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Another nettle being grasped in the USA is the impact on jobs that could result from phasing out environmentally damaging chemicals. Using the expression "just transition", unions such as the Oil, Chemical and Atomic Workers' International Union (OCAW), are negotiating deals with employers for retraining, or continued pay until retirement or alternative work is found (Workers' Health International Newsletter, Jan-June 1998, issue 53, p. 10). According to Joel Tickner of the Massachusetts Toxic Use Reduction Program, however, there is no evidence of job losses due to improved environmental legislation. Instead, Tickner says, the threat, to both jobs and worker health and safety, is from migration of the chemical industry to less developed countries.

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