INDUSTRIES CONTINUE TO MAIM AND KILL FOR PROFIT

While I'm hardly surprised by today's story in the Waterloo Region Record titled "Local rubber workers worry about exposure"; again I have to ask where was the union in all of this? They had both the money and the clout to do research and to demand improvements in health and safety issues.

Recently a number of retired or nearly retired workers in the various Waterloo Region rubber industries have come forward with cancer diagnoses, most likely due to occupational exposures. At one time we had B.F. Goodrich, Kaufman, Uniroyal and Epton operating locally. One chemical has been pointed out and that is beta-napthlamine which is recognized as causing bladder cancer. There were of course dozens to hundreds of others in use.

I am pleased that our Workers' Compensation (Workplace Safety and Insurance Board) have acknowledged health issues for rubber workers caused by their employment and exposure to various chemicals. Just for the record however most of these chemicals have been known as toxic for decades or longer. None of this is remotely news.

Of course many of these workers are now dead, some prematurely, others more or less after normal lifespans. Above and beyond the human tragedy, we must also recognize the financial one. Basically these companies in some cases found it easier to ignore already availble science and knowledge and effectively externalize their costs of production. They did this by not having adequate engineering controls or methods that would limit human exposure to toxic chemicals. Their financial liability has been assumed by John Q. Public and the taxpayers. Whether former employees are collecting Workers' Compensation or whether they are currently heavily involved with our health care system, they are being financially supported by the public rather than by the industries who made them sick. This is no accident and as long as this system is in existence it will perpetuate anti social behaviour by these and other industries and employers.