Black Friday

Retired cook Bill Heath was lifting some cases of soft drink into the boot of his car at the back of K-mart when a sudden pain shot through his chest. It was Friday 13, August 1999.

"I had chest pains all night so I thought I'd better see a doctor about it. The doctor sent me to hospital. He thought it was my heart."

A chest x-ray uncovered pleural plaque and pleural thickening-- the first sign of asbestos disease. Bill was about 5 1/2 years into his retirement and had plenty to worry about.

"The second cook who sailed with me on my last ship had since died of lung cancer. I worried I was going to be next. I'd worked the Denman, Dolby, Cardross and Cycle. Ships run by Howard Smith, now Adsteam, ANL and James Patrick.

"In the galley the hot water pipes for the urn were covered in loose asbestos lagging. We worked in the aft of the ship and vibrations were bad in heavy weather. Every 12 months the ship went into dry dock. But any deterioration in between was just patched up until the yearly overhaul. We had to stop them patching it while we were cooking. We told them to do any repairs between 1-3 in the afternoon, when we weren't around.

"It could have been worse. We were told it was safe -- that asbestos would not affect us. They said you could eat it and it wouldn't affect you."

The death of a workmate from asbestos related cancer unsettled Bill. When the doctor told him the plaque on his lungs was from asbestos exposure he set out to get as much information as he could. His mission led him to the Dust Diseases Board, the union and union lawyers Turner Freeman.

"When I was first diagnosed I thought it was cancer and I couldn't sleep at night without worrying about it. I know I can't walk up a steep hill in one go. So I walk half way and stop and have a breather. Then I walk the rest of the way. If I'm careful I can do everything I want to do without being in pain. But I still have the fear of it and the physical handicap."

No ship's cook has ever got compensation for these conditions. But in July Bill got a letter from his lawyers saying the doctor at the Dust Diseases Board had judged him to have a 10 per cent disability. If he wins his case later this year it will be a legal precedent.

"I don't care how much money comes out of it. It's not about getting money for myself," he said. "It's about helping other people in the union who have been affected by asbestos. It's a matter of principle."

Bill Heath was one time national secretary of the Marine Cooks' Bakers' & Butchers' Association of Australasia was formed in 1908 and continued operating until 1983 when it amalgamated into the Seamen's Union of Australia. He was also a founding member of the Seafarer's Retirement Fund. He now assists the union as cook at our St Georges Basin union school.