Stopping Silica in its Tracks

JOURNAL: ISSUE 3 - 2013

One of the reasons I joined BAC forty years ago was because Union masonry jobs were cleaner, safer, and better paid than non-union jobs. Improved safety and health protections are still among the most important ways that our Union and the labor movement can make the lives of working people better.

For more than two million workers in the U.S. alone, including BAC members, one of the gravest, most insidious worksite dangers is silica dust.  As we endeavor to build better lives for our families and stronger, safer communities, workers are falling ill and dying by the hundreds and thousands from diseases caused by the dust they breathe every day – diseases that are irreversible but entirely preventable.

On August 23rd, OSHA released its proposed silica standard, which, once implemented, would reduce exposure to silica dust and as a result, protect the lungs and save the lives of untold construction workers.

But our work on this standard is not yet done. The newly issued silica standard must be finalized and defended against fierce opposition in the business community.

In September, I had the opportunity to speak in support of the proposed silica standard on the floor of the AFL-CIO Convention. The question I posed to delegates then is one that should be asked of every policy maker, legislator and industry leader: if even a dozen investment bankers or Wal-Mart executives were dying from an easily preventable toxic substance each year at their place of work, would there be any delay in fixing the problem?

We all know the answer to that question; is the life of a construction worker any less precious than that of a CEO?

Silica has killed generations of our members, sometimes within single families. Sons and daughters, who watched their once-strong parents suffocate and slowly wither away, agonize that others will experience the same grief, or worse, the same fate.

An integral part of the silica rulemaking process is the public comment period, which ends January 27, 2014. The International is working with BAC Local Unions across the U.S. to compile BAC members' or family members' personal stories of silica exposure on the job before the deadline. Please turn to page 14 to see how you can help.

Silica still kills – together we can stop it, and we will stop it.

Silicosis the Lead Story in 1947 Journal

Silica dust, a known job site hazard for centuries, has been a top BAC health and safety concern for decades. An article from the April 1947 Journal, titled "Silicosis as it Affects the Bricklayers," outlined the findings of a report compiled by the Bricklayers' Ohio State Conference confirming that many of the state's diagnosed "silicotics" in the previous nine years were indeed bricklayers.

*For updates, go to www.bacweb.org and follow BAC on Twitter and Facebook; also visit www.aflcio.org and http://canadianlabour.ca/.