UAW particular about particulates

When it comes to health and safety, workers in nonunion manufacturing facilities are covered by federal regulations and their company's policies.

But sometimes, there are no federal standards, or the standards are outdated, not enforced or resistant to meaningful change due to the lobbying efforts of business groups.

Diesel particulates are an example. The U.S. Occupational Health and Safety Administration (OSHA) doesn't have a standard for an acceptable level of airborne diesel exhaust particulates. Some industries rely on an ineffective standard set by the U.S. Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA).

Diesel particulates can cause cancer and Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD), a chronic bronchitis that leads to emphysema. In the short term, it causes workers severe irritation of the nose, throat and respiratory system.

"It's not a killer on the spot," said Mike Longval, the shop chair for Local 1596, which represents bus mechanics at First Student in Boston. "It's a long-term killer."

Before they joined the UAW, he and other bus mechanics had little or no protection from diesel particulates. Irritation, headaches and nausea were common when the workers finished their shift. With aid from the union's Health and Safety Department, they now have a ventilation system that works.

UAW members don't rely solely on the federal government to safeguard their health in the workplace. Diesel particulates need to be strictly monitored and controlled, and workers with a union contract have the ability to negotiate standards that reduce workplace hazards.

That's what happened when UAW bargainers won significant improvements in diesel particulate levels at International Truck and Engine in 2004.

The UAW used that requirement as the basis of its contract language on diesel particulates reached at Freightliner in Cleveland, N.C., in May of this year. That contract calls for tracking the "best practice" within the heavy truck industry.

The best practice in the industry? That would be International Truck and Engine. It is expected that the result of the Freightliner contract will lead to a tenfold reduction in airborne diesel particulates.

Another value of having a union is that studies can be made at companies where there is a contract, like the UAW did with Mack Truck in 2004. In that agreement, workers negotiated language that calls on the company to track diesel particulates and seek better ways to ventilate the workplace.

Language in that contract calls for company-funded research on diesel particulates and investigate better ways to vent diesel exhaust.

Longval said a UAW contract is the best way to ensure workers receive adequate protection from diesel particulates, whether it's through added ventilation equipment, stricter standards, or both.

"What's the outcome 25 years from now?” he said. “We didn't start getting answers until we joined the UAW."

He noted that even with "cleaner" low-sulfur diesel fuel, workers must still fight for strict standards and ventilation because no studies have been done on the effects of the low-sulfur fuel.

If past experience is any indicator, you can bet UAW members will be pushing for a study of this, too.

Vince Piscopo