The GMB union is writing to more than 2,000 members who work in the
entertainment, hotel and catering trades to find out whether they have concerns
about passive smoking.
The register is being drawn up to ensure that, should workers bring cases
against employers, there will be information to hand about any prior concerns,
whether they raised worries with management and what the organisation’s
attitudes were towards passive smoking.
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Mick Ainsley, GMB London region organiser, said passive smoking was becoming
an issue similar to asbestos exposure, and the union needed an effective
database. "We want to know things such as what concessions they have
extracted, what concerns have been registered with their employer and so
on," he said. "We have really been pushed into this by the odd
attitude of the Government."
Last August, a GMB-backed casino worker, Michael Dunn, 58, won £50,000 in an
out-of-court settlement after claiming that years of exposure to cigarette
smoke had left him with asthma.
