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FILE NAME Painters and Allied Trades PAINT DATE 1979 DOC PAINT068 DOCUMENT DESCRIPTION Painters and Allied Trades Article - IBPAT Establishes Health & Safety Dept. LIDNA NEW YORK STATE SCHOOL PELATIONS INDUINSDUTSTRRIALIALAND LAROR PELATIONS PELATIONS PELATIONS OCTOBER NOVEMBNOVEMBEER R 1979 { } NOV 26 1979 t i t t CORNELL UNIVERSITY ' GP Raftery calls IBPAT's 24th General Convention the best we've ever had NEWS AND FEATURES page 2 The General President's Keynote Address to the 24th General Convention 15 IBPAT Establishes Health and Safety Department 20 Guest Speakers Address a Wide Range of Issues - 25 The 24th General Convention A Pictorial Report DEPARTMENTS page Inside Front Cover From the General President 50 Financial Report Inside Back Cover The General Treasurer Reports DEVOTED TO TH"T"RADE INTERESTS OF RESIDENTIAL C OMMERCIAL INDUSTRIAL SIGN @ PICTORIAL COACH A UTOMOBILE A IRCRAFT MACHINERY R AILWAY EQUIPMENT e SHIP AND SCENIC PAINTING GLAZING @ CARPET L INOLEUM SOFT TILE PAINT AND VARNISH MAKING BRUSH MAKERS AND TO THE TRADE UNION MOVEMENT IN GENERAL Any subor ordsuibonrdaintae te body publishing programs souvenirs or other documents of any description must not designate them as The Official Journal of the Brotherhood or as The Painters and Allled Trades Journal either upon the .. publication itself on their advertising Contract forms or stationery Robert J. Petersdorf Publisher : 750 New York Ave. N.W. Washington D.C. 20006 ISSN 0030-9532 POSTMASTERS ATTENTION Subscription Price 2.00 per year Single copy 20 cents PRINTED ON UNION MADE PAPER PRINTED WITH UNION MADE INK VOLUME 93 No. 11 NOVEMBER 1979 The official journal of the Interna- tional Brotherhood of Painters and Allied Trades organized March 15 1887 and the only publication issued under its auspices opi ite see 3 PRINTED IN U.S.A. S. FRANK RAFTERY General President 1750 New York Avenue N.W. Washington D.C. 20006 ROBERT J. PETERSDORF General Treasurer 1750 New York Avenue N.W. Washington D.C. 20006 General Vice Presidents BERNARD SNIEGOWSKI 1st District 1443 Westchester Boulevard Westchester III 60153 A. L. MONROE 2nd District 7909 Bayberry Drive Alexandria Va 22306 JAMES WOLFORD 3rd District 100 Devon Lane Williamsville N.Y. 14221 JACK T. COX 4th District 2212 DuPont Drive Irvine Calif 92664 ' GUY LEBER 5th District 1930 Bishop Lane Louisville Ky 40218 JAMES B. COX 6th District 8800 Blue Ridge Ext No. 10 Kansas City Mo. 64138 WILLIAM A. DUVAL 7th District 1750 New York Avenue N.W. Washington D.C. 20006 Key Convention Action Rey Establishes Health Safety Dept. day got a big boost when IBPAT delegates to the 24th General Con- vention voted unanimously to estab- ish a Department of Health and Safety The department's goal is reduce death and suffering caused by toxic paint trade sub- stances and other or unhealthy unsafe working conditions said General BPAT President S. Frank Raftery The resolution adopted by the delegates establishing the Health and Safety Department is Resolu- tion GEB Similar resolutions were submitted by Louis Locals 15 604 and and this resolu- tion number 33 was also endorsed Ocupational Kansas City Local 9 Occupational hazards are of spe- ial concern to painters whose life- expectancy is 11 years below the year average enjoyed by most other Americans Clinical studiesin United States and the United Kingdom reveal painters 67 percent more likely to develop lung cancer than most other groups of workers worker compensation surveys Show painters injury rates at five imes the national average The U.S. Department of Labor classifies the high paint trades as a indus- Prior to the vote to establish the Health and Safety Department del- gates watched a minute video- presentation on a giant 16x20- foot screen The presentation pro- duced by IBPAT'S OSH Project ummarized the activities of IBPAT umarized the arena of health and safety Convention Since the 23rd General h Los Angeles five years ago |. IBPAT delegates reviewed the hocking findings about the health and safety of painters and allied radesworkers findings responsible or motivating IBPAT's health and safety activities during the past five years Twenty percent of 2 ' 000 examined paintershad some form of respiratory condition the delegates were reminded ranging from chronic bronchitis to asbes- tosis and silicosis or lung cancer and 84 percent experienced serious neurotoxic effects . gram will seek state and federal laws to limit the use of certain haz- The year process 1976 through 1978 writing grant proposals developing a page education book 60 page quiz book and 10 hours of videotape modules and delivery of training to over 6,000 members in 69 nationwide training summarized in 12 minutes of videotape strated the fevered intensity of IBPAT's efforts presenta- Finally the videotape tion looked at the future examin- ing what IBPAT can accomplish with a Health and Safety Depart- ment Through legislative and collective bargaining the presentation held out hope for more stringent testing of products prior to intro- ducing them into the workplace improved labeling standards and most important and ambitious a program of certification for painters and allied tradesworkers This pro- ardous paint trade substances to only certified workers Certification would be obtained through a safehandling and use test and would include periodic medical examina- tion to insure that the certified worker's health is not adversely affected . Following the videotape presenta- tion delegates voted unanimously to establish the Department of Health and Safety its goals Delegates then Taylor director of and to endorse heard George the CIO'S Health and Safety Departmentcreated just last year he ex- plained the attacks on OSHA by speech business see page 24 excerpts on Capping the morning's health and safety presentation was Dr. Irving~ J. Selikoff of New York's Mount Sinai School of Medicine A longtime friend of IBPAT members Dr. Selikoff is a regarded scientist and noted humanitarian Early this year he was nominated for and received Labor's highest honor for humanitarian contribu- tion Murray Award IBPAT General President Raftery had the honor and distinction of nominating Dr. Selikoff for this award In his nominating letter Raftery said The time is long overdue for the American labor More than respected and revered Dr. Irving J. Selikoff is beloved by IBPAT's members both for his cou- rageous dedication and pioneering efforts in occupational health and for his humanity in speaking out among the experts in defense of those who do not have the expertise In appreciationPetrsdorf President Raftery and GST Petersdorf presented Dr. Selikoff with a beautiful certificate framed in metal and etched with drawings of tradesworkers at work IBPAT delegates gave Dr. Selikoff a standing ovation IBPAT cited Dr. Selikoff for refusing to accept oc- cupational injury and illness as a way of life for working men and women movement to recognize that science and scientists are important allies of working people as they battle against disease and death It was Selikoff's nationwide in- vestigation into the hazards of the paint trades undertaken in 1974 that sparked IBPAT's Decade of Job Safety It was at IBPAT'S 23rd General Convention in 1974 that Selikoff last stood before IBPAT's delegates and explained the hazards he suspected would be uncovered among painters and al- lied tradesworkers And it was at IBPAT's last convention that medi- cal examinations of 2,000 IBPAT members began THE JOURNALNOVEMBER 15