Workers' health

A great deal of activity on matters of job safety and health has begun to take place in the United Auto Workers (UAW). Workers' awareness of the hazards they face has increased. Actions to correct these hazards have resulted from new worker rights obtained in the Occupational Safety and Health Act (OSHA) and supplemented by UAW contracts with employers. Some of the roadblocks faced by the UAW may be reduced or eliminated this year when new collective bargaining agreements are negotiated. Other problems, however, will remain unsolved until a variety of broader political, social, and economic changes occur. The absence of a national health policy in the United States is often cited as a major factor in the uncoordinated, costly, and frequently ineffective way in which health programs have developed. This is particularly apparent in occupational health. It is rarely seen as an intergral part of personal public health services. In contrast to the situation in the United States, Canada has a system of national health insurance whih provides for coverage of basic personal health services, and a policy and program to deal with health hazards.