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6 August, 2005ICEM News release No. 61/2000
Days before a multi-nation meeting about the closing of Ukraine's Chernobyl nuclear power plant, leaders of 10 US unions representing 4.9 million workers today wrote to President Clinton, urging him to "take active leadership" to ensure adequate funding to aid the 12,000 Chernobyl workers and their families.
Signing the letter were union presidents George Becker, United Steelworkers of America; Douglas Dority, United Food and Commercial Workers International Union; Edward Fire, International Union of Electronic, Electrical, Salaried, Machine & Furniture Workers; Frank Hanley, International Union of Operating Engineers; Jay Mazur, Union of Needletrades, Industrial, and Textile Employees; Brian McWilliams, International Longshore and Warehouse Union; Cecil E. Roberts, United Mine Workers of America; Andrew Stern, Service Employees International Union; and Boyd Young, Paper, Allied-Industrial, Chemical and Energy Workers International Union. Also signing were Robert Clark, Secretary-Treasurer of the United Electrical, Radio and Machine Workers of America; and Fred Higgs, General Secretary of the International Federation of Chemical, Energy, Mine and General Workers' Unions (ICEM).
The US signers all head unions that are affiliates of the ICEM, a global industrial trade union federation representing more than 20 million workers worldwide. ICEM affiliates include the Trade Union of Nuclear Energy and Industry of Ukraine (ATU). The ATU represents the workers at Chernobyl, the site of the worst-ever nuclear accident in 1986.
Governments of the G-7 nations are sending representatives to Berlin on July 5 to discuss Chernobyl's closure, scheduled for December 15. However, according to the ICEM's Higgs, "not enough attention is being paid to shielding Chernobyl's workers from economic disaster."
Higgs explained that "under a Memorandum of Understanding signed in Ottawa in 1995, western commitments to fund the Chernobyl closure included a pittance - a mere 4 million US dollars - to help displaced workers. In 1997, experts from the governments of the United States, the European Union and Ukraine drafted a Social Impact Plan to provide retraining and new jobs for Chernobyl workers in case the plant was closed. Today, it is estimated that fully funding the Social Impact Plan would cost between 50 million and 100 million dollars."
He said that "Western nations are proposing to spend some 875 million dollars on projects such as building a new, safe shell to contain dangerous radiation".
"Isn't it reasonable to ask that less than one-eighth of that amount be spent to ensure affected workers have the benefit of a safety net?" Higgs said. "We believe that it is."
The union leaders' letter to Clinton says: "The July 5, 2000, Pledging Conference in Berlin would seem to be an excellent opportunity for the U.S. Government to reaffirm its commitment to assist in funding ... to ensure that ... the future of the Chernobyl workers (and) their families ... is protected.
Signing the letter were union presidents George Becker, United Steelworkers of America; Douglas Dority, United Food and Commercial Workers International Union; Edward Fire, International Union of Electronic, Electrical, Salaried, Machine & Furniture Workers; Frank Hanley, International Union of Operating Engineers; Jay Mazur, Union of Needletrades, Industrial, and Textile Employees; Brian McWilliams, International Longshore and Warehouse Union; Cecil E. Roberts, United Mine Workers of America; Andrew Stern, Service Employees International Union; and Boyd Young, Paper, Allied-Industrial, Chemical and Energy Workers International Union. Also signing were Robert Clark, Secretary-Treasurer of the United Electrical, Radio and Machine Workers of America; and Fred Higgs, General Secretary of the International Federation of Chemical, Energy, Mine and General Workers' Unions (ICEM).
The US signers all head unions that are affiliates of the ICEM, a global industrial trade union federation representing more than 20 million workers worldwide. ICEM affiliates include the Trade Union of Nuclear Energy and Industry of Ukraine (ATU). The ATU represents the workers at Chernobyl, the site of the worst-ever nuclear accident in 1986.
Governments of the G-7 nations are sending representatives to Berlin on July 5 to discuss Chernobyl's closure, scheduled for December 15. However, according to the ICEM's Higgs, "not enough attention is being paid to shielding Chernobyl's workers from economic disaster."
Higgs explained that "under a Memorandum of Understanding signed in Ottawa in 1995, western commitments to fund the Chernobyl closure included a pittance - a mere 4 million US dollars - to help displaced workers. In 1997, experts from the governments of the United States, the European Union and Ukraine drafted a Social Impact Plan to provide retraining and new jobs for Chernobyl workers in case the plant was closed. Today, it is estimated that fully funding the Social Impact Plan would cost between 50 million and 100 million dollars."
He said that "Western nations are proposing to spend some 875 million dollars on projects such as building a new, safe shell to contain dangerous radiation".
"Isn't it reasonable to ask that less than one-eighth of that amount be spent to ensure affected workers have the benefit of a safety net?" Higgs said. "We believe that it is."
The union leaders' letter to Clinton says: "The July 5, 2000, Pledging Conference in Berlin would seem to be an excellent opportunity for the U.S. Government to reaffirm its commitment to assist in funding ... to ensure that ... the future of the Chernobyl workers (and) their families ... is protected.