Public Employee Press

CBTU holds Toxic Awareness Workshop

Minorities are disproportionately exposed to toxic chemicals in the environment and the workplace, participants learned at an all-day workshop presented Saturday, Jan. 20, at DC 37 by the Coalition of Black Trade Unionists.

The Toxic Awareness Workshop educated members about the dangers of a long list of harmful substances, such as asbestos. Once touted as the “magic mineral” and used in thousands of products, the fibrous substance has become known since 1964 as the “silent killer.”

Presentations on air and water pollution, chemicals, cosmetics, lead poisoning, mold, second-hand smoke and “new building syndrome showed the risks of toxic exposures.

A husband-wife team, Cliff Black and Carolyn Bell, traveled from Tennessee to discuss the work of their nine-year-old community environmental justice organization. Bell pointed out that the challenges of toxins in New York City are “enormous.”

Their group is one of the “CARAT Teams” — Community Action and Response Against Toxics — that have formed in 20 U.S. cities in a collaborative effort between minority trade unionists and environmental justice advocates. The groups focus on pollution prevention, protection and response. The CARAT teams adopted emergency preparedness as another focus after Hurricane Katrina in 2005. In 1995, the CBTU adopted an environmental justice resolution at its national convention in Detroit.

Jonathan Morawetz, a safety expert for the International Chemical Workers Union Council in Cincinnati, presented an interactive quiz on respirators for workshop participants and stirred the teams working together at each table into a spirited discussion of chemical exposures.

CBTU Chapter President Donald Afflick welcomed members during the business session. David Grant, chair of the CBTU CARAT Team, then presented a certificate of appreciation on behalf of the chapter to Civil Service Technical Guild Local 375 for their continuous support.

—Jane LaTour