“Trade union rights are under threat world wide from unemployment, precarious jobs and exploitative labour practices” says Anita Normark General Secretary of the BWI representing 13 million workers in the construction and timber trades. We are calling on our 317 affiliates to march on the streets this Mayday to defend Trade Union Rights so that every worker has the right to Decent Work – that means the right to join the union, to organize and to collective bargaining. “Therefore, the right to good working conditions, free from deaths, injuries and ill health caused by exposure to dust and fumes and chemicals and punishing workloads, proper contracts, working hours, paid sick leave, holidays and pensions.”
“Workers want to be treated with respect and to enjoy their legal rights – no decent employer can object to this” says Anita Normark “but some employers use the vulnerability of migrant workers looking for a living to undermine workers’ rights and indeed human rights.”

The most visible consequence is the horrible death toll in our sectors – one hundred thousand people are killed on building sites every year, tropical loggers stand a one in ten chance of being killed in a working lifetime.  Millions of workers are routinely exposed to deadly substances that are known to cause cancer, like deadly chrysotile asbestos in building materials or formaldehyde in wood processing and furniture. Young people, women and migrants are the most vulnerable among the workforce and we need solidarity to improve working conditions for all workers alike.

Mobilize for Decent Work this Mayday! Trade Union Rights are Human Rights! Workplaces are safe workplaces! Chrysotile asbestos is the most widespread workplace cancer hazard for workers for workers in the building sector, causing 100,000 deaths a year. BWI continues to call on global policymakers to ban deadly Chrysolite Asbestos. SEND OUR CAMPAIGN LETTER on asbestos NOW here:
<http://www.bwint.org/default.asp?Index=1513>
 
ANITA NORMARK – General Secretary of the Building and Wood Workers’ International- BWI