PCS signs joint letter calling for the removal of asbestos from public buildings
A coalition of trade unions have written to four political party leaders, calling for each to make a commitment to asbestos removal in their election manifestos.
PCS General Secretary Mark Serwotka has joined with the general secretaries of a coalition of more than 20 trade unions, including GMB, Unite, CWU and NEU to write to the leaders of the Conservatives, Greens, Labour and Liberal Democrats.
The letter asks the party leaders to include in their manifesto for the next general election, a commitment to set a 40-year deadline to remove asbestos from non-domestic buildings, to safeguard the health, safety and welfare of workers and service users.
The request is in line with the recommendations of the Work and Pensions Select Committee Sixth Report – ‘The Health and Safety Executive’s approach to asbestos management’.
The letter explains: “Asbestos exposure is still the biggest cause of work-related deaths in Britain. Around 5,000 people are dying each year from asbestos cancers linked to work exposure, including from mesothelioma. Asbestos is one of the great workplace tragedies of modern times and it is a national disgrace that Britain has one of the highest mesothelioma mortality rates in the world.”
It asks the party leaders to commit to the recommendations of the report, particularly to set a 40-year deadline for the removal of asbestos from non-domestic buildings, and to create a central digital register of all asbestos in non-domestic buildings.