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| Introduction | |
| Uralita SA, the plant of Cerdanyola | |
| Uralita's People Affected by Asbestosis | |
| Bibliography | |
| The author |
Cases of Uralita´s People Affected by Asbesthos |
|
Here,
there are some of significant cases of asbestosis produced in the
Uralita’s workers of different plants of URALITA placed in Spain, which
have been exposed previously in newspapers and websites. Cerdanyola-Ripollet
(Barcelona) The
worker’s leaders of Uralita, S. A., of Cerdanyola, denounced in 1977 that
“one of the most hard topics of these extractions outside was the
existence of one primary school, placed a very few meters of one of the most
dangerous exit of asbestos. For it, every day are flew on the school pure
fibres of raw material. We know that the risks can be very high because
there are children of low age”. (Source:
Revista de Sardanyola, No. 167, February 1977, p. 14) “For
Manuel Teruel Gómez, Uralita, S. A.’ worker, died the 15th of March,
1977. He wasn’t the first. He simply was the most recent victim of
asbestos”. “Until
the end of 1976, there weren’t diagnosed asbestosis cases in the
Cerdanyola plant. In the two first months of 1977, 220 asbestosis cases were
diagnosed, which 72 cases were of total labour incapacity. What was there
happened? Simply,
the workers leaders had denounced to Uralita, S. A. by infringement of
safety and health rules. The workers’ denounce created the illness. Can
we talk about a deliberated and criminal hiding of asbestos risks? According
with the franquism laws, up 175 asbestos particles by cubic centimetre when
in the main part of countries only was admitted two fibres by cubic
centimetre in the work place”. (Source:
El amianto mata. Salud y trabajo: el dossier Uralita. Cedos. Barcelona,
1978) The
“Audiencia of Barcelona” condemned to Uralita, S. A. in 1999 to pay 11.7
millions of pesetas to a worker’s widow of Uralita, S. A., of Cerdanyola. (Source:
http://www.erres.org.uy/noti1100.htm) From a staff of 1200 workers in 2000 for the Cerdanyola plant of Uralita, S. A., there were more of 250 workers with invalidity. That figure is alarming because in 1984 there were only 250 workers affected between all the Uralita plants in Spain. (Source:
El 9 Nou, Sabadell, 18-02-2000, p. 4) Five
exworkers of Uralita have complained because they have acquired the
asbestosis illness working in that company, in the Cerdanyola plant. They
are José Izquierdo, Margarita Ustrell, Jaume Pla, Encarnació Mondragó and
Pedro Buitrago. (http://08zz104.eresmas.net/Revista%20325/2subtema325.htm) Sant
Vicenç del Raspeig (Alacant) One
of workers of the asbestos cement plant of Uralita, S. A., in Sant Vicens
del Raspeig, died last June due to the asbestosis illness in terminal phase.
This was the second death caused by the asbestos in the staff of that plant.
Workers of that company fear that number of victims can increase in next
years. (Source:
http://www.erres.org.uy/noti1100.htm) Sixty
ex workers of the plant “Fibrocementos de Levante” are affected by
asbestosis. The illness has already produced the death of five workers of
that company. (Source:
http://www.prensaminera.com.pe/PM9/asbesto.html) The
Association’s speaker has denounced before the European Parliament and the
Ombudsman that he demanded some times ago “one measurement of asbestos
level in the company “Fibrocementos de Levante”, of Sant Vicens del
Raspeig and nobody has made it. The
90% of staff of “Fibrocementos de Levante”, with more of five years of
seniority there, is affected by any possible form of asbestos illness. Since
1990, there were 22 people died by illnesses caused by asbestos exposition. (Source:
Asociación de Afectados por el Amianto en Alicante) http://perso.wanadoo.es/joan.merino/bol_mayo_2003.htm Sevilla Uralita,
S. A. demolished the Sevilla plant in 2000. They caused a number doesn’t
fixed of people affected by asbestosis. (Source:
http://www.erres.org.uy/noti1100.htm) Uralita
got a profit of Eur 15 millions selling the plot of land to build 1500
apartments. (http://www.antonioburgos.com/sevilla/puntas/2002/02/pd052502.html) Getafe
(Madrid) Uralita
closed the Getafe plant in 2001. Getafe
is one of municipalities where the asbestos victims will increase in next
years due to the asbestos cement production in the plant of Uralita, S. A.
of that town. The
Social Court No. 6 of Madrid condemned to Uralita, S. A. to compensate with
19 millions of pesetas to the family, widow and two children of a company
worker died due to a pleural mesothelioma connected with the exposition to
the asbestos fibres. The victim worked in Uralita, S. A. since 1962 until
1986. The illness was diagnosed in 1997 and the death was in 2001. (Source: Now,
Getafe has an accumulation of peritoneal and pleural cancers. The
“Movimiento Asociativo 14 de Abril” of Getafe has got signatures to
constitute an association of asbestos victims. (Source:
http://www.mayorgoma.com/a/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=1527) Quart
de Poblet (València) The
Federation of Construction of trade union named “Comisiones Obreras” of
the Valence Community, denounced the death by lung cancer of one worker
exposed for more of 20 years to the blue asbestos. The victim was a worker
of Uralita, S. A., of Quart de Poblet, Valencia, manufacture which stopped
the production of asbestos cement products in 1984. The union noted that the
last medical review of staff was made in 1998 and, after, nobody made new
reviews due to some bureaucratic problems. (Source:
http://www.prensaminera.com.pe/PM9/asbesto.html) Valladolid Since
1966, Uralita had an asbestos-cement plant in Valladolid. It was known with
different names as Iberit, Uralita and now “Fibrocementos N.T.”. It was
reported in December 2000 that 68 workers of Uralita Valladolid had died
since 1972 due to the asbestos action. The
age of the majority of them was lower than 60 years old. Esteban Doncel, of
CC.OO. union, denounced the “complicity” of the medical society and the
company because the medical responsible people didn’t obey the medical
protocol for the workers reviews and didn’t like to concede sick leaves in
the observation periods. The
Tomas Villahoz widow, who was worker of that plant and victim of asbestosis,
presented a demand in the Social Court No. 2 of Valladolid, in December
2000. She claimed a compensation of 30 millions of pesetas. The widowhood
pension received was the 45 per 100 of pay of worker died. (Source:
Diario de Valladolid, 20-12-2000, p. 9) Uralita,
en general Some
companies as Uralita, S. A., were denounced since 1977 by their workers,
before than medical people. The labour unions developed the consign “The
health isn’t for sale”. They denounced the company because it increased
the profit in 1999 over 5.000 millions of pesetas, i.e. the 32 per 100 more
than the previous year, while in this period several workers of company died
by asbestosis. (Source: In the nineties, several workers of Uralita, S. A. plants of Sevilla, Getafe, Alicante and Cerdanyola died by asbestosis without they never received any recognition about these deaths were produced by the asbestos. (Source: |
