WORKERS breaking down old ships on the coast of India have been forced to go without drinking water, a press conference in London has been told.
The press conference at the London offices of the International Transport Workers Federation (ITF) was called to allow a delegation of shipbreakers from India to highlight their plight and the way that they are fighting for their rights.
Ninety-five per cent of old ships are broken up and recycled on the beaches of Bangladesh, India, China, Pakistan and Turkey.
Some of the biggest shipbreaking yards in the world are located on India’s west coast, employing over 60,000 people.
The workers from India said that health and safety was their number one concern and only through union organisation had conditions begun to improve.
But thousands were still threatened with the danger of death and disease from unsafe working conditions and hazardous materials – including asbestos – on the ships.
In addition, desperate families around the yards are scavenging for scrap metal along the beaches, to try and make ends meet.
The latest bulletin of the International Metalworkers Federation (IMF) highlights the plight of workers at the Darukhana yard in Mumbai.
Virtually all the workers there are migrant workers from the countryside, normally living in ‘tiny huts’ constructed along a series of dirt tracks and roads, says the quarterly magazine.
When times are ‘good’, 6,000 workers are engaged in recycling old ships at the yard, with a further 20,000 people working in related industries.
The yard is divided into plots where workers are engaged in different jobs, such as gas cutters, oil removers and crane operators.
But workers complain that their wages are little more than the equivalent of one US dollar a day and when there is no work in the yard, workers are forced to move.
Families split up and workers often end up sleeping on the streets, waiting for the next ship to come in.
Stuart Howard, assistant general secretary of the ITF, opening Monday’s press conference in London, said it had been called to highlight the ‘scandal of appalling conditions’ in which shipbreaking work takes place.
The workers still face hazards such as fire, explosions, falls from great heights and exposure to asbestos, heavy and toxic metals like mercury, and PCBs, said the ITF.
Before the workers in India began to get unionised, they complained that they worked without training in the handling of hazardous materials and without basic safety equipment, such as helmets, boots, goggles and masks, sometimes in confined spaces where there is an oxygen deficiency.
‘Some progress has been made on this issue, but not enough,’ Howard said.
Rob Johnston, from the International Metalworkers Federation, said a DVD shown to the press exposed conditions in ‘a billion dollar industry’.
Vidyadhar Rane, a member of the Indian delegation and secretary of the Mumbai Port Trust, Dock and General Employees’ Union, said: ‘We came here to stop the loss of life in this industry. Health and safety is the prime issue.’
He said although the rate of child labour is not high, there is still some child labour involved in the scrapping of ships and salvaging of scrap metal.
He also said: ‘At 15, people start working (in the shipbreaking yards). Dhananjay here started working at 15 as a helper, then he became a gas cutter.’
In answer to other questions, Rob Johnston said: ‘The position for us is very clear: we cannot and will not accept any unsafe working practices.
‘The reality is, if you look at India, the government there said the steel industry is likely to double and 35 per cent of the raw material will come from shipbreaking. So this industry will continue.
‘The unions in the UK would like a level playing field. We want safe work for all, not workers being sacrificed for the sake of profit.’
Speaking about the growing union organisation amongst the shipbreakers, Vidyadhar Rane said: ‘For the last four or five years we have been working strategically.
‘We are trying to solve the problems of workers, including the issue of providing some basic needs.
‘When we started there was no drinking water for the workers.
‘We provided them with some health and safety measures with the help of some NGOs and in this way we organised shipbreaking workers in Mumbai first, and now we are organising some workers in Alang.
‘But we are the only union in this field.’
Johnston said: ‘The UK government can take a leadership role – the International Maritime Organisation (IMO) is based here in the UK. Clearly it can have an input.’
He added that the International Labour Organisation recognises shipbreaking as ‘one of the most hazardous industries in the world.
‘We estimate that hundreds of workers are killed, if not thousands.’
Rane said: ‘There is not much cooperation from the shipowners and there is no machinery to coordinate all this.
‘The Indian government is taking some part, not much more.
‘When we started organising these workers there were many problems and issues.
‘The government and authorities did not take much interest.
‘Because of the poverty in rural areas, people migrated to this industry.’
Rane spoke about the ‘militancy of employers and mafias at every level’ in the shipbreaking towns.
‘If they want to take the water which is their right, they have to pay something to the local mafia,’ he said, describing the conditions the workers faced.
‘Now we are very strong in India. Now they are getting some basic services, drinking water, ambulance services.
‘But still we are working for national laws to protect them,’ he added.
In Alang, the biggest shipbreaking yard, he said, things have not yet changed.
‘Local politicians, mafia are opposing the union. Employers are behind them.
‘We will organise them,’ he pledged. ‘The process is on. Registration of the trade union will happen very soon.
‘We need the help of the world, of the people, to take care of the workers.
‘Be with us for the betterment of the working class,’ he urged.
‘We appeal to the IMO to regulate this industry.
‘Workers’ representatives must be there and we have to save the lives of workers who are dying because of unsafe work.’
Speaking to News Line after the press conference, shipbreaker Dhananjay Yadav said: ‘Because of the asbestos there are some problems to the body, itching of the body and all.
‘Now we know the serious things that can happen because of this handling of asbestos.
‘Three years back we did not know what is the affect of asbestos.
‘When we became members of the union, they made us aware of the issue. Then we realised it is a very dangerous thing to handle.
‘Workers should not handle it without proper training and safety equipment,’ he said.
Khalani Sabi Ismail, another shipbreaking worker, said: ‘We want to give a message to the world. We are breaking ships in Alang – the biggest shipbreaking yard in the world.
‘There should not be compromise on health and safety issues.
‘People are there to earn money, there should be work, but not compromise on safe working.
‘The world should do something on the issue.’
Vidyadhar Rane told News Line: ‘Everybody is responsible for this, it is a problem of society, but the major part should be the government’s part.
‘The industry is using a large workforce, it is a labour-oriented industry and is producing steel for the nation and affecting the national economy.
‘I appeal to the British government: only five countries break ships. We want to work, but we should work in safety.
‘Alang is built for this purpose only. It is only a shipbreaking yard, nothing else.’
