Search

This article studies the intertwined processes of popular protest and archival suppression in early modern Venice. It concentrates on a cycle of contention extending over several months in 1569, including a labour protest that started among the workers of the state shipyard and turned into a large revolt, anonymous placards and food riots. Such was the extent of the unrest that a major explosion in the shipyard raised suspicion of sabotage. Eventually, the government had to capitulate to the workers' demands. This cycle of protests in Venice, a city normally renowned for peace and concord, has left minimal traces in the official records: the government tried to suppress the protests not only in practice but also on paper. It carried out convictions in secret, obliterated the revolt from its archives, buried any mention of protest under countless other records, and elided dissent from published histories. By using a variety of non-governmental sources, it is possible to investigate how contentious politics were written out of government records, and hence of history. Manipulating archives was always easier than subduing people: the more power was contested in the streets, the more it needed to be asserted in the archive. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article focuses on working life of shipyard workers in Dhaka, Bangladesh. It informs that the shipyard owners do not provide workers with any personal safety equipment or put in place any safety measures. It also pays attention to the role of corruption of regulatory bodies, and the workers' lack of choice for alternative livelihoods to triumph over worker's rights.

The recent global economic crisis and the concomitant austerity policy responses exacerbated the position of organized labor, both in terms of inequality in resource allocation and ideological backlash consolidated in the rise of reactionary politics. Resting upon a variety of data (ethnography, administrative data, collective agreements, press material) collected from Greek shipbuilding and ship repairing industry, we reconstruct a case of radical political unionism dealt with employer hostility and escalating far right violence. Despite the inconsistencies noticed, the Trade Union of Metal Workers of Attica and the Shipbuilding Industry of Greece (TUMW) demonstrated an exemplary resilience as regards far right counter-hegemonic practices. However vivid the far right activism might appear, it proved incapable of shaping a nationalist labor union that would dislocate TUMW. This paper tells the story of a battle against social injustice and right-wing extremism and its wider importance for the Greek and global labor movement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The church of the Holy Family in Salerno (Italy) built in 1971 radically revolutionized the spatial structure of pre-conciliar church building design. The circular stepped geometry of the roof required a complex work with the employment of shipyard workers to come out with a unique geometry. However, such futuristic geometry also resulted in challenging conditions for its acoustics, as they emerged when the construction was completed. In this paper, the results of measurements of the spatial distribution of the acoustic characteristics in this large space are reported. The analysis of the acoustic parameter values confirms the poor acoustic conditions for speech and music listening. With the help of modelling, the authors have investigated possible solutions for the acoustic correction of this modern architecture. This paper reports the conclusions of such a study. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In 2012, the large Uljanik shipyard in Pula (Croatia) was finally privatized, as a result of pressure from the European Union. The new owners were the workers (and pensioners) of the shipyard. History seemed to have come full circle: thanks to ‘privatization’, a previously ‘socially owned’ Yugoslav enterprise returned once again into the hands of workers. Yet, a closer look reveals that much has changed both on the shop floor and in the business strategies of the firm. In this article, we discuss performances of transformation relating to the Uljanik shipyard over the period from 1970 to the present, drawing on archival research, observations made in Pula and interviews with Uljanik workers. The article reveals how workers, managers and state officials understood their roles on the stage of this enterprise, and how they interrelated. Various important paradoxes relating to the ‘transformation’ from Yugoslav self-management to self-managed capitalism are revealed in the process. These experiences help to explain the difficulties in restructuring shipbuilding in Croatia today. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article analyses worker narratives of discontent in relation to a series of crises at the Uljanik Shipyard in Pula, Croatia, over the course of 2018. It draws on five months of fieldwork conducted in the period between two worker protests at the shipyard surrounding the late payment of wages, the second of which developed into a large-scale strike. The author describes the crises, provides historical details about the shipyard and about trade unions and other forms of worker organizing, and offers notes on the political context. He analyses the psychic landscape of the most recent crisis period, with a focus on how anxiety, fear and suspicion were manifest. Finally, he discusses rumours and the blaming strategies adopted by workers, relating them to the importance of personalized relations in the regional political economy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article revisits the course of events of Monfalcone (shipyard) workers counter-exodus, sifting a time period spanning from 1946 to early 50's. After exposing factual circumstances, the main aspects of this event are considered, focussing on the arrival of Monfalcone shipyard workers into Tito's Yugoslavia, with particular reference to the realities of Fiume and Pola. Together with the cases of Monfalconesi, the course is shapedof some other Italian communists who migrated to Yugoslavia with goodwill, in order to actively participate in the construction of a socialist country society. In June 1948 the Cominform resolution splitted the Communist movement. As did the large majority of Italian communists, the uttermost part of Monfalcone workers stood in favour of the document from the Informbiro. They faced the repression by the Udba, Tito's political police; they were arrested and sentenced to serve into Tito camps, especially in GoliOtok. Finally the article deals with the Monfalconesi comeback to Italy, where they suffered, as defeated, the consequences of their choice, with regards both to nationalist and reactionary right forces, and to communist party former comrades, who, after a while, understood their discontent and allowed them to resumetheir political activities in the Pci. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: We conducted a questionnaire survey of shipyard workers to identify difficulties experienced due to orthopedic or musculoskeletal disorders.Methods: The subjects were 375 workers (male, 361; female, 14) who worked for a single shipbuilding company. Questionnaire items covered the working environment, including work environment, working posture, and the weight of objects that the subject dealt with, as well as physical and lifestyle characteristics, namely smoking habits, drinking habits, sleeping hours, medications, exercise habits, and any weight gain of 20 kg or more since the age of 20. Subjects were also asked to indicate if they regularly experienced any of 17 listed difficulties in their daily lives, and to use an illustration of the human body to mark any body parts that were painful or hard to move.Results: The mean age was 41.8 years (19-73 years). The lower and/or upper back was the most frequent site of pain (46.5%), followed by the shoulders (11.4%), knees (9.6%), and neck (5.3%). Maintaining a half-sitting posture was the most problematic activity of daily living. Back pain was less frequent in subjects who exercised regularly, and more common in those who worked with heavy loads or in narrow spaces. A multinomial logistic regression analysis showed that absence from work was more common in subjects with back pain who had gained weight since their youth, who smoked, who used fire while welding metal, or who worked in a lying posture. While 35.4% of subjects had experienced absence from work due to musculoskeletal pain, only 5.1% were permitted by their employer to alter their work content or reduce their workload.Conclusions: These results indicate that a large number of shipyard workers have difficulties in their work and daily life activities due to back pain. To prevent worsening of pain and to reduce work absence, it is important to provide appropriate training to minimize the risk factors for back pain that were identified in this study. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In a previous analysis of a cohort of shipyard workers, we found excess mortality from all causes, lung cancer, and mesothelioma for longer work durations and in specific occupations. Here, we expand the previous analyses by evaluating mortality associated with 5 chemical exposures: asbestos, solvents, lead, oils/greases, and wood dust. Data were gathered retrospectively for 4,702 workers employed at the Coast Guard Shipyard, Baltimore, MD (1950–1964). The cohort was traced through 2001 for vital status. Associations between mortality and these 5 exposures were calculated via standardized mortality ratios (SMRs). We found all 5 substances to be independently associated with mortality from mesothelioma, cancer of the respiratory system, and lung cancer. Findings from efforts to evaluate solvents, lead, oils/greases, and wood dust in isolation of asbestos suggested that the excesses from these other exposures may be due to residual confounding from asbestos exposure. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Risks for occupational accidents are significantly associated by individual and workplace factors. This study has been designed in order to identify individual and workplace factors that increase the risk of an accident, and to provide evidence for the achievement of precautionary actions in workplace environment. Registered fatal occupational injuries between the years 2004 and 2014 were investigated. The case reports of shipyard occupational accidents of Ministry of Labour and Social Security of Turkey have been analyzed. Then, a workplace survey was conducted among workers and foremen at Turkish shipyards located in Istanbul region. Classification of fatal occupational accidents revealed five major reasons for the shipyard workers; falling from higher elevation to a lower level, exposed to electric shock, fire and/or explosion, being struck by or struck against objects and caught in between, and drowning. The ratio of the places of fatal occupational accidents at Turkish shipyards can be classified as occurring inside the ship (43.7%) and the shipyard (56.3%). The questionnaire contains four groups: personal data, workplace environment, personal factors and commuting factors. The total number of questions is 56. The results reveal that substandard low education level of shipyard workers, housekeeping at workshops, lunch effect, bad weather conditions, improper use of PPE, being tired and sleepy, overcapacity ship production, hectic work, overtime, being a subcontractor worker and strenuous work are main risk factors for workplace accidents. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Following its introduction in Yugoslavia in June 1950, self-management was brought into the Uljanik Shipyard in Pula in October of the same year. It took ten years for this new system to become familiar, but by the 1960s the system of self-management was well-established. Using the well-preserved archives of the shipyard an attempt is made to present the position of workers in self-management in the period from mid-1964 to mid1966, where it is important to find an answer to the question where exactly did workers stand between the sense of "alienation" and "power" that self-management gave or could give them? By examining the single mandate and through a parallel analysis of the minutes from the sessions of self-management bodies from 1964 to 1966, it can be concluded that formally workers had some power to adopt decisions, but they did not exercise it often, that is, the adoption of decisions was largely directed and controlled by the professional management. Thus, workers were left on the sidelines and were often reduced to voting for or against a particular proposal, and self-management bodies were to a certain extent alienated from workers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An introduction is presented in which the editor discusses articles in the issue on topics including the 2020 Mauritius oil spill, alcohol use during the covid-19 pandemic and working lives of the men of shipyards of Dhaka, Bangladesh.

The labouring classes of early modern Venice, the popolani, made up nearly 90 per cent of the city's population. To this point the relevant historiography has focused almost exclusively on their professional and civic role. It is the core contention of this article that the contribution of the popolani to the Venetian economy and society far exceeded their documented professional and civic function. Using as a case study the homogeneous group of the shipbuilders and sailors of Venice and drawing on newly discovered primary sources from the Venetian State Archives, this article shows the distinct contributions of the popolani to the city's economy and society through their charity to those in need. This took the form of sizeable dotal and charitable donations within and beyond the family. In one of the first attempts to explore the philanthropy of the Venetian workforce, this article challenges the existing scholarly view that charity was the sole responsibility of the government and the nobility in early modern Venice. It further shows that marriage was not merely a financial union for the popolani; it was a sanctuary for lasting companionship. Ultimately, the article offers a fresh vista onto the socio-economic role of the popolani in early modern Venice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background An apparently high frequency of carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS) among shipyard workers undergoing health surveillance because of exposure to hand-transmitted vibration (HTV) prompted concerns that current regulatory limits on exposure might not protect adequately against the disorder. Aims To explore whether within regulatory limits, higher exposures to HTV predispose to CTS. Methods As part of a retrospective audit, we compared duration and current intensity of exposure to HTV in cases with new-onset CTS and controls matched for age. Conditional logistic regression was used to quantify associations, which were summarized by odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs). Results There were 23 cases and 55 controls. After adjustment for body mass index and previous diagnosis of diabetes, no clear associations were observed either with duration of exposure to HTV or with current intensity of exposure. Risk was non-significantly elevated in men with ≥30 years' exposure to HTV (OR 1.6), but in the highest category of current exposure [8-h energy-equivalent frequencyweighted acceleration (A8) ≥ 4.0 m/s²], risk was lower than that in the reference category (A8 < 2.5 m/s2). Moreover, there was a significantly reduced risk of CTS in men with a previous diagnosis of hand-arm vibration syndrome (HAVS) (OR 0.2, 95% CI 0.1-0.9). Conclusions We found no evidence that below the current limit for A(8) of 5 m/s², higher exposures to HTV predispose to CTS. However, care should be taken not to overlook the possibility of treatable CTS when workers with diagnosed HAVS present with new or worsening sensory symptoms in the hand. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Workers in shipyard companies are exposed to different respiratory hazards. The present case-control study was designed to evaluate pulmonary function tests and respiratory symptoms among shipyard workers in Asaluyeh city in Southwest Iran. Material and Method: Between March and October 2015 we recruited participants from two separate populations: shipyard workers as cases and office workers from the same shipyard company, who are not exposed to the same respiratory hazards, as controls. History was obtained from all participants and they all underwent physical examination and spirometry. Results: Respiratory signs and symptoms were present in a significantly higher number of shipyard workers compared to the unexposed office workers. Similarly, there were significant spirometric differences between cases and controls. Conclusion: It seems that workplace hazards play a more significant role than other factors such as air pollution in development of respiratory diseases, and future studies for investigating respiratory symptoms, pulmonary function parameters, biological monitoring and measurement of respiratory hazard need to be performed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents a study examining the role argon plays in causing unusual fatigue among workers at ambient conditions with reference to an investigation in an aluminum shipbuilding environment in Vancouver, British Columbia,. Topics include the diving literature stating that argon produces effects even at low gas pressure used at shallow depths and the finding of the study that exposure to argon varied with job title, and by work location and orientation.

The article presents a study which examines the relative costs of implementing occupational health and safety (OHS) measures and to determine whether Occupational Health and Safety Advisory Services (OHSAS) 18001 certification is economically advantageous. The study involves the returns of OHS measures at Western Marine Shipyard Ltd. in Bangladesh. Costs measured include investments, personal protective equipment and training. It concludes that OHS decreases injuries and increases efficiency.

Political participation has generally been evaluated among civic resident populations using the indices of voting and campaign participation. However, migrants’ engagement with politics in their home country has become increasingly virtual with the advent of mobile/social media, suggesting a need to go beyond traditional theorizations. This article tries to understand how affordances of new media are leveraged by migrants with different political orientations as they engaged politically with their homeland. Two contexts were identified to understand their transnational political exchanges: (a) elections in homeland India, and (b) the backdrop of various civil society movements. In-depth interviews were conducted among 31 Indian migrants in Singapore with diverse political ideologies and linguistic backgrounds. Calling, messaging, sharing of news stories/posts, and commenting were the most commonly used mobile affordances. Social constructivist tradition in technology appropriation found support in the way respondents tested the affordances of mobile/social media before adding them to their usage repertoire. Due to limited political entitlements and lack of leeway in work schedules, no goal-oriented use of communication technologies was made. Political discussion hardly led to political action—such as demonstrations or public speeches—in the host country. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The article discusses the lack of skilled labor in the shipbuilding industry in Canada as of October 2014. Topics covered include the launch of master of engineering in naval architecture and marine engineering (NAME) program by the University of British Columbia (UBC) in response to the country's National Shipbuilding Procurement Strategy (NSPS), and courses under the graduate program, including Introduction to Ship Structures, Advanced Ship Hydrodynamics and Ship Dynamics and Control.

The article discusses the training and development program of shipbuilding firm Seaspan as of October 2014. Topics covered include the firm's involvement in constructing non-combat ships for Canada under the country's National Shipbuilding Procurement Strategy (NSPS), and Seaspan's efforts to promote advancement in learning and development across the areas of marine and ship repair in line with the workforce strategy of the British Columbia (B.C.) Shipbuilding and Ship Repair Board.

The article looks at the shipbuilding industry in British Columbia during World War I. It profiles the industry on the eve of the war and describes its wartime expansion. It discusses the interactions among businesses, labor, and government over shipbuilding contracts and industry wages. Topics include shipyard worker unions, strikes, the U.S. as a model of labor conditions, and the Canadian Imperial Munitions Board (IMB). Shipbuilding firms cited include Wallace Shipyards and Coughlan & Sons.

One of the functions of the port complex rioplatense was successfully provide a wide range of goods and services necessary for the maintenance of vessels that visited and crews, both during his stays as return trips. The port complex was able to meet these demands and meeting them in the eighteenth century led to relative prosperity for the elite and for sectors outside it. This paper analyzes the economic participation of carpenters, shipwrights, blacksmiths, Lamplighters and other workers in the fairing and frigates caulking post in Montevideo, in order to ask what could have been his participation in the process of emancipation; thinking priori that while the Crown would generate demands could not be found widespread social unrest causes economic reasons but, however, it seems that the general level state and people in Montevideo followed his elite in the revolutionary process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite a varied historical literature on the nineteenth-century royal dockyards, very little has been written about the health issues associated with naval shipbuilding or the healthcare facilities that were provided for dockworkers in the period. This article focuses mainly on the latter. Drawing on archival sources from the home dockyards, an examination is made of the duties and responsibilities of dockyard surgeons. These are found to have expanded considerably as healthcare provision became steadily more comprehensive. It is argued that as providers to a civilian workforce, the naval authorities were in the vanguard when it came to implementing perceived advances in medical practice. It is also contended, however, that while many dockworkers benefited as a result, this positive appraisal needs to be set against the more ambiguous aspects of the surgeon's role. Although surgeons treated the sick and injured, their growing prominence in other dockyard matters, such as retirement and the policing of sickness, is shown to have created tension in their relationship with the workforce. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article documents the participation of British and Irish immigrants in an ambitious programme of naval reform in eighteenth-century Spain. In so doing, it explores their integration in their new host country in the town of Ferrol, located in north-west Spain. This town grew up around the royal dockyard which was established there by the middle of the century. In this period, the government of the Spanish monarchy actively developed a policy to attract and import foreign labour for the dockyards in order to face serious competition with foreign countries, gain supremacy over the seas, defend the country and protect its interests abroad. The migration of technicians and craftsmen from British yards to Ferrol has been often analysed on the basis of foreign experience and technology for the development of the shipbuilding industry but little attention was paid to the internal structure of this immigrant population and to the nature of the motivating factors behind these individuals's decision to move to Spain. Based on this argument, this study addresses the presence of women in this migration process, analyses the incentives for migrating and considers the role of social networks as a channel for migration and integration. These issues have been dealt with using data from primary sources which provide a more complete picture to understand this migration to Ferrol and to study the identification and adaptation of immigrants within their new social and cultural environment. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to describe normative data for the neuromuscular assessments of the hand-arm vibration syndrome (HAVS) in Korean. Methods: Data for the vibrotactile perception threshold (VPT) at three frequencies (31.5, 125, and 250 Hz), the hand grip strength (HGS), the finger pinch strength (FPS), the finger tapping test, and the Purdue pegboard tests were collected from 120 male office workers aged 30-59 years with no prior history of regular use of handheld vibrating tools. The collected data were compared with the results of a similar study of shipbuilding workers in order to investigate the diagnostic utility of clinical test for HAVS. Results: The mean VPT values indicate that no significant differences were observed between the dominant and non-dominant hands or between the index and little fingers. The age group of 30s was highly sensitive to vibration input with a peak in sensitivity at 125 Hz among all age groups. In neuromuscular performance, dominant hands are usually more accurate, dexterous, and functionally quicker than non-dominant hands. The index finger was superior to the little finger in the finger tapping counts ( p < 0.05). Also, FPS was greater in the index finger than in the middle finger ( p < 0.05). The HGS of dominant hands was significantly stronger than that of non-dominant hands ( p < 0.05). When the normative data were compared with the data of shipyard workers exposed to vibration, there were statistically significant differences in VPT and neuromuscular functions. Conclusions: The current data can be used to evaluate HAVS in Korean male workers. Age is an important factor for VPT. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite a varied historical literature on the nineteenth- century royal dockyards, very little has been written about the health issues associated with naval shipbuilding or the healthcare facilities that were provided for dockworkers in the period. This article focuses mainly on the latter. Drawing on archival sources from the home dockyards, an examination is made of the duties and responsibilities of dockyard surgeons. These are found to have expanded considerably as healthcare provision became steadily more comprehensive. It is argued that as providers to a civilian workforce, the naval authorities were in the vanguard when it came to implementing perceived advances in medical practice. It is also contended, however, that while many dockworkers benefited as a result, this positive appraisal needs to be set against the more ambiguous aspects of the surgeon's role. Although surgeons treated the sick and injured, their growing prominence in other dockyard matters, such as retirement and the policing of sickness, is shown to have created tension in their relationship with the workforce. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An essay is presented in which the author reflects on his life as the son of a doctor growing up in a shipbuilding community in Maine before leaving home. He notes that other members of the community treated him differently based on his father's profession, which led him to seek acceptance by apprenticing in carpentry during high school.

The article discusses working class people and labor organizing in the U.S. in the 1970s, with a focus on shipyard workers in Newport News, Virginia and a workplace union election in 1978. Topics include National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), economic security and unionization, and the conglomerate Tenneco Inc.'s corporate antiwork practices and the workers' responding strike. Additional information is presented on the union's legacy for progressive politics, labor law and organized labor, and the union United Steelworkers of America.

Abstract: Objectives: We evaluated color vision impairment in workers exposed to organic solvents, especially xylene. Methods: Three groups of subjects, comprising 63 workers occupationally exposed to organic solvents, 122 non-exposed workers in the same industry, and 185 subjects from the general population as controls, were evaluated for color vision. Exposure to solvents was indirectly evaluated by measuring the concentration of a urinary metabolite. Color vision was assessed using the Lanthony Desaturated 15-hue (Lanthony D-15) panel. Results: Color confusion index (CCI) values in the exposed group were significantly higher than in the non-exposed workers or the general population, after adjustment for age and education, and significantly correlated with the concentration of methylhippuric acid. Color vision impairments were detected more frequently among the exposed group, and the most common types were type III and complex impairments. The rate of type III impairments was 9.52% in the exposed group, 1.64% in the non-exposed group, and 1.62% in the general population. Conclusion: Our results support the hypothesis that acquired color vision impairments could be induced by exposure to xylene. Testing for color vision impairment is a relatively simple, non-invasive and sensitive diagnostic method for relatively low-level exposures to xylene. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

The article examines the use of subcontracting work within companies in the shipbuilding industry in East Asia since the second half of the 20th century. The author situates this phenomenon within a broader history of subcontracting and industrial relations in the 19th and 20th centuries. Two business enterprises in particular are studied as examples: Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Ltd. (MHI) of Japan and Hyundai Heavy Industries Ltd. (HHI) of Korea and their respective shipyards in Nagasaki, Japan, and Ulsan, South Korea.

Background: The high mesothelioma incidence in Monfalcone, Italy, is mainly attributable to shipbuilding activity. Mesothelioma risk among shipyard workers in Monfalcone is poorly defined. Materials and Methods: Workers hired at the Monfalcone shipyards in the period 1950-1959 were identified by surveying shipyard roll. The list of the workers was coupled with the archive data of Monfalcone and Trieste Hospitals. Mesotheliomas diagnosed in the above people were reexamined. Results: Of 1,403 workers hired in 1950-1959, 35 were diagnosed with mesothelioma (34 pleural, one peritoneal) between 1978 and 2012. Latency periods exceeded 40 years in 31 cases. The highest percentage of mesotheliomas was observed among people aged 14-19 years at hiring time (3.4%). Four mesothelioma patients had a blood relative with the same tumor. Conclusions: The present findings show high mesothelioma percentage among shipyard workers hired at young ages. The effects of asbestos exposure begun in 1950-1959 cannot be considered as exhausted. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The authors examined the relation between occupation and lung cancer in two patient cohorts from different areas of Romania: Constanta and Valcea. In 2005-2010, in Constanta and Valcea counties, 488 and 344 incident lung cancer cases were enrolled. Lifetime occupational histories (industry and job title) were coded by using standard international classifications and were translated into occupations known (list A) or suspected (list B) to be associated with lung cancer. An exposure excess of 14.6% for patients from Constanta ever employed in occupations known to be associated with lung cancer (list A) was found, with the largest contributions from the oil refinery and shipbuilding industries No overall excess was found for list B with the exception of bus and truck drivers (men) and launderers and dry cleaners (women), in both groups of patients. These results indicate that past exposure to occupational carcinogens remains an important determinant of lung cancer occurrence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Sociologie du Travail is the property of Association pour le Developpement de la Sociologie du Travail and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The article offers information on a study focused on determining the prevalence of hand-arm vibration syndrome (HAVS) in people using hand-held vibrating tools during working in a tropical environment. It informs that a cross sectional study was done among 47 shipyard workers using instruments to determine symptoms related to HAVS. The study concluded that the prevalence of HAVS among workers in a tropical environment was lower than those working in a cold environment.

Using evidence from the shipbuilding and construction industries in Finland, this article shows how trade union responses to the introduction of migrant workers can be conditioned by product markets. Growing numbers of 'posted workers', or intra-European Union work migrants employed via transnational subcontractors, are segmenting the labour market, by competing with domestically domiciled workers whose employment is more tightly regulated. In Finland, the construction worker's union has had a far more assertive and successful approach to enforcing wage norms than the union in shipbuilding. This appears to be related to the greater exposure of shipbuilding to international product market competition. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: To evaluate the long-term health effects of occupational asbestos exposure, an updated historical cohort mortality study of workers at a refitting shipyard was undertaken. Methods: The cohort consisted of 249 male ship repair workers (90 laggers, 159 boiler repairers). To determine relative excess mortality, standardized mortality ratios (SMRs) were calculated using mortality rates among the Japanese male population. Mortality follow-up of study subjects was performed for the period from 1947 till the end of 2007. Results: We identified the vital status of 87 (96.7%) laggers and 150 (94.3%) boiler repairers. Of these, 63 (72.4%) and 95 (63.3%), respectively, died. Laggers, who had handled asbestos materials directly, showed a significantly elevated SMR of 2.64 (95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.06-5.44) for lung cancer and 2.49 (95% CI: 1.36-4.18) for nonmalignant respiratory diseases. Boiler repairers, who had many opportunities for secondary exposure to asbestos and a few for direct exposure, showed no significant elevation in SMR for lung cancer but a significantly elevated SMR of 1.78 (95% CI: 1.06-2.81) for nonmalignant respiratory diseases. In an analysis according to duration of employment, there was a significantly elevated SMR of nonmalignant respiratory diseases in the longer working years group. Among workers from both jobs, no deaths caused by mesothelioma in addition to those in the original study were found and no subject died from larynx cancer. Conclusion: This updated study confirmed a significant excess of asbestos-related mortality from diseases such as lung cancer and nonmalignant respiratory diseases among workers in a refitting shipyard in Japan. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses the fresco "The Struggle Against Racial Discrimination," painted in 1945 by American-Mexican artist Pablo O'Higgins at the Local 541 of the Ship Scalers, Dry Dock, and Miscellaneous Boat Yard Workers Union in Seattle, Washington. It comments on the efforts of the organization the Movimiento Estudiantil Chicano de Aztlán (MEChA) and Seattle's El Centro de la Raza, or the Center for the People, in advocating for the recovery and restoration of the painting at Kane Hall at the University of Washington (UW) in the 1970s.