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Erik Loomis

@erikloomis.bsky.social

15K followers 410 following 9.4K posts

Labor and environmental historian. Writer of books, teacher of American horrors, talker on labor movement. Beer, country music, and football are not just for the right wingers. Cats. The West. Music. Graves. Writes at https://www.lawyersgunsmoneyblog.com/

www.lawyersgunsmoneyblog.com

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Erik Loomis @erikloomis.bsky.social · 4h

This post borrowed from Sara Dubow, Ourselves Unborn: A History of the Fetus in Modern America. This is an excellent book which you should all read.

Erik Loomis @erikloomis.bsky.social · 4h

Unfortunately, the ability of OSHA to protect workers became restricted as soon as 1980 and has never really recovered thanks to the rise of the corporate dominance that hates agencies such as this.

Erik Loomis @erikloomis.bsky.social · 4h

The 1978 Pregnancy Discrimination Act helped alleviate the unjust policies of corporations such as American Cyanamid.

Erik Loomis @erikloomis.bsky.social · 4h

This was an intentional strategy on the part of American Cyanamid. Paying a bit of money to settle sex discrimination lawsuits was a lot cheaper than making work safe.

Erik Loomis @erikloomis.bsky.social · 4h

American Cyanamid settled for $200,000, not much at all when split between the defendants, plus lawyer fees. Moreover, American Cyanamid never accepted responsibility for the dangerous workplace and instead, rhetorically blamed the women workers for wanting to poison their own children.

Erik Loomis @erikloomis.bsky.social · 4h

The Coalition of Labor Union Women, a group within the AFL-CIO fighting for women’s rights both within and outside of the federation, ripped American Cyanamid for “focusing on dangers of the workforce, not dangers of the workplace.”

Erik Loomis @erikloomis.bsky.social · 4h

The American Public Health Association joined CRROW because exposure to toxic substances endangered the fertility health of men and women.

Erik Loomis @erikloomis.bsky.social · 4h

..... to combat exclusionary employer policies; and to fight for the reproductive health of male and female workers exposed to hazardous substances.”

Erik Loomis @erikloomis.bsky.social · 4h

Citing the American Cyanamid decision in its founding manifesto, the CRROW said it’s mission was “to defend the employment rights and reproductive freedom of workers who are exposed to toxic chemicals and other hazards;....

Erik Loomis @erikloomis.bsky.social · 4h

Unions, environmental organizations, health organizations, and feminist groups created the Coalition for the Reproductive Rights of Workers in response to this and other similar cases.

Erik Loomis @erikloomis.bsky.social · 4h

Even the moderate OSHA fine was appealed by the company and set aside in 1981. The outrage over this led to an appeal and then a broader lawsuit the ACLU helped file. American Cyanamid’s strategy led to a lot of anger among progressive communities.

Erik Loomis @erikloomis.bsky.social · 4h

The year before, it had tried to bar women from working with dangerous chemicals in its Linden, New Jersey plant but after strident opposition from the United Steelworkers of America, who represented that plant, it retreated.

Erik Loomis @erikloomis.bsky.social · 4h

OCAW filed suit with OSHA. Turns out if was part of a systemic policy for American Cyanamid.

Erik Loomis @erikloomis.bsky.social · 4h

Interestingly, Mazzocchi reached out both to feminist groups and to anti-abortion groups, although I don’t see much evidence the latter responded.

Erik Loomis @erikloomis.bsky.social · 4h

....Women who have been able to enter these jobs as a result of their own struggle are now being confronted with the dismal choice of relinquishing their right to have children or their jobs.”

Erik Loomis @erikloomis.bsky.social · 4h

.... It’s an outrageous situation and American Cyanamid is not the only company that is trying to force women out of the workplace rather than clean it up.....

Erik Loomis @erikloomis.bsky.social · 4h

He stated, “These women were forced to make a Draconian choice that nobody should have to make. We are seeking to mobilize as broad a coalition on this one as we possibly can.....

Erik Loomis @erikloomis.bsky.social · 4h

Mazzocchi was outraged when he found out what was going on at American Cyanamid.

Erik Loomis @erikloomis.bsky.social · 4h

The so-called “Rachel Carson of the American Workplace,” no unionist did more to fight for safe workplaces for all workers during these years, often facing opposition from his fellow union leaders, including within his own union.

Erik Loomis @erikloomis.bsky.social · 4h

These women were represented by the Oil, Chemical, and Atomic Workers Unions (OCAW), whose vice-president was the legendary Tony Mazzocchi.

Erik Loomis @erikloomis.bsky.social · 4h

“I wish now I’d have been stronger. I didn’t want to be sterile. When you’re faced with something like this from a big company you feel powerless. But this is 1978. What do you have to do to hold a normal job and support your child?”

Erik Loomis @erikloomis.bsky.social · 4h

One woman told the employer her husband had a vasectomy, another, age 43, was willing to sign a waiver. The company refused to compromise with either worker. Barbara Cantwell, one of the sterilized women and a divorced mother of two, said.....

Erik Loomis @erikloomis.bsky.social · 4h

At least two other women transferred out of the pigment division to lower-paying work. The company told the women they could transfer to the janitorial department, but there were no jobs in that department and employment was based on seniority anyway.

Erik Loomis @erikloomis.bsky.social · 4h

A company executive stated, “We don’t allow children in the workplace and we shouldn’t allow a fetus in the workplace.” So the company pressured the women into sterilization. At least five agreed, all between the ages of 26 and 43.

Erik Loomis @erikloomis.bsky.social · 4h

With women forcing their way into these jobs in the 1970s, American Cyanamid defined a fetus as a child and thus banned pregnant women or women who might become pregnant.