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CBC Newfoundland and Labrador - Miners' union challenges asbestos expert
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Miners' union challenges asbestos expert
Last
updated Jan 31 2006 08:50 PM NST
CBC News
The union that represents former asbestos miners around Baie Verte claims an expert hired by the worker's compensation commission has ties to the asbestos industry.
However, renowned McGill University researcher Bruce Case is firing back, pointing out that he has done work in the past on behalf of sick workers.
Bruce Case
Asbestos has left a tough legacy in the Baie Verte region, where former workers say decades of exposure are linked to chronic health problems, including cancer.
At hearings last week, the United Steelworkers union said its members have not been well served by the Workplace Health, Safety and Compensation Commission.
FROM JAN.
25, 2006: Asbestos decisions unfair, union claims
"I implore you to consider whether or not it's appropriate for a governmental agency to have an expert who has studies who have been funded by the asbestos corporations," union official Marie Kelly told the hearing last week.
The commission has relied on the advice of Case, an environmental pathologist at McGill University.
In one decision, Case...
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