On June 16, 1999, the American Federation of Government Employees
(AFGE) issued a news release announcing the dedication of a commemorative
quilt honoring the 89 federal workers who lost their lives in the
1995 bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma
City. In the release AFGE President Bobby L. Harnage noted that four
years after the tragedy many of the security measures called for in
the wake of the Oklahoma City bombing still had not been implemented.
The September 11 terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center and
the Pentagon killed over 6,000 people. Union pilots and flight attendants
were the first to die, murdered by the hijackers who commandeered
the planes. Among the thousands killed at the WTC were members of
over twenty different unions, many of whom were the first on the scene
following the massive explosions. Hundreds of union Firefighters,
Police officers and Port Authority officers died valiantly in rescue
attempts. Union healthcare workers, doctors, nurses and EMTs attended
to the injured. Members of the Marine Engineers and the Seafarers
on board the U.S. Navy hospital ship Comfort joined rescue efforts.
After the collapse of the WTCÕs Twin Towers and other buildings,
1,000 Iron Workers from throughout the east coast converged on Manhattan
to help in the rescue and cleanup. Hundreds of New York City Building
and Construction Trades Council members also pitched in. At one point,
reported the New York Times, so many volunteers showed up that authorities
would only let in those with union cards. Meanwhile, unions throughout
the United States have set up relief funds to aid the survivors.
The next time someone tells you that unions are no longer necessary
tell them to say that to the citizens of New York City and to the
workers at Ground Zero.
Working people have suffered greatly in this tragedy but their sacrifice
isn't over. The airline industry has laid off over 100,000 workers,
mostly union members. It is now estimated that the September 11 attacks
have cost New York City 108,500 jobs. The deaths may not be over either.
The New York Committee on Occupational Safety and Health has warned,
"Contaminants in the air, including toxic dust and chemicals, can
cause serious illness or death. Dust and ash anywhere in the vicinity
of the World Trade Center site are likely to contain asbestos, cement,
drywall and polyvinyl chloride combustion products." Workers are also
in danger of exposure to toxic and explosive gases, as well as biohazards
from thousands of decaying bodies.
We are told repeatedly that this is the worst terrorist attack ever
on American soil. But American workers have suffered more. "In the
year 1904, 27,000 workers were killed on the job, in manufacturing,
transport and agriculture,Ó writes Howard Zinn in A People's History
of the United States. Ten years later Ò35,000 workers were killed
in industrial accidents and 700,000 injured."
America's union workers have proven their heroism, patriotism and
willingness to sacrifice over and over again. How should we reward
them? At minimum, President Bush and Congress should vigorously enforce
labor laws.
The National Labor Relations Act, for example, guarantees workers
the right to organize without interference or coercion, but there
is little, if any, penalty to employers who violate it. Consequently,
employers routinely fire pro-union workers with impunity and effectively
silence those on the job through threats and harassment. WorkersÕ
rights to freely join unions and bargain collectively must be strengthened
and enforced.
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration must be restored
to full power. As terrible as the WTC disaster was, over 6,000 workers
still die each year from traumatic injuries. A staggering 50,000 to
60,000 additional deaths result from occupational diseases, according
to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Why is there is no public outcry
for these victims?
Within days of the attacks, Congress voted to spend $15 billion to
bail out the airline industry. How much will they spend to bail out
the workers that industry laid off? Bush and Congress committed $40
billion to fight terrorism and defend liberty. How committed will
they be to fighting workplace death and injury and to defending our
rights to organize and bargain?
In 1898, the Machinists raised similar issues after a bomb exploded
in Havana harbor, sinking the US battleship Maine and killing 268
men. That terrorist act, too, provoked a war. The
editorial that subsequently appeared in the Monthly Journal
of the International Association of Machinists says it all:
"The carnival of carnage that takes place every day, month and year
in the realm of industry; the thousands of useful lives that are annually
sacrificed to the Moloch of greed; the blood tribute paid by labor
to capitalism, brings forth no shout for vengeance and reparation;
no tear, except from the family and friends of the victims.
"The Journal joins in the popular sorrow for the loss of the Maine...And
while expressing sorrow it also expresses the hope the day will not
be far distant when it will be popularly considered that to lose life
by accident in productive and distributive industry is just as noble
and heroic as to lose it by accident on board a man of war. That to
lose life by being drowned like a rat in a mine is just as worthy
as being drowned like a rat in an ironclad...That to be blown up by
a torpedo creates no more sorrow in the unfortunate's family than
to be blown up by a boiler. That one should not be the hero of an
apotheosis while the other goes to Eternity unhonored and unsung."
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