising."
Risks 107, 24 May 2003 • OHS
Reps and
UnionSafe
briefings on the seminar recommendations
BRITAIN: Workers
can make the difference
The construction industry’s awful safety
record will only be improved if construction employers respect and engage
with the workforce and embrace trade unions, George Brumwell, general
secretary of construction union UCATT, has warned.
Risks 107, 24 May 2003
USA: Union reverses
car plant’s unsafe route
A General Motors plant that had one of the group’s worst accident rates
achieved a dramatic safety turnaround thanks to union know-how.
Risks 102, 19 April 2003
AUSTRALIA: Safety is a hot
organising issue
A top Australian union webzine has
called for workplace safety to be an organising focus for trade unions.
Workers Online editor Peter Lewis say occupational health and safety is
divorced from the day-to-day activities of industrial negotiations and the
forward looking organising agenda. "But talk to workers, and it's the issue
at the forefront of their minds," he says in an editorial this week. He
adds that a recent poll of members of the construction union CFMEU "found
71 per cent believed protecting workers' safety was an important union service
- way ahead of wages and conditions."
Risks
60, 29 June 2002
Training - 60% of
safety reps not getting enough
The majority of union safety reps
are not getting the training they need, according to a new TUC report -
and it says the lack of training could be leading to thousands of major
injuries every year. A survey of safety reps for the report, Training and
action in health and safety, found that after attending the advanced Stage
II course, 89 per cent of safety reps had initiated health and safety initiatives
on returning to work.
Risks
57, 8 June 2002 • TUC
news release
Union recruits 6,000
new members by standing up for safety
A lengthy industrial dispute has
resulted in the civil service union PCS winning safety improvements and
6,000 new members. In a letter to members, the union says: "By raising
the PCS profile as an active, campaigning union, we have won 6,000 new members
in DWP - bringing in extra income and strengthening us in future negotiations
and campaigns on your behalf."
Britain. Risks
47, 30 March 2002, and Risks
49, 13 April 2002
 Unions
seek the legal right of entry to workplace
Discussions between unions and the
Western Australia state government could result in "roving union officials"
having a right to enter workplaces to investigate safety.
Australia. January
2002 briefing document, Unions Western Australia
Ready to roll! TUC Worker Safety Adviser pilot
On 28 January 2002, the first ever
Worker Safety Advisers began their training at the TUC's National Education
Centre. The Worker Safety Adviser pilot is designed to test the effectiveness
of providing employers with advice on worker involvement and participation
where there are no safety reps or representatives of employee safety. Of
course we already know that workplaces with union safety reps and joint
union/management safety committees have half the major injuries that workplaces
without consultation do - this pilot will test whether similar results can
be obtained with external union representatives.
Britain. TUC
news release, January 2002
WSA
job description
Union
safety reps hailed as best way to improve work safety
Workplace health and safety
representatives are the unsung heroes of workplace safety, say unions in
the Australian state of Victoria. Leigh Hubbard, Trades Hall Council secretary,
said the current crop of occupational health and safety representatives
would be the ones to identify the workplace epidemics of the future.
Australia. VTHC
news release, 19 June 2001
Measuring up for safety
The Triangle of Prevention developed
by American union the OCAW aims to stop industrial injuries and illness
before they happen. The three sides of the triangle: Training on Systems
of Safety and Incident Investigation, Full-Time Health and Safety Reps and
Measuring And Tracking Incidents.
USA/Global. ICEM
Global, No.1, 1998
AFL-CIO survey:
American public likes unions more and more
Unions are winning the public relations
battle against corporate mud-slinging, according to a recent survey conducted
for the US labour federation AFL-CIO. And the American public has more confidence
in unions on health and safety than on any other issue.
USA. Excerpt
from Graphic Communicator, GCIU, March-April 2001
Safety
reps are vital - official
Health and Safety Commission
chair Bill Callaghan has said: "The partnership approach is vital to
this initiative, while the role of safety reps is the clearest example of
how it can work in practice. This is not a point for debate - workplaces
with safety reps and effective safety committees have up to 50 per cent
fewer injuries than those that don't."
Britain. HSE
news release, 20 July 2000
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