Smoking ban: TUC rallies bar staff
The TUC is urging people working in pubs and clubs to pressure the Government to extends its proposed smoking ban.
It is telling bar staff to email Health Secretary Patricia Hewitt via its special website, in support of extending the ban to establishments that do not serve food.
Last week the Government launched a two-month consultation period on plans for a partial smoking ban in England, and the TUC wants workers to ensure their smoky working environment is not overlooked in the exercise.
A pub or club worker dies every week as a result of passive smoking at work and thousands more are affected by asthma or other respiratory problems, according to the TUC.
TUC general secretary Brendan Barber said: “For any smoking ban to be effective it must cover all workplaces.
“The pub and club workers of establishments that don’t serve food deserve as much protection from cancer-causing smoke as everyone else.”
Mr Barber said that banning smoking at the bar and improving ventilation would not stop workers suffering from the effects of passive smoking, arguing a total ban is the “only solution”.
