Alliance@IBM, a division of the Communications
Workers of America trying to organize IBM employees, has posted a
survey on its Internet site that asks former workers for information
about where they worked, when, and what chemicals they were exposed
to. It also asks for information about illnesses they or their
children have suffered.
At its peak in the late 1980s, IBM's payroll in the Southern Tier
included about 18,000 workers. Thousands more worked at the company
at various times over the years.
The survey is an attempt to quantify anecdotal information from
workers about chemical exposure on the job and the consequences,
said Lee Conrad, head of Alliance@IBM, based in Endicott.
"I think there are people still getting sick from exposure to
chemicals from years ago," he said.
IBM spokesman Todd Martin said exceeding health and safety
standards was "part of the culture at IBM."
"To the best of my knowledge, there is no scientific evidence
that links any illness to the IBM workplace," he said. "To the
contrary, we have a very strong commitment to employees' well-being
and safety."
Conrad said he expects the survey will support an opposing view.
"We're not doctors or lawyers. We're going to put together the
data and let experts figure it out," he said.
Experts of this sort are being called on by lawyers in courtrooms
in Westchester County, San Jose, Calif., and Rochester, Minn., where
more than 350 families are claiming IBM workers suffered death or
illnesses related to chemical exposure on the job.
Plaintiffs are seeking damages for birth defects in their
children, and illnesses or deaths suffered by workers or former
workers.
Interviews with veteran workers at IBM in Endicott yield a range
of perspectives, from those who claim the company's relentless quest
for profit came at the expense of workers' safety, to those who say
the company always put the welfare of its employees first.
At a public forum last month, James Little, a 15-year IBM veteran
now working for Endicott Interconnect Technologies, said IBM coerced
and bullied workers into stifling complaints of chemical exposure on
the job, a claim supported by Conrad.
Tony Potenziano, 73, a Vestal resident who worked for IBM from
1957 to 1987, said that while chemical-handling standards may have
been much more lax in the 1970s and 1980s, IBM strove to be ahead of
the industry in terms of safety.
"Safety was always a No. 1 thing," said Potenziano, who was a
line worker before becoming a manager.
Conrad disagrees. His organization is especially concerned with
the welfare of workers in Endicott, East Fishkill and Burlington,
Vt., which used many of the same chemicals. In Endicott, the company
used gross quantities of trichloroethylene, perchloroethylene,
methylene chloride and other chemicals from a family called volatile
organic compounds. The chemicals, used in the assembly of circuit
boards, can cause burns, rashes and organ failure in people exposed
to large quantities over short periods. They also are suspected of
causing cancer in people exposed to small amounts over years.
Alliance@IBM has worked with environmental advocates in the
community, where homes and businesses next to the former IBM
facility have been tainted with chemicals. The groups include
Residents Action Group of Endicott, or RAGE, and Citizens Acting to
Restore Endicott's Environment, or CARE.
"It's all part of the same fight to get IBM to own up to what
toxic chemicals have done to this community," Conrad said.
