Document b52yV5K2rRNaMwZKe6ap8vMDO

FILE NAME: Eternit (ETER) DATE: 1998 Nov 17 DOC#: ETER043 DOCUMENT DESCRIPTION: Letter to Alan Dalton, National Health & Safety Council from Reg Green, Health, Safety and Environment Officer RE Fernanda Giannasi 17. NOV. 1998 15:45 ICEM BELGIUM 32 2 6484316 NO. 4686 P. 2/10 Mr Alan Dalton National Health and Safety Co-ordinator Transport and General Workers' Union Palace Street Victoria London SW 1E 5JD United Kingdom O u r ref. B y telefax; rg/OHSE/Gen. + 44171630 5861 Dear Alan, T&GW U O H S Material 17 November 1998 Thanks for your letter and the enclosed material. Your new book 'Safety, Health and the Environmental Hazards at the W orkplace' looks like a substantial piece of work. Congrats! I've only just received it, so have not yet had time to read it. I will try to do so with a view to getting our 'ead `tier to include a review in the next edition of the IC EM 'Global'. I hope he won't balk at this, given that we reviewed the T& G 's Safety Reps Handbook in the most recent edition of Global. I just w ish we were getting as much for review from our other affiliates. However, I can't see a price on the book. Can you let me know how much it costs, a s any review will need to give this information? Regarding your proposed conference on the chlorine industry, I suggest you talk to Fred H iggs if you haven't already done so. Fred, as you probably know, has represented the T& G at all of the meetings we have so far had at the international level on chlorine chemistry. I am sure he would like the T& G W U to continue to take a lead in this work and your proposed conference seem s like a good way to go about it I don't have much to offer by w ay of ideas for funding except perhaps to suggest (as Fred invariably does at our m eetings) that industry put its hand in its pocket! After all, it is the chlorine chemistry industry that is feeling the pinch from environmental and public health groups, and they stand to gain a lot of credibility by demonstrating a readiness to respond. One w ay of going about this might be to contact a guy by the name of Barrie Gilliatt (ex-ICI) w ho is responsible for an outfit here in Brussels called 'Euro Chlor1. Euro Chlor groups together the m ost significant com panies in the chlorine sector at the European level. Gilliatt is also an active participant in the ICEM /W CC Global Forum on Chlorine Chemistry. I'm sure he would be ready to respond to any proposal you may have, but I doubt whether Euro Chlor itself would be a source of funding - it is really only an umbrella organisation with very limited staff and resources. If you think I can be of any help in this regard, let me know. In case you haven't already seen it, I enclose a copy of the Labour/Management Statem ent signed by a number of com panies and our affiliates around the world at a recent meeting in Montreal. Commitment to this Statement w as demanded by the IC EM and its affiliates a s the threshold which those com panies wanting to talk with u s in the Global Forum on Chlorine Chemistry m ust be prepared to cross. W e are expecting to get more signatures as things move ahead. You might also want to have a copy of 17. MOV. 1998 15:45 ICEM BELGIUM 32 2 6484316 NO. 4686 P. 3/10 another global agreement we have signed with Statoil, the Norwegian multinational (attached). Both contain explicit language about health, safety and the environment. I think your initiative regarding the plight of Fernanda Giannasi is excellent. I will take this up with our General Secretary to see how best to respond. W e almost certainly have members in St Gobain and they should also be made aware of what is going on. The IC E M continues to demand a ban on asbestos - despite the pressure we feel from time to time from Canada. There has been a touring circus of asbestos lobbyists led by Canadians and, regrettably, including a number of 'Invited' trade unions which has travelled around Europe (including Central and Eastern Europe) during the course of the year. It's incredible how much influence one industry from one country can wield. I understand Canada (more specifically, Quebec) employs only around 3,000 asbestos workers in total. Federal Canadian sensitivities about their Quebecois population undoubtedly loom large. Keep the stuff coming. C opy for information to: Victor E. Thorpe, IC E M General Secretary Fred Higgs, TG W U National Secretary