Document 0g4R8G4qxkbLZejpy9ewq96kM

FILE NAME: Allied Signal Bendix (ASB) DATE: 1980 DOC#: ASB129 DOCUMENT DESCRIPTION: Article - UAW and Bendix Corporation --tfi TO: M. LEONARD FROM: J. w. Armstrong JAN 2 4 1980 j. W. ARMSTRONG rs 4 U AW A N D BEN D IX CORPORATION Bendlx Automotive of Cendjb Ltd, employs 650 workers in the manufacture and assem bly o f brakes in Windsor, Ontario The oper ation Includes the'd rillin g, refitting end .fitting pf asbestos brake linings. According to UAW Local 195, Health end Safety Committee, ex posure to unsafe working conditions has resulted in 13 cases of cancer of the larynx, stomach and luhgs. The Health and Safety Committee began to investigate the situa tion when the deaths o f three Workers apparently from cancer of die laiynx .were reported withing a five year period. According to Dr. Jo h n Marshall, medical consultant of the OFL, cancer o f the larynx might normally occur "Once in 3,0 0 0 to 5.000 p e o p le " . Dr, Selikoff, commenting on the situation a t Bendix, added ominously that " If th e r e a r e th r e e p eo p le with ca n cer o f th e laryn x, th ere must b e a t e a st 5 0 or even 100 w ho have died o f can cer q f th e lu n g ." Since beginning th e investigation, the Health and Safety Committee has uncover! 10 more cases of cancer, including lung .cancer. ' ' The Health and Safety Committee has submitted ,a documented brief to the Workmen's Compensation Board. The company has con sistently refused to cooperated with the union, claiming that any medical data and statistics are " confidential' ', and that toere is " n o ev id en ce th a t exposure to a sb e sto s cau sed can cer In any o f ou r em p loy ees." - The UAW brief documents a long history of unsafe conditions. For instance, "In 1940 th e ven tilation In th e p lan t wps In ad equ ate m ost h an d g rin d ers-d id n ot h av e lo c a l .exhau st sy stem s. E m p loy ees a ttem p ted to co m b a t th e d u st b y .w rapping a h an d kerch ief arou n d th eirfa c e s .'' . Between 1974-77, an asbestos .dust collector bag system was used, with the dogged bags simply being shaken inside the plant. Until 1977, drysweeping of asbestos dust, a procedure widely recognized asextrem ely dangerous, was alsocommon. According to Tom Shafer, president and .general manager ,of Bendix Windsor, operations are .now " well within established lim its ". Dr. John Marshall has stated that the Ontario standard was designed to .comhat " asbestosis", but is not low enough to protect workersfrom cancer. And like m ost occupational hazards, the risks are not restricted to the workplace. Ja c k McCann, UAW Health.and Safety representative, has .stated that the " com pan y u sed to dum p op en box es p f asbestos du st In ou td ocr b in s" , which released fibers in toe air, "ten din g clou ds o f du st Into th e n eig h borh ood . '' 11 HW Reese - 37