1. The Politics of Asbestos: Canada’s Shame September 13, 2009 Saskatchewan Federation of Labour OHS Conference, Saskatoon Cathy Walker Former H&S Director, CAW

2. Thanks to SFL, Larry Hubich and Bob Sass

3. Asbestos: Killer Dust

7. Asbestos insulation sprayers, 1960s and 70s

8. Union went to Dr. Irving Selikoff: New York and New Jersey asbestos sprayers

10. Asbestos stopped being used as sprayed on insulation, halfway through building the World Trade Centre buildings

11. But of course there was still lots of asbestos in the September 11, 2001 dust

15. Around beams

16. Ceilings (used for noise as well as fire insulation)

17. In insulation

18. Deteriorated insulation

19. Around Boilers

20. Around Pipes

21. Asbestos Cement

23. In floor tiles

24. When asbestos deteriorates it becomes “friable” (crumbly)

25. When it becomes friable it is released into the air and you can breathe it in

26. You can also ingest it

32. Asbestos fibres in lung tissue

33. They are inhaled deep into the lung into the tiny air sacs where oxygen is transferred into the bloodstream

34. Asbestos fibres are so tiny there are a million of them in three centimetres

37. This is what your lung is supposed to look like

38. Not like this

39. Today, asbestosis is not an issue for most union members in Canada since exposures are not that high

41. We are all made up of cells

42. Cancer: damage to a single cell starts the clock ticking

43. Ingest asbestos fibres into our gastrointestinal system

44. Gastrointestinal cancer

45. Colon cancer is a common cancer

46. We can breathe in asbestos fibres

50. They can operate and take out some ribs and part of your lung to let the tumour grow

61. Insist on asbestos removal by knowledgeable firms and workers

64. Asbestos continues to kill Francis Huggett: $102,450 plus pension; rep Karen Willsey

65. Closed in 1988, legacy of death lives on.

66. Holmes Foundry Claims

69. And asbestos is used in roofs of houses and huts where it crumbles directly onto the people who live there

70. Where is this asbestos roof?

71. Asbestos bags leak

72. Brazilian worker breaking open asbestos bags

73. Asbestos use in Peru: half is from Canada

74. Canadian asbestos in Peru

75. Working with Asbestos in Peru

76. Funeral: Asbestos Deaths in Peru

79. There is a water spray on the blade of the circular saw but the worker’s hair is white with asbestos.

84. Assistant Professor Noor Jehan standing with a worker beside an asbestos dump at the Asbestos, Talc and Clay Crushing unit in Mohmand Agency, Pakistan.

85. Asbestos sheet cutting unit in Mardan City (NWFP) located on the main road in a residential area.

86. Inside this building is a flour mill; while outside is an asbestos crushing machine and an asbestos dump. The man in the picture has worked for 8 years on this machine and was not convinced of any hazard related to asbestos inhalation or its mixing with flour produced inside the building.

90. Québec, mining asbestos since 1879

91. No protection in the early days, King mine 1896

92. Women also had no protection, 1930 Johnson mine

94. In Asbestos and in Thetford Mines the towns were adjacent to the mines and tailings. St.-Maurice parish, 1950

95. 1949, Premier Maurice Duplessis ruled Québec

96. Le drapeau fleurdelisé, adopté par Maurice Duplessis le 21 janvier 1948

98. In 1949, miners in Quebec were prepared to fight back

100. Asbestos Strike Québec, 1949

102. 1949 - 1951, conseiller au Conseil privé

104. Duplessis sent Archbishop Charbonneau to BC because he supported the strikers

106. Québec sovereignty movement Quiet Revolution really began in 1949 with the Asbestos Strike

109. Tailings are still there Thetford Mines, 2002

113. Canada Day, July 1, 2009 English unionists ride against Canadian asbestos

116. I salute each and every one of you who has ever carried a sign like this: