Who cares about health and safety?
international conflict based on the international laws of war. These heavy weapons have been used to crush a number of units of the MILF, NPA and RPA-ABB. The revolutionary groups have mainly RPG, 81mm mortars and M30 and M60 firearms. The roots of militarisation
In 1997 the Armed Forces of the Philippines began a modernisation programme. This was supposed to include a shift of priorities from internal to external defence. The modernisation budget is 333 billion pesos, almost 45% of the total government budget for 1999
The army justifies this spending by pointing to the external threat from China, and internal threats from the MILF, Maoist NPA and the revolutionary ABB in Mindanao. Resources will inevitably be shifted from external defence to internal operations. The Visiting Forces Agreement
Since the Philippines government is effectually bankrupt, Washington will be sponsoring the modernisation. In exchange, the Philippines will sign a Visiting Forces Agreement, enabling the US to base troops in the country.
American bases were closed after the downfall of the Marcos dictatorship. It has been hard to reverse this decision. The media has done its best to exploit the issue of China's intrusion into Philippines waters [by building on the uninhabited Spratly islands]. But this was not enough to convince Philippine senators to vote the VFA. Hence the escalation of the Mindanao conflict, and claims that the VFA would enable the government to pacify the island.
The USA claims that the VFA will safeguard and secure the Asia Pacific region, and help the Philippines deal with internal and external threats. The VFA would also help safeguard US interests in Mindanao. It would also be a staging post for intervention in Indonesia, the Philippines and across the region.
A base on Mindanao would help advance US and Philippine government interests in the Spratly islands, thought to sit on a large oil deposit. The USA can only access the Spratly oil in alliance with the Philippines government.
This is the background to the recent investment of billions of pesos on the General Santos airport and other installations on Mindanao. The contractors chosen are known for their previous work on US military facilities.
President Erap has also begun preparing a constitutional review which may include allowing foreign access to national resources, and limiting constitutional protection of civil and human rights.
Popular and church opposition will make this a long and difficult process. Erap hopes his recent victories Mindanao will give him the time he needs. *
India Workers at one Gujarat factory have taken matters into their own hands, after labour inspectors have failed to enforce minimum health and safety regulations in the chemical sector. Thakorbhai Shah and Ramkilesh Saroj report from Baroda. Hema Chemicals in Vadodara makes potassium and sodium bichromate, chromium sulphate, and other chromium based chemicals. Chromium is a metal used widely in alloy and metal plating, its various salts have wide application in industry. Chromium chemicals are used in wood preservatives, coloured glass, glaze, tanneries, textile dyes, pigments for lithography, and other uses.
The manufacturing process for Sodium and Potassium Bichromate consist of crushing chromate ore into small pieces. The ore is then mixed with soda ash or lime and roasted at 1100 to 1200 degrees celcius. The metal is then cooled and bichromate is extracted.
The health damage at the Hema plant is terrifying. A doctor working for the Factory Inspector's office identified 43 workers suffering from nasal septum perforation and 23 suffer from dermatitis. Two workers have had their toes amputated following secondary infection of ulcers, and gangrene.
The hazards of chromium are well
Hexavalent chromium mainly attacks the upper respiratory tract, including nose, pharynx, and lungs. It may damage kidneys, teeth, and cause stomach pain and dermatitis. It is also known to cause lung cancer, deep and slow healing ulcers, on the skin and in the nose.
Chromic acid mist causes toxic jaundice, liver damage, and lung fibrosis. Even the small amounts of chromium in many oils have been linked to health problems among automobile, and diesel locomotive
Hema clearly violates Indian and Gujarat legislation The technology employed by the management is highly unsafe. And the management is known for its callousness regarding safety. In one of the units owned by by same company, Ushma Chemical in Nandesari, four workers died in an explosion in December
After a good deal of effort by the Union, the Factories Inspectorate have filed a number of complaints against this Company for violation of various provisions of the 1948 Factory Act. But the health authorities have failed to give proper diagnosis and guidance, thus preventing the workers from making a compensation claim. There has still been no comprehensive medical examination of the work force.
Months ago the daily newspaper, Indian Express, condemned "the utterly inhuman responses of an employer and the Gujarat government machinery to the continuous exposure of workers to hazardous chemicals. To the proprietor of Hema Chemicals, conditions in his unventilated factory outside Vadodara are no worse than what is produced by vehicular pollution on Indian roads. Judging by its performance, the Factory Inspectorate agrees. Emission levels within the factory have not been measured even though the Inspectorate's own medical officer certified an incriminatingly high incidence of case of the factory's 250 workers. The workers themselves report gangrene and lung and kidney ailments.
The normal response in such a situation would be to shut down the factory until the working environment was brought into conformity with legal standards. But who is going to do that? Government agencies are not made accountable to anyone. Proprietors will remain indifferent as long as regulations are not enforced and unions are in-
So, as long as there are more poor, illiterate people outside the factory gate looking for job, those inside will be treated as expendable, as a subhuman species for whom no one need take responsibility" (15 July 1998).
The strike only started after management cut wages, despite a court injunction. But the struggle will determine the wider question of whether Gujarat state will enforce legislation on health and safety at work. * Protest letters can be sent to the Chief Minister of Gujarat [Fax: +91-2712-22101], The Chairman of the National Human Rights Commissions (+91-11-3340016 or 3366537] and the Hema Chemical Industries [Fax: +91-265-380129). Please send a copy to the trade union. Donations are also requested to sustain the strike and for urgent medical treatment. Contributions should be sent to the "Vadodara Kamdar Union," 101, Shree Krishna Apartment No. 2, Opp. Kothi Police Parade Ground, Raopura, Vadodara 390 001, Gujarat, India. Phone/Fax: +91-265-412499/412224. E-mail:
International Viewpoint #309 March 1999 29