, a railroad worker
and member of the Regional Council of Campania, Italy, has been
named a Life Associate of The Ramazzini Institute for
his leadership in the prevention of asbestos-associated disease and
protection of the health of workers. Awarded for the first time to a
labor leader outside of the United States, the designation
recognizes those within the labor movement responsible for
outstanding achievements in the struggle against workplace disease
and injury.
From 1979, first with fellow railway mechanics in Santa Maria La
Bruna, later through the courts and national and regional
legislatures, and finally in October 2001, Maranta was able to place
in law – and implement - a declaration that “there is no minimal
amount of asbestos that the human body can be safely exposed to.”
A member of the Regional Commission of Health, he supported
research, environmental protection, medical surveillance and health
care on behalf of railway and other workers, enabling the well-being
of tens thousands of Italian workers and their families and setting
an example for workers in other countries. Asbestos, responsible for
scarring of the lung and cancer, was used extensively in railway
cars as heat and sound insulation.
Dr. Antonio Giordano, a Board Director of The Ramazzini
Institute and President of the Sbarro Institute, Temple
University, Philadelphia, made the award in Naples, March 28, 2003
at 5:30 p.m. at the Palace of the Governor of the Campania Region.
The ceremony was attended by the President of the Campania Region, Antonio
Bassolino, as well as by political, educational, scientific and
labor representatives.
Prior recipients of the Life Associate Award have been Sigurd
Lucassen, former President of the United Brotherhood of
Carpenters in the United States and Canada; William G.
Bernard and James A. Grogan, Jr., President and
Secretary-Treasurer respectively of the International Association
of Asbestos Workers; and Frank George, Jr., former
President of the Amarillo [Texas] Metal Trades Council.
