Shipbreaking workers will be explaining - and showing - the horrific and often deadly conditions they work under when they visit London on Monday to ask the International Maritime Organisation (IMO) to speed up reform that could save lives across the industry.
The men who, with the assistance of the IMF (International Metalworkers' Federation) and ITF (International Transport Workers' Federation) have travelled from India, will speak at a press conference at 11:30 on Monday 9 October 2006 at ITF House, 49-60 Borough Road, London SE1 1DR (travel details and map at www.itfglobal.org/about-us/contactus.cfm ) You are invited to attend this.
The press conference will be preceded by a brief ceremony at 10:15 at Victoria Tower Gardens-South, London SW1 (this is the strip of gardens just south of Lambeth Bridge, rather than the main gardens next to Parliament, and is opposite the IMO building) where they will throw flowers into the Thames in memory of the hundreds who die each year as a result of the injuries, disease and environmental degradation caused by the largely unregulated industry. Photos of this event will be supplied gratis to press. Broadcast quality VNR footage showing unprotected asbestos removal and similar work practices will be shown at the press conference and will also be available (Beta SP PAL format) to broadcast media and as a DVD. Please request this in advance. The workers will then plead their case at the IMO.
Thousands of shipbreaking workers die, are injured or fall ill when recycling old ships in one of the world's most dangerous, dirty and largely unregulated industries. Ninety-five per cent of old ships are broken up and recycled on the beaches of Bangladesh, India, China, Pakistan and Turkey. In the most appalling conditions, earning less than a dollar a day, shipbreaking workers face hazards such as fire, explosions, falls from great heights and exposure to asbestos, heavy metals and PVCs.
Vidyadhar Rane, one of the delegation and Secretary of the Mumbai Port Trust, Dock and General Employees' Union, will call on IMO members to deliver a mandatory set of regulations that set clear standards and protect the lives of shipbreaking workers immediately. He explained: "People here don't have goggles, they don't have helmets, masks or safety boots - many don't have any kind of boots. There should be work, but there should be no compromise on safe work. I am appealing to the developed countries who send their ships to Asia to take some responsibility and save lives."
IMF General Secretary Marcello Malentacchi said: "In many countries the state of shipbreaking is an open scandal. The answer is not to shut it down - to call for that is to ignore that it is a vital industry for tens of thousands of people for whom no alternative employment exists. The solution is to reform, train and support.
"Negotiations are underway at the IMO to develop internationally agreed regulations on the recycling of ships. However, adoption of the regulations is not expected until 2009, and proper implementation by 2015 at best, if at all."
ITF General Secretary David Cockroft commented: "We're all behind the IMO in tackling this terrible problem, but 10 years is too long. Many of these workers - men, women and children - aren't going to live that long."
With UK government estimates of 30 Ministry of Defence vessels due to come out of operation by 2013 and nearly 400 EU flagged ships requiring recycling by 2010, delay is not an option."
The visitors from India who will speak at the press conference are:
Vidyadhar V. Rane, union representative of Indian shipbreaking workers
Dhananjay Yadav, shipbreaking worker, India
Khalani Sabir Ismail, shipbreaking worker, India
The shipbreaking workers are represented internationally by the International Metalworkers' Federation (IMF), with support from the International Transport Workers' Federation (ITF) and the International Confederation of Free Trade Unions (ICFTU).
For more information contact ITF press officer, Sam Dawson, direct line: + 44 (0)20 7940 9260. E-mail: dawson_sam@itf.org.uk
International Transport Workers' Federation - ITF: HEAD OFFICE, ITF House, 49 - 60 Borough Road, London SE1 1DR,Tel: + 44 (0) 20 7403 2733, Fax: + 44 (0) 20 7357 7871, Email: mail@itf.org.uk Web-page: www.itfglobal.org
Source: ITF (International Transport Workers Federation)