OCAW - A Proud Health & Safety Record
PROGRAM BEGINNINGS
Beginning in 1967, OCAW recognized that new hazards to health and
safety had developed but that measures of protection against these
hazards had lagged. Convention delegates that year took the lead
in calling for laws to protect worker health and safety. A health
and safety resolution was passed which called for the international
union to set up a health and safety program "to be implemented by
educational, collective bargaining and political action processes."
This first step set the stage for what is a continuing struggle to
improve the health and safety conditions for all workers.
OSHA ACT
The 1967 resolution led to the formation of a community/ labor
coalition that was instrumental in the passage of the Occupational
Safety and Health Act of 1970. It was a bitter labor/ management
fight, continuing over two years, which resulted in the OSHA
legislation. OCAW's role in the early days of OSHA established the
union as a strong advocate for worker health and safety. And, in
fact, OCAW was the first union to file a complaint under the act
and the first to request an imminent danger inspection.
SHELL STRIKE
In 1973, a nationwide strike and boycott of Shell Oil occurred over
health and safety. Not only was this OCAW's first strike over
health and safety, it was the first major corporate campaign in
U.S. labor history. OCAW forged alliances with the scientific,
environmental, and labor communities to fight Shell's position that
it would not bargain over health and safety. The union spent
nearly half a million dollars to advertise a nationwide boycott of
Shell and to educate the public about the need to protect the
health of workers and the communities. In the face of public
pressure, Shell eventually did bargain a compromise health and
safety clause.
KAREN SILKWOOD
In 1974 OCAW member and nuclear industry worker Karen Silkwood
helped to bring attention to radiation hazards and company
transgressions at the Kerr McGee facility in Oklahoma where she
worked. Her contribution to OCAW's struggle for healthy and safe
workplaces has served as a model for membership involvement. Her
efforts to bring education on nuclear industry health hazards to
her fellow workers and her enterprise in working to keep her plant
organized are inspiring to all who strive to build OCAW.
GRANT RECIPIENT
Years of activity have made "OCAW" and "worker health and safety"
synonymous in many people's minds. The union worked to develop its
own in-house expertise and has always reached out to academic and
public health scientists, to students and to environmental
activists. The establishment of an OCAW Health and Safety
Department in the early 1970's and the receipt of grants from the
U.S. Department of Labor, Department of Energy, Occupational Safety
and Health Administration, and the National Institute for
Environment Health Sciences in the last three decades has enabled
OCAW to structure programs known for their innovation.
WORKER TRAINERS
Early on, OCAW "interned" physicians to work with OCAW members to
permit real world experience for future occupational physicians.
For the past several years, OCAW has implemented a broad program
training worker-educators to train their fellow workers about
federal and state regulatory mandates from OSHA, the Clean Air Act,
and other on-the-job hazards. Importantly, the entire program is
grounded on the reality that workers learn best from other workers.
The trainers are rank-and-file members called OSHECs (Occupational
Safety and Health Education Coordinators).
CURRENT PROJECTS
Training is a mainstay of OCAW activity and is supplemented by
publications such as "Lifelines" (every two months) and "Health and
Safety Alerts" on various subjects (for example, asbestos, benzene,
hydrogen fluoride, etc.). We also work with other unions and
public health groups to press for implementation of more protective
standards for hazardous and toxic substances. A current project
has the health and safety staff working with epidemiologists
associated with Duke University to complete studies on the
increased incidence of cancer among oil refinery workers.
FUTURE VISION
The Union has designed a new health and safety program which
transforms health and safety issues from reaction to prevention.
It works by focusing on inherent safety systems such as maintenance
and warning devices rather than on individual blame. The program
is based on a 5-point tracking system, a training program, and full
time health and safety representatives at every plant. The program
is in its infancy, but could change the face of health and safety
practice in this country.
OCAW has, by word and deed, dedicated
resources and effort to build a program with but one
thing in mind - how do we make the workplace safer today
than yesterday and safer tomorrow than today?