Kodaikanal Struggle

!!! A C T I O N A L E R T !!!

2008-01-08T01:22:00.003-08:00

Sick workers; Poisoned Environment - Hold Unilever Accountable for Mercury Poisoning

March 7, 2008: Global Day of Action Against Unilever

We send you this appeal on behalf of workers and Kodaikanal residents, who were -- and many still are -- exposed to toxic mercury from Hindustan Unilever's mercury thermometer factory in Kodaikanal, India. They are pursuing the Anglo-Dutch giant seeking compensation, long-term health monitoring and rehabilitation and clean-up of mercury contamination of their home town and its beautiful lakes.

March 7, 2008, is the 7th anniversary of the day when workers and residents exposed Unilever's irresponsible dumping of toxic mercury wastes in a sensitive watershed forest and in a scrap yard in a crowded working class neighborhood.

The company’s in-house safety practices were as lax as their environmental quality control. Workers were not warned of the hazards of working with mercury. Many workers unwittingly carried the toxic metal home in their clothes and hair and exposed their children to the poison. Many of them are too sick to work for a living. Faced with mounting medical expenses under the circumstances, ex-workers’ families are being pushed to destitution. At least 19 young workers have died till date, and hundreds, including children born to exposed parents, are sick. The company refuses to come to the aid of those poisoned by it, and is delaying clean-up to international standards.

Make Unilever fulfill its obligations to the community of ex-workers and Kodaikanal residents.

Take Action: Target Unilever wherever you are

Write solidarity letters to the struggling ex- workers.
Organise candle-light vigils
Take out a rally supporting the cause of the ex-workers
Organise actions at Hindustan Lever/Unilever offices in your cities
Organise photo exhibitions on Unilever’s mercury fever in schools, community halls
Organise local boycotts of Unilever’s consumer products – tea, cosmetics, soaps and detergents Write, call, fax the local Unilever office and ask them to take responsibility for their pollution in Kodaikanal.

Make Unilever fulfill its obligations to the community of ex-workers and Kodaikanal residents.

Contact details for Unilever offices worldwide can be found by verifying their country websites. Select the country by going to: www.unilever.com/resources/downloadlibrary.asp

Write solidarity letters to:
Ponds Hindustan Lever Limited ex- mercury employees’ welfare Association,
J.R Complex,
Kamarajar Road,
Kodaikanal – 624 101. Dindigul District, Tamil Nadu, India.
Email us at: kodai.struggle@gmail.com

Watch kodaikanalstruggle.blogspot.com for campaign resources such as downloadable posters, photo exhibition, flyers and placards.

Visit http://s259.photobucket.com/albums/hh301/kodaikanalstruggle/ for pictures on
Kodaikanal struggle

Struggle for Justice in Kodai - A background

2008-01-08T01:20:00.002-08:00

The HLL mercury Thermometer Factory

Kodaikanal is a hill station and a popular tourist resort in SouthIndia. In the year 1984, Chesebrough Ponds imported its decades old mercury thermometer operations to India and set the factory up in Kodaikanal in a residential area above a rich shola called the 'pambar shola'. In 1986 Unilever's subsidiary Hindustan Lever Limited acquired this thermometer plant as a part of Unilever's acquisition of Chesebrough Ponds. Mercury and glass for producing thermometers was imported from the US and the finished thermometers were exported to Europe and the US. The factory was operating till March 2001. During its life time the factory produced 163 million thermometers till 2001 using about 900 kg of mercury annually.

Working Conditions:

During its operation the administration never followed any safety measures to protect its workers from the impacts of mercury. While working in the factory the workers had little knowledge about mercury. No safety warnings or gears were provided in the workplace and the workers handled mercury with bare hands. Many workers also report that without proper safety gadgets they carried mercury home in their hair, dress, and shoes and because of the exposure through blood also thus exposing their family also to the impacts of mercury.

Indiscriminate dumping of waste:

In 2001, Hindustan Lever Limited was caught dumping atleast 7 tons of mercury in a scrap yard located in a crowded place called Moonjikal in Kodaikanal town. Subsequently it was revealed that several shipments of mercury wastes have been sent all over Tamil Nadu and also other states. Workers also revealed that HLL has buried mercury waste within the factory premises which has leached into the Pambar Shola behind the factory thus polluting the Pambar River that runs through the Shola and joins Kumbakarai falls and finally reaches Vaigai Dam from where Madurai, the temple City gets its drinking water. The factory site is now a reservoir of mercury waste.
After knowing about the toxicity of the chemical there was immense public opposition to the operations of the plant and HLL eventually had to shut down the plant by March 7 th, 2001

Health of the ex- workers:

Only after the discovery of the mercury in the waste and knowledge of its impact on human health many ex- workers started associating their health effects to their work place exposure to mercury.

Out of over 2000 ex- workers, health details of a group of 206 ex- workers collated by the welfare association for submission in the High Court of Chennai. Out of this group of 206 ex- workers 106 have CNS related problems, 77 have skin related problems like patches in the skin. Women report frequent miscarriages, irregular menstrual cycle, infertility and the birth of babies with deformities.

The ex- workers formed the "Ponds Hindustan Lever Limited ex- mercury employees welfare association" after the factory was shut down and are fighting for compensation for the damages to their health, long-term medical rehabilitation and for the clean up of Kodaikanal's environment which gets tourists all through the year. In the past 23 years 18 ex- workers between the ages of 20 to 35 years have died and 9 children of ex- workers have died.

Demands!!!

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-> Hindustan Lever should clean up all the mercury from Kodaikanal's environment.

-> Hindustan Lever should provide for compensation to the workers who have been exposed to mercury in the factory and their families who have been contaminated by the mercury carried home from work.

-> Hindustan Lever should provide for long term medical monitoring and health remediation for all the workers and exposed residents of Kodaikanal

Health and Environmental Studies

2008-01-08T01:19:00.000-08:00

Mercury from the factory has affected Kodaikanal's environment and the health of ex- workers and their families drastically. Links below are studies done on Kodaikanal and shows the damage caused.

http://www.greenpeace.to/publications.htm#2003 http://www.greenpeace.to/publications.htm
http://www.iptindia.org/main/ipt.php?Page=Inquiry&Report=4
http://www.scmc.info/laecs/tamil_kodaikanal.htm
http://www.scmc.info/special_issues/scmc_to_hll_kodaikanal.htm