Beginning of the end for the Asbestos Industry?

Boom Boom wrote:

"Is this the beginning of the end of the asbestos industry in Canada?" I sure as hell hope so.

 

tell that to all the unionized WORKERS who will lose their jobs, benefits, pensions! :(

how many UNIONIZED workers will die because they've lost all hope in the future? asbestos is SAFE if its used properly. there are thousands of products and compounds that are deadly if you use them UNSAFLY like microwaves or nailguns an i don't see any push to ban them. this is just another ATTACK on UNIONIZED workers.

My understanding is there's approximately 400 miners left in the industry. Obviously there needs to be an exit strategy that addresses the loss of those jobs. But those jobs don't exist in a vacuum. They have a deadly impact on their fellow workers, mostly in India. And no, there is no safe use of asbestos, so I don't see how it makes any sense to continue to mine a product that is impossible to use safely.

Quote:

"The time has come to update our position," said Claudette Carbonneau, the CNTU president, in an address Wednesday to members at a three-day convention.

"This would honour those who fought and died for health and safety, and point out that the life of an Indian worker, just like that of a Quebecer, cannot be blindly sacrificed in the name of a job."

Buttonwood wrote:

 asbestos is SAFE if its used properly.

Bullshit. The use of asbestos is effectively banned in Canada because it can not be used safely. And taxpayers are on the hook for millions of dollars as asbestos is removed from the Parliament Buildings in Ottawa.

(edited to add "effectively" to above sentence)

Pat Martin's asbestos page (with a link to his petition)

Thank God for people like Gerry Caplan!
Seems even Harper and Charest can't save Canada's deadly asbestos exports
Despite Stephen Harper and Jean Charest, it appears increasingly likely Canada will export no more Quebec-mined asbestos to countries like India and Indonesia, where it could bring misery and death to those who come in contact with it. Almost all those affected would be very poor workers and their families. But to the bitter end, the two leaders have been determined to preserve Canada's shameful record of knowingly exporting a carcinogen.

We can respect unionized workers' benefits and right to a comparable job or compensation without putting the death industry of asbestos mining and export on life support. I agree that the workers shouldn't be the ones to pay.

Industrial reconversion has been an ecosocialist demand for a long time, for such inherently dangerous industries as this, as well as the car and weapons industries (car is actually fairly easy, because a society without cars in cities, and better solutions even in rural areas, would require the massive development of trams, buses etc)

Boom Boom, Marois has moved on shutting down the industry - she started this latest round - I think it was a refusal to renew grants to it. This was on CBC and Radio-Canada news.

An offside comment: I really wonder what news source still calls la Confédération des syndicats nationaux (CSN) the CNTU in English. That abbreviation hasn't been used here in decades.

lagatta wrote:

 Boom Boom, Marois has moved on shutting down the industry - she started this latest round - I think it was a refusal to renew grants to it.

I just saw the link on the CBC website:

Paradis basically blamed incoming Quebec Premier Pauline Marois for forcing Ottawa's hand, saying Friday that Marois "has clearly indicated her intention to ban the production of chrysotile in Quebec. Evidently this action will have a negative impact on the future prosperity of our region."