The ‘Confederation Sindical de Comisiones Obreras and the Union General de Trabajadores have issued a joint 28 April Declaration directed at the public, employers and the public administration.
 
Entitled “Union Workplaces – Safer Workplaces”, the national Declaration announces that the two organisations have pledged to work together to plan a full week of activities throughout all regions of the country (to be reported later) to highlight risks to worker health and safety, promote prevention and to call for appropriate reforms from the government.
 
28 April in Spain coincides with the 10th Anniversary of a national law that promotes action on work-related risks. Every day, five Spanish workers die because such risks are allowed to persist, and 1.4 million more die every year from industrial accidents.
 
“One of the most serious causes of work-related illnesses is asbestos,” states the Declaration. “Spanish unions are united in the campaign for the total ban of asbestos, as expressed in the ICFTU call for a complete ban to stop its use or the transfer of its risks”.
 
Spain is one country that has already banned asbestos. Yet, as in other countries that have also banned the product, workers in Spain continue to be afflicted with rising cases of asbestos-related disease from past use, as well as from current exposure to materials that persist in work and community environments. For this reason the ICFTU has encouraged countries that have banned asbestos, nationally to also support a “global ban” to which the Spanish Declaration refers.
 
The two national unions have also agreed to focus on action to convince the government to strengthen the legislative and judicial mechanisms for reducing workplace risks and accidents in general.
 
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