Multinational Corporation; Multinational Health Problems
Hard Metals Disease at Valenite
by Jim Brophy, Marg Keith, and the Windsor Occupational Safety and Health Council
Editor's Note: Monitor readers in Windsor, Ontario have called our attention to the following article, which is excerpted from Canadian Dimension. The article describes thee international support network which is emerging among Canadian and U.S. workers for Valenite Modco, a tool and die corporation with plants in both countries. Many Valenite workers have developed Hard Metals Disease, a disabling lung condition caused by exposure to cobalt dust. We thank the authors, members of the Windsor Occupational Safety and Health Council (WOSH), for permission to reprint this important story. Monitor presented an earlier report on WOSH and its activities in the March-April, 1987 issue.
...In spite of their disability, they are working together, across borders, to educate other workers and secure justice for former Valenite works who are now sick.
When inhaled even in minute quantities, cobalt dust can permanently injure the lungs, eventually destroying one's ability to breathe and often causing death. Although industrial medical experts have known about Hard Metals Disease since the 1940s, many workers in machine tool factories were not informed about the danger of the cobalt powder they used to make drill bits and cutting tools. They worked in dusty factoris without protection. Many became ill; some died. Although U.S. OSHA and its Canadian counterpart have limits on the amount of cobalt powder in the air, many producers do not comply with these regulations, and some have simply shifted manufacturing outside North America.
In a Valenite plant in Riverside, California, Mary Mast-Gurley developed Hard Metals Disease and was replaced by Cathy Galzaretta. Cathy was never told about Mary's health problems and was never instructed on safe procedures. Within two years Cathy, only 21 years old, developed Hard Metals Disease, and is now permanently disabled. Both women are suing Valenite. Former Valenite workers from the three U.S. plants (at Syracuse; Riverside; and Caro, Michigan) share the experience of respiratory damage, and also share the trauma of seeing their workplace closed. It was the "double whammy": first the fear of permanent disability, and then a plant closure. After closing the three U.S. plants, Valenite set up shop in Mexicali, Mexico, where employees work for $5.00 a day under the same dust-ridden conditions. The level of cobalt in the air there was recently found to be 30 times higher than allowed by U.S. Law.
TV Spreads the Story
In October 1984, the NBC-TB Today Show ran a five-part report on the U.S. operations of GTE Valenite. The report followed the trail of disease and death that Valenite left across America. It interviewed workers from the firm's three U.S. plants. The series won numerous honors, including the National Emmy Award for Investigative Reporting. As a result of the series, Valenite's safety director received a three month jail term and a $10,000 fine. Some of Valenite's dirtier operations were closed down. (The story was updated with a new five-part series on Today in June, 1987.)
Arlette King, spouse of a Valenite worker at the Windsor, Ontario plant, watched the 1984 Today series with horror. Her husband, Barry, often complained about severe headaches while working on the grinders, and about the dust. "When he said anything about it to his boss, they told him if he didn't like it to find another job," Arlette recalled.
A handful of other Canadian Valenite workers also saw the 1984 NBC program. When Mary and Larry Girard heard about the series, they grew concerned. A local specialist had just told Larry to look for another job because he had Hard Metals Disease. The doctor had not, however, told them of the severity of his illness or what sort of treatment might be considered. The Girards contacted the Windsor Occupational Safety and Health Council (WOSH) and sought information about cobalt dust and associated health problems
A thorough examination by a well-known respiratory specialist showed that Larry's coughing, tightness of chest, and headaches were caused by a permanent scarring of the lungs. He had lost almost 40% of his lung capacity. Larry was only 28 years old, and had worked at Valenite for less than eight years.
The wives of three Valenite workers soon started a Victims Committee. These women, along with Larry Girard, became the voice of the Windsor Valenite workers. They discovered Ministry of Labour reports, dating back to 1974, which ordered the company to reduce cobalt exposures and properly ventilate the machines. During a ten year period the government had issued and reissued the orders 29 times and yet the company still failed to comply!
To expose this outrage, the women organized a public informational meeting in a church basement. Over 150 Valenite workers and their families attended. The atmosphere was electric as Jeff Cohen, a local physician, who is active in health and safety, explained the medical and health problems of exposure to cobalt.
Then Frank Johnson, from Syracuse, told the Canadians how Valenite had lied and misinformed workers in the USA.
Mary Girard, speaking on behalf of the committee, asked the people to consider the health risks facing Valenite workers and to join with the committee to force the government and the company to clean up the workplace.
At a press conference the following morning, the Canadian UAW Health and Safety representative, Jim Gill, demanded the resignation of the Minister of labour, and called for an immediate public inquiry. Dave Cooke, a local NDP member of the Provincial legislature, issued a statement condemning the Ministry of Labour's negligence. NDP support was crucial in pressuring Minister of Labour Ramsey to publicly investigate Valenite.
Over the following two months the Victims Committee forced a comprehensive overhaul of the plant. Each machine was individually ventilated and, for the first time, safe work procedures were implemented. Valenite's activity in New York State has led to a Grand Jury indictment, and the Safety Director for the Valenite Corporation has already pleaded guilty to misleading a government inspector. He received a three month jail term and a $10,000 fine.
Lessons to Consider:
A year has passed since the Windsor Valenite workers first learned about the dangers of cobalt dust. Although the UAW organizing efforts failed, working conditions have changed considerably. Two workers, diagnosed as suffering from severe cobalt-related asthma, have seen a remission of their symptoms. "If the company had only done the right thing in the beginning, and not exposed us like we were, then I might be well and the others wouldn't have suffered", said Larry Girard. As all trade union activists in the U.S. and Canada know, the Valenite story is not new. From a certain vantage point it might be viewed as another sad story of an injured worker who would be healthy today except for corporate indifference and government neglect.