Asbestos Victims Fear Hardie Industry Move to US
Union leaders and asbestos victims groups are up in arms about James Hardie Industries’ proposed move from Australia to the United States, asking the company to provide assurances that the move won’t adversely affect their members.
According to an article in The Australian, many fear that Hardie’s plan for “global restructuring” is just a way for them to get out of a deal forged late last year, which demands that, for the next 40 years, they compensate victims of asbestos diseases caused by exposure to Hardie-produced products.
Union leaders also fear that Hardie’s exit from Australia will mean the loss of hundreds of jobs. ACTU president Sharan Burrow and Asbestos Diseases Foundation president Barry Robson said they were “prepared to renew the campaign to ensure the global building materials company met its responsibilities.”
According to the article, under Hardie’s so-called Project Red, the company plans to liquidate its Dutch parent, transfer assets to a new U.S. company and to an international tax haven, and sell off its Australian and New Zealand operations, or reincorporate them as independent local companies.
“These issues raise serious concerns and the ACTU can guarantee it will stand up for asbestos victims,” Ms. Burrow told The Australian. “We seek an assurance from James Hardie that in the move to the US there will be no adverse impact on the asbestos compensation and also that the jobs of Hardie’s workers in Australia will be preserved.”
Hardie finalized the compensation plan with the New South Wales (NSW) government last year, to the tune of about $4 billion. However, Hardie signed the deal only on the basis that it was “voluntary” and did not accept legal liability, and stated at the time that “no absolute assurance can be given that funding is sufficient”.
NSW Premier, Morris Iemma, told the paper she had no knowledge of the matter. “However, the final funding agreement was drafted to last 40 years and it provides a process to manage issues such as change of country and change of parent company,” she said. “We’ll look at the details of any proposal James Hardie puts forward to ensure future claimants’ rights are protected.”
Still, others believe Hardie is trying to wiggle their way out of taking responsibility for hundreds of asbestos-related deaths. “They are still doing anything to stop paying victims,” said Robson, a long-time advocate for asbestos disease sufferers.
