Maritime Union of New Zealand

The Maritime Union is backing rallies in New Zealand ports over the next week to end the use of methyl bromide.

Maritime Union of New Zealand General Secretary Joe Fleetwood says maritime workers want to see the toxic gas taken out of use.

“The time is up for methyl bromide and New Zealand needs to be moving into line with where the world is going.”

He says the Union is part of a new Coalition Against the use of Methyl Bromide bringing together workers, environmental groups, political parties and community organizations.

Methyl bromide is used in ports and aboard ships to fumigate logs for pests but most of New Zealand’s major trading partners will accept other treatments.

Methyl bromide also harms the ozone layer, and is being phased out internationally under the Montreal Protocol.

Mr Fleetwood says the deaths of six port workers in Nelson from motor neuron disease has led to ongoing debate about possible links with methyl bromide.

He says that further research is being carried out on the effects of methyl bromide on human health, and there was cause for concern.

He says the Maritime Union is very concerned that businesses profiting from methyl bromide use and Government agencies have been too closely linked up until 2009 through the STIMBR group.

“It seems once again that profit has taken priority over the safety of workers, communities and environment.”

Protests taking place at the ports of Picton, Wellington and Tauranga will highlight the large amount of methyl bromide gas that is being used at these ports, and the risk this poses to worker’s health and the ozone layer.

Protest Schedule

Picton

Date: Friday April 23
Time: 12.00
Location: Shakespeare Bay Lookout
Map – http://bit.ly/9tNucR

Wellington

Date: Monday April 26
Time: 12.00
Location: The footpath outside of the Bluebridge entrance
Map – http://bit.ly/9MqJ2R

Tauranga

Date: Wednesday April 28
Time: 12.00
Location: Corner of Totara St and Hull Rd. It is the first intersection from the wharf.
Map – http://bit.ly/aZW3US

Members of the Coalition are:

Soil and Health Association of New Zealand
The Green Party
Rail and Maritime Transport Union
New Zealand Council of Trade Unions
The Safe Food Campaign
Guardian of the Sounds
Pesticide Action Network Aotearoa New Zealand
Maritime Union of New Zealand
Friends of Nelsonhaven and Tasman Bay
The Alliance Party

The Maritime Union has attacked comments by the group Stakeholders in Methyl Bromide Reduction (STIMBR) which downplays valid concerns about the use of the poison gas.

Maritime Union of New Zealand General Secretary Joe Fleetwood has condemned a statement from STIMBR (1 February 2010) entitled “Gas links with disease unfounded” that asserts there is no proof that methyl bromide is connected with motor neuron disease.

Mr Fleetwood says there is no proof as yet, but important new research into the health hazards of methyl bromide has detected possible links and there has been criticism of past investigations.

“On the one hand STIMBR is claiming no one knows what causes motor neuron disease, yet the very reason that further research is being done is due to possible links. As responsible employers they should be encouraging any new findings that build on current limited knowledge. STIMBR also quote outdated research in their public statement.”

STIMBR is made up of businesses that have a direct financial interest in the use of methyl bromide, but until recently had Government representation and financial contributions.

Mr Fleetwood says he is very concerned that the Government has until recently been officially represented on what was clearly a partisan organization that appeared motivated by the interests of private businesses, and which had no representation of maritime workers.

“STIMBR is not an industry group, it’s an employers group, managers who sit in offices a safe distance from methyl bromide fumigation. It’s a public relations cookup to portray themselves as reducing methyl bromide when they are the beneficiaries of its use. What Government agencies were doing involved with STIMBR is a major concern and we will be approaching the Government on this matter.”

In the October 2009 STIMBR newsletter (http://www.stimbr.org.nz/STIMBRNewsletter8.pdf), the Chair Gordon Hosking noted that government departments had advised they would no longer be members of STIMBR but would seek observer status due to perceived conflict of interest and “will be discussed further by the management committee.”

The same newsletter lists as its first item under “Specific areas of progress” the achievement of “Protecting methyl bromide use”, which seems an odd area of progress for a group whose name is “Stakeholders in Methyl Bromide Reduction”. Are they protecting the use of Methyl Bromide or reducing the use of Methyl Bromide?

A May 2008 newsletter stated STIMBR were “pleased to acknowledge contributions to STIMBR from organisations with a keen interest in methyl bromide reduction, but who are non-users of the fumigant. Noted in our last newsletter were Biosecurity New Zealand, Ministry of Economic Development, Scion, and Crop and Food Research.”

New research is being carried out at Canterbury University where toxicology professor Ian Shaw has been reported as saying a link had been found which involved a reaction when mixing methyl bromide with a protective chemical found in human cells.

Dr Shaw has stated the study by the Nelson Medical Officer of Health should have looked further into the rate of port deaths from motor neuron disease which was many hundreds of times higher than normal.

Mr Fleetwood says that if it is proved in future research there is a link between methyl bromide and motor neuron disease, or any other illness, then the Maritime Union will be involved in any efforts to hold employers, Government and individuals (including STIMBR members) accountable and liable for any harm to workers.

The Maritime Union of New Zealand says that new research on methyl bromide gas at the University of Canterbury is vital to ensuring workers and local residents are not at risk from the use of the toxic fumigant.

Maritime Union General Secretary Joe Fleetwood says the early reports of a possible link between methyl bromide and nerve damage, while not surprising, should make it clear that use of methyl bromide must be immediately stopped while further research is carried out.

While researchers at Canterbury University are in the early stages of examining links, toxicology professor Ian Shaw has been reported as saying a link had been found which involved a reaction when mixing methyl bromide with a protective chemical found in human cells.

Mr Fleetwood says while the Union is very happy with the initiative of Dr Shaw and the University of Canterbury, it wants to know why the Government and its responsible agencies did not act to have methyl bromide thoroughly investigated when these concerns were raised in the past.

“If there is any suggestion that lack of safeguards by employers or state agencies has resulted in preventable harm, then the Maritime Union will be considering legal action.”

One of the biggest uses of methyl bromide is to fumigate logs in New Zealand ports and on ships, and waterfront workers and seafarers who were members of the Maritime Union often worked nearby.

Four port workers in Nelson died of degenerative motor neuron disease between 2002 and 2004 and there have been ongoing concerns that methyl bromide was a common factor, despite a report from the Nelson Medical Officer of Health that found no link.

The Maritime Union has argued for several years that methyl bromide use should be stopped, along with the Council of Trade Unions and the Green Party.

Mr Fleetwood says that the Union would like to see the research continue and did not want political pressures to disrupt scientific inquiry.

He says that if there is any doubt whatsoever that methyl bromide could be harming workers, then its use must be stopped, and the upcoming ERMA review should be extended to take account of any new findings.

ENDS

For more information, contact Maritime Union General Secretary Joe Fleetwood on 021364649

The Maritime Union is supporting calls for an inquiry into the toxic gas Methyl Bromide, used as a timber fumigant in New Zealand ports.

A group of Nelson widows has called for the inquiry after six former port workers contracted the rare and fatal motor neurone disease, which has already led to the deaths of five.

Maritime Union General Secretary Trevor Hanson says that waterfront workers have concerns about the gas as they work in confined spaces with it.

One incident that occurred in 1999 led to workers being hospitalized after exposure to the gas.

Mr Hanson says that the Nelson Medical Officer of Health and Occupational Safety and Health (OSH) should investigate whether the cases of motor neurone disease are linked to Methyl Bromide poisoning.

The Maritime Union says that precautionary blood testing of workers is another useful step, but the Union would like to workers to have the ability to self-test toxicity levels when they are working with fumigated timber.

Concerns about methyl bromide leaching from timber loaded onto ships also had to be addressed by independent tests.

Mr Hanson says he agrees with reported comments by Port Nelson environmental consultative committee member Rachel Reese that the Government should fund a multi-agency investigation into the use of Methyl Bromide.

“Methyl Bromide is a toxic gas and we are concerned about anecdotal evidence that in the past there has been a too relaxed attitude towards its use around workers.”