Document 37mZBv7rRY66weqMo0opqZkoO

FILE NAME: Owens Illinois (OWILL) DATE: 1942 Jan 7 DOC#: OWILL015 DOCUMENT DESCRIPTION: Owens Corning Fiberglass Memo RE Asbestos Workers Union OWENS-CORNING FIBERGLAS CORPORATION ENTRA-COMPANY CORRESPONDENCE A ttention of 1ir * E* J liar sballi Cenemi Office* Toledo, Ohio January 7, 1942 ooi 1ir . Baro1(3 Boeschenstein Mr* W. P. Zimmerman Subject ASBESTOS 'WORKERS UNION Review o f 1941 1. The issue was joined. 2. Our health story was drawn together. fUu-.r I.- 4\'v. {. - K - f f ' *- . L `l r Jv^.v's t-- ^ *' f-V-t / / v ' , . . r f *' %v-.f.. . . 4 v< *. " C - />' < iv- .V' ` h . # 3. Our strateg y has been to attack each situ a tio n lo c a lly . ^ '/ Immediate Developments Ahead for 1942 .* * ` t 1. Siebert a r tic le to appear in January issu e of INDUSTRIAL MEDICINE. 2. Gardner a r tic le in preparation fo r JOURNAL OF INDUSTRIAL HYGIENE. 3. Sultberger program under way. Strategy fo r 1942 Should i t not be to take the offensiveT The following plan is suggested: 1 Gather as a weapon-in-reserve an im pressive f i l e of photostats of medical lite r a tu r e on asbestosis'. Available are two bibliographies covering medical lite ra tu re to 1938, citin g references to soores of publications in which the lung and skin hatards o f asbestos are discussed. This f i l e would oover fiv e or s ix hundred pages, which can be microphotographed in the lib ra ry of the Surgeon General in Washington or in some other medical lib ra ry . 2. (a) Explore through Aetna the f e a s ib ility of working out a pilin' whereby our products l i a b i li t y coverage oould be extended to a l l members o f the Asbestos Workers Union wherever and when ever they are handling Fiberglas products, th is would involve acme 2,000 workers a l l of whom would have to be X-rayed (X-rays to be interpreted a t Trudeau by Dr. Sampson), and in a l l pro b ab ility given a physical examination before group coverage became effective on a a e t d a te . (b) I f fe a s ib le , appro*oh Union leaders with o ffer presenting plan as follows: ( l ) A demonstration o f Owens-Cornings w illingness to work OWENS - CORNING FIBERGLAS CORPORATION IbiTRA-COMPANY CORRESPONDENCE Cenerai Office* Toledo, Ohio Attention of & Subject 2w ith A.F, of L. Union tabor* (2) A means of extending t o `Union members on construction jobs the same kind of insurance protection and in d u stria l hygiene precautions nor available to workers in private industry* (3) An irre fu ta b le demonstration of the w illingness of a reputable commercial insurance ooopasy to underwrite suoh a risk and of the manufacturer to oarry the premium cost. (c) I f reactio n is favorable, arrange fo r Aetna representatives to present plan a t U nion'district conferences an<yor meetings of lo cals or a t general convention o f Union in f a l l of 1942. Presen ta tio n to be accompanied by d istrib u tio n of Aetna le a f le ts ex p laining the insurance and te llin g th e Fiberglas health story* (d) I f re actio n is unfavorable, use the asbestos! weapon-in-reserve to l e t them stew* he may be sure th a t word of the proposal w ill . reach competition and may give us a lever with which to go d irec t to the lo c a ls under the union's professed law o f lo cal autonomy* This procedure may provide an opportunity to promote dissension in the ranks th a t oonceivably could bring about over-throw of the present Union leadership. (e) The proposal can be exploited publicity-w ise to our advantage e ith e r way. I f the reaction i t favorable. I t la a step unprecedented In the in d u stry , taken by a manufacturer so confident of the absenoe of unusual harard in his m aterials th a t he has joined forces with Aetna - a t a ra te more favorable than could be granted to any com petitive manufacturer - to p ro tec t and reassure labor and assume l i a b i l i t y attaching to any occupational hatard a ttrib u table to his materials. I f the reactio n is unfavorable, the way i s opened to spread word among the lo cals about the refu sal of th e Union o ff ic a ls to stake th is protection available to the members and to play a l l the tops on asb e sto sis. Implied la the th re a t to d is trib u te to a ll members of the Union oopies of the U.S> Fublio Health EUlletin #241 on A sbestosis. P rincipal advantages o f th e whole plan are th a t I t would take out of th e realm o f rumor and gossip a l l the sto ries of in ju rie s th a t are flo a tin g around, would enable ue to document such s to rie s , and would enable us to take the offensive in t e llin g the h ea lth sto ry of Fiberglas where i t would do the most good. Ua.-