Monsanto: An interesting conversation with my boss

Up until now I haven't paid much attention to the Monsanto affair. I've seen things in the news and posts on ATS, but I thought they were just another GM company and didn't look any further into it.

Anyway, a few days ago in work we were having a little chat in our office, and I can't remember how the subject came up - scrap that yes I do. We were talking about first aiders, and one girl said her brother in law had not been made redundant because he was a first aider so he was protected. Then somehow my boss got onto the subject of where her father worked. Now my boss is 60 so this would have been a long time ago. She said that where her dad worked the company used to pay the employees to stay on an extra ten minutes each day to take a shower.

I wasn't really sure what she was getting at, I thought maybe they liked their staff to be hygienic

Then she said it makes you wonder what they were working with if the company was willing to pay their staff to stay and have a shower.

The other girl asked where that was, and my boss said oh down in Monsanto. My ears pricked then, and I said jokingly oh is that the Monsanto that everyone is talking about (not thinking that it was the same company), and she said I don't know why is everyone talking about it? I just said oh they're messing about with food I think.

Today just out of curiosity I looked up Monsanto UK and found this:

"Waste from a Monsanto-owned plant in Newport was dumped at the Brofiscin quarry, near the village of Groesfaen, in the 1960s and 70s. Investigations since have revealed the site is heavily polluted with dangerous toxins leaking from corroding waste containers buried underground."

Full article here

Guardian Monsanto

Here is another interesting article written by a local Member of Parliament talking about cover-ups.

Monsanto Paul Flynn

So it was the same company and I'm sure many of you who have had relatives who worked in dirty jobs such as in steelworks or down the mines, usually you clock off then clean up in your own time. Strange that a company would PAY their staff to stay behind and shower.

reply to post by Eirian


nail down the chain of custody with regards to the waste.

name the out-sourced disposal company/companies. if insolvent then persue insurance of said company.

if it is found that the main company failed in it's duty of care towards the residents of the uk
and the environment, give them the opportunity to remediate and dispose of the pcb's and toxins.
failure to comply should be met with immediate liquidation of the uk arm. firesale all safe assets
and use the funds to clean up.
ban any and all similar minded establishments from operating in this manner.

heard of trafigura? slightly different as they off-shored the dumping, however still unacceptable.

f.

I work closely with a number of companies in the manufacturing industry, and it is a practice among the ones that work with hazardous materials to pay their employees to shower when their shift is over. They have the hazardous area segregated to the point of 'dirty entrances' and 'clean exits' to the locker rooms. After the shift ends, the employees go to the locker room and remove company supplied clothing which may be contaminated, and put on their street clothes after the shower.

Edit to add: The time clock is in the clean area. The employees are 'on the clock' while still in street clothing and are until they are back in street clothing at the end of their shift.
The substances involved may be dangerous materials used in the manufacturing process(metals, chemicals) or the finished product... Pesticides.

Monsanto is involved with pesticide and herbicide manufacturing, so that would be the reason for the paid showers, IMO.

Are the workers being offered to wear gloves, goggles and air masks as well?

If not, it sounds like these companies are only trying to protect themselves by not having any identifying substances being traced back to them!

reply to post by itsallmaya

The companies that I have dealt with supply a full array of personal protective equipment.

The motivating factor is fear of lawsuits, IMO.