What's wrong with the U.S.A.?

[Double A]

'What's Wrong with America?'
John Sweeney
Posted August 17, 2007

Earlier this month, Steve Skvara, a disabled, retired steel worker who can't afford his wife's health care, shook the AFL-CIO's Presidential Candidates Forum by asking tearfully, "What's wrong with America?"

We've got six coal miners trapped beneath more than 1,500 feet of Utah coal and rock, three brave men who struggled to rescue them are dead and six more are injured.

And it's not because of an act of God. It's because of the acts of man.

The disaster still unfolding at the Crandall Canyon mine did not have to happen. It was preventable--as were the deaths of 12 coal miners last year in the Sago Mine in West Virginia. As have been many, many more deaths of workers in America's coal mines and factories, fishing vessels, offices and construction sites.

Safety concerns about the Crandall Canyon mine surfaced months ago, and safety experts warned of particular dangers in the "retreat mining" technique used there after it was approved by the federal Mine Safety and Health Administration. In retreat mining, coalminers essentially pull out roof-supporting pillars of coal as they work their way out of the mine. The retreat mining plan at Crandall Canyon, says United Mine Workers of America President Cecil Roberts, "appears to have been flawed, to say the least. In our opinion, that plan should never have been approved."

No one should be surprised it was approved, though. The Bush administration has been systematically dismantling and cutting funding for workplace safety rules and oversight since it came into office.

Every day in 2005 (the most recent data available), 16 workers died on the job and 12,000 were made sick--and that doesn't include the occupational diseases that kill 50,000 to 60,000 more workers each year. In many if not most of these cases, one of two things occurred: An employer disregarded the law, or the law wasn't strong enough to protect workers.

Something is deeply wrong with America today. Working men and women have lost their value to the people who have been running this country for too long. Ruthless CEOs wring working people dry and the neocon ideologues in the White House help them.

Our wages are stagnant, our benefits are disappearing, the middle class is shrinking and, for the first time, there's a good chance our children will not be better off than our generation. We're the most productive workers in the world but we have to work more hours, more jobs and send more family members into the workforce just to keep up.

The heroes who rushed to Ground Zero to save lives and who dug and sweated and struggled for months after Sept. 11, 2001, are suffering today from neglect and indifference. Neglect and indifference left thousands stranded on rooftops and in a dark convention center after Hurricane Katrina. Neglect and indifference meant deplorable conditions for veterans recovering at Walter Reed. Neglect and indifference kill far too many of us on the job.

There's a reason so many people who never will step foot in a coal mine are riveted by the story of the trapped, dead and injured miners. There's a reason Steve Skvara's comment at our presidential forum moved so many people. There's a reason candidates committed to improving the well-being of working men and women took back Congress last year and will take back the White House next year.

Working men and women--the great majority in this country--want to fix what's wrong with America.

[tim huntzinger]

Americans have been betrayed by a political system that claims to speak for the majority when in fact fewer people than ever participate in the political process.  Our nation thrives with civic involvement, but even that basic unit of civic involvement - voting - is a priority for less than 50% of eligible Mercans.

Democrats and Republicans together eschew participation and work in smoke filled rooms behind closed doors to maintain power.  The answer is not, however, additional Parties or broadening the number of Parties on the ballot.

In short, the single most powerful engine of social change and civic involvement, more powerful than any denomination or entity, the Precinct, languishes while our nation suffers.

[rwarn17588]

I don't agree with all of Mr. Sweeney's rants.

But I agree that Mr. Murray -- the owner of the coal mine -- deserves to be thrown in jail. Last I checked, his operations had *hundreds* of safety violations even before the disaster. That's criminal negligence.

[guido911]

It's all Bush's fault.

[Aa5drvr]

Can you imagine the outcry if 21 employees had been injured, much less killed if it were the result of a nuclear power plant accident?

[sgrizzle]

We care more about threats of lawsuits and strikes than we do about actually providing safe and well paid jobs?

[Ed W]

My brother-in-law just quit a job as a heavy equipment operator in a quarry.  He worked 12 hours per day, 6 days per week.  Of course, he had practically zero family time and he was exhausted.  The owner said he wanted the crew to work 15 hour days Monday through Saturday, and another 6 hours on Sunday.  If the employees even talked to a union organizer, he said he'd fire all of them.  Nine or ten guys quit on the spot.  

Think about that the next time you're sharing the road with a heavy truck.

I don't have a problem with a business owner trying to make a profit.  It's the American way, after all.  But maximizing profits by jeopardizing employee safety is a repugnant practice that is far too common.

[sgrizzle]

quote:Originally posted by Ed W

My brother-in-law just quit a job as a heavy equipment operator in a quarry.  He worked 12 hours per day, 6 days per week.  Of course, he had practically zero family time and he was exhausted.  The owner said he wanted the crew to work 15 hour days Monday through Saturday, and another 6 hours on Sunday.  If the employees even talked to a union organizer, he said he'd fire all of them.  Nine or ten guys quit on the spot.  

Think about that the next time you're sharing the road with a heavy truck.

I don't have a problem with a business owner trying to make a profit.  It's the American way, after all.  But maximizing profits by jeopardizing employee safety is a repugnant practice that is far too common.

Basic economics. The rest of the workers stayed. If everyone left, he could find hundreds more who would do it. They could organize which would either put everyone on a 40hr schedule or get the company shut down which helps nobody.

[deinstein]

quote:Originally posted by sgrizzle

quote:Originally posted by Ed W

My brother-in-law just quit a job as a heavy equipment operator in a quarry.  He worked 12 hours per day, 6 days per week.  Of course, he had practically zero family time and he was exhausted.  The owner said he wanted the crew to work 15 hour days Monday through Saturday, and another 6 hours on Sunday.  If the employees even talked to a union organizer, he said he'd fire all of them.  Nine or ten guys quit on the spot.  

Think about that the next time you're sharing the road with a heavy truck.

I don't have a problem with a business owner trying to make a profit.  It's the American way, after all.  But maximizing profits by jeopardizing employee safety is a repugnant practice that is far too common.

Basic economics. The rest of the workers stayed. If everyone left, he could find hundreds more who would do it. They could organize which would either put everyone on a 40hr schedule or get the company shut down which helps nobody.

You still have the right to a Union.

[sgrizzle]

quote:Originally posted by deinstein

quote:Originally posted by sgrizzle

quote:Originally posted by Ed W

My brother-in-law just quit a job as a heavy equipment operator in a quarry.  He worked 12 hours per day, 6 days per week.  Of course, he had practically zero family time and he was exhausted.  The owner said he wanted the crew to work 15 hour days Monday through Saturday, and another 6 hours on Sunday.  If the employees even talked to a union organizer, he said he'd fire all of them.  Nine or ten guys quit on the spot.  

Think about that the next time you're sharing the road with a heavy truck.

I don't have a problem with a business owner trying to make a profit.  It's the American way, after all.  But maximizing profits by jeopardizing employee safety is a repugnant practice that is far too common.

Basic economics. The rest of the workers stayed. If everyone left, he could find hundreds more who would do it. They could organize which would either put everyone on a 40hr schedule or get the company shut down which helps nobody.

You still have the right to a Union.

Not saying you don't have a right, just that you are taking a risk in doing so. Especially in a market where non-unionized labor is plentiful.

[Rico]

^

I believe being in a "Right To Work" State comes into play somewhere.........?

In such a State can a Union guarantee ones job...?

I was told that was a very large motivation in Whirlpool moving to Oklahoma.... No pesky union...

[TheArtist]

quote:Originally posted by Ed W

My brother-in-law just quit a job as a heavy equipment operator in a quarry.  He worked 12 hours per day, 6 days per week.  Of course, he had practically zero family time and he was exhausted.  The owner said he wanted the crew to work 15 hour days Monday through Saturday, and another 6 hours on Sunday.  If the employees even talked to a union organizer, he said he'd fire all of them.  Nine or ten guys quit on the spot.  

Think about that the next time you're sharing the road with a heavy truck.

I don't have a problem with a business owner trying to make a profit.  It's the American way, after all.  But maximizing profits by jeopardizing employee safety is a repugnant practice that is far too common.

If the economy was so bad that people had to work for the guy or starve it would be one thing. But with unemployment low and other companies needing workers that just doesnt seem to add up. With the low unemployment we currently have its actually hard to find quality workers, ones who show up on time or wont quit at the drop of a hat. I have learned you have to pay a premium to get the help you need or job done right. Here again it doesnt make sense that this guy could have a workforce of any suitible type under these situations.  What part of the country was this employer and when was this?

[cannon_fodder]

"What's wrong with America?"

You are.

You have problems so you instantly turn, sobbing, to the government to fix them for you.  This is far different than the pioneer spirit that made our country great to begin with.  You rightly point out that government has failed in many areas - the lesson you should learn is that more government is not the answer.

Democrats control the Congress and are ON VACATION while this mine disaster happened.  Much like Bush drew the blame for 911, shouldn't the plight of the workers now be blamed on the democratically controlled Congress?  Not that there was anything they could have done, but blame should flow equally to government for anything bad that happens.

So Mr. Sweeny, I'm waiting for your proposal.  You pointed out what you thought was wrong with America... and your only solution was "more government."  You (AFL-CIO) have successfully contributed to the death of many American industries and cost millions of American's manufacturing jobs by artificially raising wages to the point where outsourcing and automation was financially viable - all the heavily unionized legacy industries in the US are failing, their workers being laid off, their pensions being underfunded (auto, steel, mining, airlines...).  

Having fleeced all the money you could from industry, the solution is the bottomless money pit of government.  Everyone realizes that this is not really the solution.  A band aid perhaps, but not a solution.  Mr Sweeny, ask not what the country can do for your membership, ask what the AFL-CIO can do for your country.  

Maybe its time labor, government, and industry worked together to make this better.  Instead of each one trying to screw the other as hard as possible.  Until you all figure that out, have fun teetering back and forth in control (labor was beat down and gained enough power to leverage most major unionized companies into bankruptcy who then had the upper hand and are starting to shed workers... the government screws everybody).

So use your influence and fix it Sweeny.  Don't pass the buck.

[iplaw]

Reminds me of G.K. Chesterton...when someone asked authors to write in and answer the question, "What is wrong with the world?" Chesterton wrote back and said, "I am. Yours truly, G.K. Chesterton."

[Conan71]

"Earlier this month, Steve Skvara, a disabled, retired steel worker who can't afford his wife's health care, shook the AFL-CIO's Presidential Candidates Forum by asking tearfully, "What's wrong with America?"

I always stop reading at the first sniff of hyperbole.

Sweeney didn't screw around.  He lost me at the first sentence. [B)]