Author Archives: Rory
Pesticide pushers kill thousands in Bangladesh
Thousands of Bangladeshi workers are dying of pesticide poisoning each year, as a result of unsafe use of often banned products. Meanwhile, safer, greener agricultural methods are ignored in the face of a sustained and richly-resourced promotional campaign by multinational pesticide producers. An annual government health survey has found that pesticide-related poisoning may be responsible […]
Climate change is a class issue
Global warming, pollution and the environmental impact of energy production impose a greater burden on low-income and disadvantaged communities. The message, spelled out in papers in a special issue of the peer-reviewed journal Environmental Justice, includes a call for urgent strategies to prevent inequities. Papers in the dedicated ‘climate justice’ issue emerged from a US […]
Posted in Uncategorized Tagged Climate justice, Environmental Justice Leadership Forum on Climate Change, WE ACT Comments closed
Four digit fine for four digit loss
A UK plastics recycling company has been fined £2,500 after a worker had four of his fingers severed. Wesley Dickinson, 22, was trying to remove a guillotine jam at Centriforce Products Ltd in Liverpool when his fingers became trapped. Doctors reattached two of his fingers, but they have limited movement. The company, which admitted breaching […]
US work safety chief calls for good safe green jobs
The newly installed leader of the US government’s workplace safety watchdog has made his first public act a call for green jobs to be good, safe jobs. On 9 December 2009 David Michaels was confirmed as the Obama administration’s Assistant Secretary of Labor for occupational safety and health. The head of the Occupational Safety and […]
Posted in Uncategorized Tagged David Michaels, National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, NIOSH, Occupational Safety and Health Administration, OSHA, USA Comments closed
Waste and recycling is a sick industry
Workers in the UK waste and recycling industry have much higher sickness rates than other local authority workers, research by a Health and Safety Executive (HSE) agency has found. Review of sickness absence data in the waste and recycling industry, a report prepared by the Health and Safety Laboratory (HSL), found the sector recorded more […]
“Make or break” for climate talks, say unions
Governments must finally step up to their responsibilities and reach a serious agreement at the UN Climate Conference in Copenhagen before it is too late, the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) has stated. “We cannot risk waiting any longer,” said ITUC general secretary Guy Ryder. “Decisions must be taken and action has to start immediately. […]
Four out of 10 jobs are carbon intensive says ILO
Nearly 40 per cent of all jobs worldwide are in highly carbon intensive sectors, the International Labour Organisation (ILO) has said. The UN body says its contribution to the UN climate change conference in Copenhagen will be to draw attention to the value of “green jobs”. ILO with other UN agencies can contribute among others […]
Big, green and with blood on its hands
Top US retailer Kohl’s is really, really proud of its award-winning environmental credentials. It has a whole website devoted to “Kohl’s green scene”, and it sees being retail’s green giant as a reflection of its corporate responsibility. But workers around the world regret the firm has not been so diligent when it comes to sorting out […]
Posted in Uncategorized Tagged Dole, International Labor Rights Forum (ILRF), Kohl's, Kraft, Nestle Comments closed
Clean energy set to be third largest industry
Clean energy technology is on track to become the third largest industrial sector globally with a rapidly increasing share taken up by China, a report from global conservation organisation WWF has predicted. Clean Economy, living Planet – Building strong clean energy technology industries, released today at the UN climate summit in Copenhagen, is a first […]
Confused UK recycling sector is really deadly