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Local Group Organizes To Help Ex-Chemical Co. Workers Page 1 Volume 11 Number 26 Workers Tell Their Story a 1— ....I—l. Black Workers Say Company Never Told Them They Worked With Cancer-Causing Chemical More than a thousand former workers at Augusta Chemical Co , almost all of them are Blade may have been exposed to a cancer causing agent on a day-to day basis. No treatment has been linked to cancer for more than 100 years. Ninety percent of the workers involved are Black, and they say they were never told they were working with a substance known to cause cancer. Willie Hall, one of seven former employees who has filed a class-action suit since last June 15 against E.L Dupont de Local Group Organizes To Aid Ex-Chemical W orkers Local Blacks are organizing to come to the aid of former workers of the Augusta Chemical Co., many of whom may develop cancer due to possible exposure to toxic chemicals on the job. The recently organized group, The Council of Concerned Citizens, is chaired by the Rev. Bobby Truitt, pastor of Broadway Baptist Church. The group is receiving assistance from the A Phillip Randolph Institute, based in New York City. At a meeting in Augusta Thursday night, Chuck Brimmer, national director for safety and health occupations for the A. Phillip Randolph Nation Mourns NAACP Giant Roy Wilkins Roy Wilkins, who carved into an art form the strategy of using the federal courts to attack racial discrimination on all fronts, died of kidney failure last Tuesday at New York University Medical Center. Wilkins, called “Mr. Civil Rights” by his successor as head of the NAACP, was 80. He was admitted to the hosptial August 18. with a cardiac condition and several other medical problems complicated by the Kidney Condition. He had a history of heart trouble. Wilkins, the longtime executive director of the National Association for the Advancment of Colored People, devoted his life to turning his knowledge of the governmental system into an armful of legislation benefiting minorities. Among the bills Wilkins’ strategies guided Cenffwi IM Angus ta N ews -Heuiew Nemours and Co., Inc. and Synally Corp., doing business as the Augusta Chemical Co., charging the firm with negligence, had to have his bladder, a kidney and some of his intestines removed because of cancer. He believes it is a result of his former job of "grinding” up beta napthlamine (BNA), a substance used in making dyes. It has been linked to cancer and other problems. In an interview, Hall related: “I started working there in 1957, and worked for three years. Then, I Educational Fund, said his organization would provide “basic information, education and resources to Black workers in this community. “Our particular interest is in the Black workers because nine of ten of the workers involved are Black. "It's kind of sad to see a row of men in their 50s all walking on canes," he said referring to former workers of the Augusta Chemical Co. Brimmer said he also has a personal interest "My father worked in a chemical plant. He died at 55 years of age, and his death was job-related.” He said his group will help the men get disability, Civil Rights Acts of 1957, 1960 and 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965. But Wilkins the strategist could’ also be Wilkins the field fighter. As a young man, he traveled from New York to the Deep South, posing as an indigent laborer to investigate undercover the treatment of Blacks working on flood-control projects along the Misssippi River. During the 19305, that foray easily could have meant death for a Black, but Wilkins lived to detail the injustices he found. His published report let to a congressional investigation and legislation against unequal pay and exploitation by employees. But it was the 1954 U.S. Supreme Court decision directing public schools to desegregate that Wilkins called his greatest victory. The desegregation suit, filed by the NAACP, Pastor Wins Suit Against Natalie Cole Page 3 went back in 1968 and worked for four more years.” He said he did most of the grinding of the BNA which had to be cracked and put into liquid form to ship. ‘‘The fumes (from BNA) would hit you in the face so bad you could hardly stand it,” he said. “They used to give us masks to wear, but that only lasted for a while. They said they ran out.” He said he was never warned that the chemical he was handling each day was known to cause cancer. medicaid, and medicare. "The government is probably at fault. The company is probably at fault. But one thing is for sure, these workers were not at fault. But they are getting the highest risk of cancer on any group in this country that we know about because of their exposure to this deadly chemical. “We feel these men should know (if they have been exposed to the carcinogen) and have tests and get treatment and the Medical College of Georgia is an excellent facility to give this care. “Few people in this community think the workers deserve anything. embodied Wilkins deep rooted belief in integration as the route to Black progress in America, a belief that sometimes put him at odds with other rights activists. Despite criticism during the violent 1960 s from Blacks demanding faster progress - and sometimes separatism- Wilkins remained committed to his ideal. “Integration.” he said, "is the only way for a minority to go. Separation would be suicide.” Wilkins, grandson of a former slave, was born Aug. 30, 1901, in St. Louis. His mother died when he was 4, and his father sent him and his younger sister and brother to St. Paul, Minn, where they lived with an aunt and uncle. Wilkins majored in sociology at the University of Minnesota and was night editor of the school paper, nut helped mm latw a September 19,1981 “I started urinating blood while I was still on the job, but they told me it probably was just a herina from lifting 55-gallon drums of the stuff. “I got to where I couldn’t control my bladder and I would stuff a towel in my pants, and the other fellows would joke with me about it.” His problems got more intense after he quit the company, and finally, one doctor told him he sould have an operation because of the possibility of cancer. “But at that time, I They’re going to get a one time screening at the expense of the government. That’s all we’ve gotten. Dr. Knute Ringen told the local group the cancer may take seven to 30 years to show up. “If we can find cancerat the earliest time, we can treat it very effectively with a minimum of surgery.’’ He said bladder cancer is 70 percent curable if caught early. Some of the workers started working at the company as early as 16 years of age and have no medical coverage. Approximately 850 of the men still live in a 50- mile radius of Augusta, he said. after graduation in 1923 at the Kansas City Call, a Black weekly newspaper. While still a student, sometimes working as a baggage porter, waiter and stockyard laborer. Wilkins was so affected by news of a Black man’s lynching in Duluth, Minn., that he felt compelled to enter his university's oratorical contest. His impassioned speech againt lynching won the contest. And his reputation as a persuader and an advocate of civil rights began to take shape. Preferring quiet diplomacy to table pounding, Wilkins continued his crusade against lynching, using the NAACP as a forum. He went to New York in 1931 to begin work with the nation’s oldest civil rights organization as an assistant executive secretary. He later added the job trf Rosa Parks Refuses To Cross PATCO Picket Line Page 3 couldn’t afford an operation...! had six children to feed.” Eventually, Hall had to have the operation to save his life. He now receives social security disability, but the medical bills that he must pay continue to mount. “If I known what I know now, I never would have went to work there,” he said. “I started to get my son a job out there, but Fm sure glad I didn’t.” James Sturgis is 50. He has lived within two miles of Augusta Chemical Co. all of his life. He began If HhMffil Concert Pianist To Culminate Centennial Convocation Weekend Dr. Raymond Jackson, a noted concert pianist will perform at Paine College on Saturday, Sept. 26 at 8 p.m. in the Gilbert- Lambuth Memorial Chapel. Dr. Jackson’s performance is the final event erf the Centennial Convocation Weekend. In addition to the Solidarity Day Millen Group To March MILLEN-- Some citizens from Millen are expected to participate in the Sept. 19 Solidarity Day march on Wasington to protest President Reagan's budget cuts. working the company while he was still in his teens. "They didn’t tell us it was dangerous. They didn't tell us nothing,” Sturgis said in a recent interview. Although the company stopped the production of BNA in 1972 after federal investigators came to the plant, farmer workers were not told why, nor were they advised to get regular medical checkups, he said. He learned of the hazard in January of this year from an article in a local newspaper, he added. Dr. Raymond Jackson standard classic repertoire, Jackson plays a varied program of Black composers. Works by Beethoven, Chopin and Samuel Coleridge Taylor will be included in his concert. A brief reception for the artist will be held in Peters Campus Center Charles Hughes, president of Local 372 New York City Board of Education Employees, spoke in Millen Aug. 30 and offered to furnish bus transportation to MtybM Nation Mourns NAACP Giant Roy Wilkins Page 1 Sturgis worked for Augusta Chemical Co. for 21 years. He began as a laborer after his stepfather, also employed there, lost two fingers in an industrial accident. The family needed the money. Sturgis worked himself up to shift leader, where he supervised friends and relatives. A son, two brothers two cousins and numerous neighbors . The plant is located on Glass Factory Avenue. Sturgis left the company in 1967. He said he has had four hosptial following the performance. Dr. Jackson has performed internationally as a recitalist and orchestral s soloist. He has won numerous national and international prizes throughout the career. He began his musical studies in Providence, R.L at the age of five. desiring to join other groups from across the nation voicing their opposition to the cuts in the; social programs. The Ito*.- W.B. Tomlin, 25C stays as a result of urinary-tract problems, but added, “Fm not as bad off as some of these fellows.” According to death certificates, three former Augusta Chemcial Co. employees have died of bladder cancer, and six other workers are know to suffer from the disease. As many as 50 may get cancer because it is only now and in the next ten years that the disease is likely to show up, according to epidemiologist Paul Schulte. He received his bachelor of music degree from the New England Conservatory of Music then received his master’s degree and doctorate at the Julliard School of Music. Currently, Dr. Jackson is an Associate Professor of Music at Howard University. pastor of Morrison Grove Baptist Church is coordinating the trip. Invitations have been; extended to citizens of Jefferson and Burke counties to join the march.