It
is the complex issues of economics, politics, and energy in relation to union labor
that makes our jobs as front line union organizers very hard. How are we to
frame these conversations when many of the workers who do the work see them as
a threat to their very livelihood? Are we that desperate of a people that we can
stare directly into the face of mass corporate greed and welcome the disaster?
Our state of Kentucky is called a Commonwealth? Who holds this Wealth in
common?
Many
labor leaders would not touch this conversation and the Democratic Party in Kentucky
evades this conversation like the plague. Have we as a people lost control?
Have we as a people allowed the industry to dictate to us the results of their
profit? How Orwellian can we get with names like "Friends of Coal” “Environmental
Protection Agency?” If these names are correct in their suggestion then, what is
an environment? Is coal part of the environment? What are the actions that make
the activists? What is a Friend?
When
I speak my mind at work and with my fellow railroaders, some who have relocated
their families to Louisville, Kentucky because of the coal industry, I ask these
sorts of questions.
Are
the streets of Corbin, KY paved in gold? What did the coal and railroad industry
leave to Irvine / Ravenna? We give them a mountain and railroad tracks and they
give us what? If a “friend” takes all your stuff and then leaves you with a big
mess, is this “friend” an asshole? After posing questions such as those, then I
strike up conversation about corporations being allowed to be considered by
law... people. Is it ok, for people to poison a river? Is it ok for people to make
billions of dollars while people live in poverty? These are questions that are
pretty easy to approach, No? Is there a God?
Is there Globe warming?
How
long are We The People going to”
hang around the smokin' pole” talking like an atheist and a born again Christian
in a duel of faith? Or are we going to say.. NO it's not ok to kill the river! NO it’s not ok to make billions while others suffer! NO it is not ok as people who live on a planet to accept the terms dictated to them by
industry. An industry that has no exit plan, except to profit until the cows
come home... and then leave, and then move on to the next disaster. Is it ok to
fracture the earth and then pump millions of gallons of who knows what into it?
The conversations about the “big picture” are going on and on and on and on. So
far this has been the terms of the engagement.
Personally,
I believe that the left is approaching the conversation in a way that is
causing some of the problem. The conversation has been framed in such a way to
keep us as people divided. My very close friend Alonzo Johnson is a Peace Maker
with the Presbyterian Church and we have had deep conversations in the past
about people who are speaking from a place of desperation.
What
are we as a people so desperate of? What do we need? I have approached this
conversation with part of the equation requiring a nonviolent approach. I have
also approached this conversation suggesting that until we have the power as
people to offer a viable alternative to the situation, we must speak from a
place that includes that reality. Be us “climate activists” or the “people in
labor”. And in this conversation we as people should know that we are allowing
the "industry" all the resources of government and media to make this
decision for us. We as a people have lost power and have little or no control.
Personally,
I do not believe in “climate change”, but I am also not a climate change
denier. The words that have been selected for us to describe what we are
talking about in my opinion are somewhat causing part of the problem. We as a
people are being forced to frame the conversation in such a way that we might
as well be building the scaffold and tying our own rope around our necks. Words
are very limited in their ability to convey the seriousness of the situation. We
must understand the terms of the engagement, the rules of the match. Strategy
is a game and a means to an end.
I
admit, I don't know what to do, and my heart aches thinking about the wars that
are being fought for the oil industry. My heart sinks when I think about the
fact that the Ohio River has been determined to be the dirtiest river in the
USA. I am torn when I operate a train that hauls a commodity that is causing
the river to be contaminated. Steel, coal, fracking chemicals and fertilizers
to name a few.
It
is in fear of a great hypocrisy or the possibility of one that I write and seek
out big voices and great minds. I also feel somewhat responsible and do not
want to be complicit.
Especially if that word is taken to mean what the dictionary defined it to be,
"involved with others in an illegal activity or wrongdoing."
I
was tasked as Co-Chair of my organization Railroad Workers United to set the
tone of our “The Future of Railroads: Safety, Workers, Community and the Environment”
conference held in Richmond, California, March 14th and then again in Olympia,
Washington on the 21st. We called out for endorsements from all community groups including
environmental, labor, civic and elected government. I was fearful for my
organization. Railroad Workers United is an organization of railroad workers
from all across North America. The issues facing economic-energy policy are
somewhat toxic to the normal state
of union politics.
I
needed serious words, so I sought out the words of Kentucky's own Wendell Berry
to help set this tone. The biggest voice I know of and the voice of someone who
is not afraid to tackle serious issues mindfully. Someone who is not afraid to
go against the current set of rules. Someone who has gone to great lengths to
stand up for controversial positions even at the risk of pissing off his own
base. I got by way of his Berry Center a poem called "The Vision."
What I got was a promise and somewhat of an inspiration that still moves me to
tears.
I
was so moved, and in labor union language that is the beginnings of resolution,
but as written in Mr. Berry's poem "it's hardship is it's possibility."
As
I write this article, Greenpeace activists have occupied an oil rig on its way
to the arctic and another organization, The Backbone Campaign, which partnered
with us to host our conference, is organizing a flotilla to join the protest. I
am fearful for their safety. And in Conclusion... I am inspired, but scared and
mindful of the complexity of the issues at hand.
John
Paul Wright
Co-Chair
Railroad
Workers United
Locomotive
Engineer
