PHAA endorses ETU call for workers to shun uranium mining

The Northern Territory Branch of the Public Health Association of Australia (NT PHAA) has endorsed the call by the Electrical Trades Union (ETU) for workers to shun uranium mining.

NT PHAA spokesperson Clive Rosewarne described the Qld/NT Branch of the ETU decision to advise its members not to work in the uranium and nuclear industries as a sensible and responsible move by the union: “The ETU Qld/NT Branch’s advice to its members that this is an inherently dangerous industry to work in is an honest and correct call. From a health and safety point of view the ETU Branch is doing the right thing by its members.

“There have been spills of radioactive material in the past where workers have been exposed in the NT with scant regard to the long-term health of workers or the environment on which we all depend.”

The Queensland and Northern Territory branches of the ETU banned their members from working in uranium mines, nuclear power stations or any other part of the nuclear fuel cycle.

ETU Queensland branch secretary Peter Simpson commented: “We’re sick of hearing about nuclear power as the panacea of global warming; we’re sick of people sweeping safety issues under the carpet.”

As part of the campaign, the ETU launched a DVD entitled ‘When the dust settles’, in which ‘Mr Sparkie’ is offered a lucrative job at Roxbury Downs in SA. The DVD examines the dangers of uranium and uranium mining to the workers who are exposed. One of the experts interviewed, Dr Helen Caldicott, says that in the past, between 30 and 50% of uranium miners contracted lung cancer and died.