Fwd: Death on the Tracks
6 views
Skip to first unread message
gregory...@aol.com
Apr 28, 2013, 7:36:19 PM4/28/13
to gangb...@yahoogroups.com, gan...@googlegroups.com
-----Original Message-----
From: Nejmeno <piros...@yahoo.com>
To: undisclosed recipients: ;
Sent: Sun, Apr 28, 2013 6:50 pm
Subject: Death on the Tracks
And what was the union’s response? For all their use of social media--from mass texts to twitter--the day shift was on the tracks working before hearing anything from their union.
And what did President Samuelsen, who worked on the tracks himself, have to say? Did he say that the union had done a preliminary investigation and concluded that it was safe for the rest of us to go to work while the union carried out a further investigation?
Signal management took the initiative to suspend non-emergency work for the day. But the union brother died on the tracks as a Maintenance of Way worker and we all have to work together--did the union even consider suspending track-bed maintenance work on for the day?
The evening Track Division meeting took steps to address the lack of clear communication and action from the union. First, the meeting voted unanimously for a motion raised by supporters of Revolutionary Transit Worker for the union to have an independent investigation. Then the meeting voted unanimously for a motion that the union communicate immediately and directly with the membership about such tragic incidents --so we don’t have to find out from management when we get to work and aren’t in the dark about the union’s response.
Six years ago to the day, Danny Boggs was killed due to the negligence of MTA management. Within the week Marvin Franklin was killed and Jeff Hill severely injured by the negligence of MTA management. Yet it was management that stopped track work to review the situation, instead of the union taking the responsibility of initiative to address the crisis in safety on the tracks.
This is a problem workers the world over face. As we write, reports are coming in of a factory building in Bangladesh that was ordered to close for being unsafe. The owners ignored the cracks in the building and ordered work to continue. The building collapsed and over 300 are dead with hundreds still missing. Tens or even hundreds of thousands of workers have taken to the streets in angry protest.
In this country, a capitalist murderer named Donald Adair recently blew up the town of West Texas and killed 14 people when his fertilizer warehouse exploded due to skimping on safety measures. He walks the streets a free man.
They also treat workers like that when their immigration policies kill workers at the border and in their rotten detention centers. Many transit workers may not yet identify with undocumented workers as members of the same class with the same interests. But make no mistake, the bosses will treat you the same as soon as they can in their drive for profit.
The unions could rally masses of workers to shut unsafe workplaces down and demand punishment for killer bosses--as workers in Bangladesh are doing themselves. Instead, they allow the bosses to keep the workers producing and collaborate with the bosses.
Mass, militant struggles will show in practice the need to get rid of the capitalist state. This will take a socialist revolution to establish a workers’ state that serves the interests of workers and all of society. That’s how we can get rid of this murderous system and build a truly human world, a socialist world. We want to join with other workers looking to build a revolutionary party of the world’s working class – to organize our class and prepare the struggle to get rid of killer bosses and the entire monstrous system of capitalism.
From: Nejmeno <piros...@yahoo.com>
To: undisclosed recipients: ;
Sent: Sun, Apr 28, 2013 6:50 pm
Subject: Death on the Tracks
From Eric Josephson for Revolutionary Transit Worker. Remember Brother Louis Moore and all workers killed and injured at work!
Revolutionary Transit Worker April 27, 2013
Death on the Tracks
We work in often dangerous conditions every day and night to move millions of riders. Early Wednesday morning, April 24, Signal Maintainer Louis Moore was hit and killed by a train.
And what was the union’s response? For all their use of social media--from mass texts to twitter--the day shift was on the tracks working before hearing anything from their union.
And what did President Samuelsen, who worked on the tracks himself, have to say? Did he say that the union had done a preliminary investigation and concluded that it was safe for the rest of us to go to work while the union carried out a further investigation?
No, he said, “The MTA is convening a board of inquiry to investigate all of the circumstances”. That was his only proposed action. But why should any one of us trust the MTA to lead such an inquiry? A basic survival skill on the tracks is not to trust
supervisors or management. And we should rely on them to investigate this tragic incident and tell us what it means for our safety? The lack of leadership on this from President Samuelsen is a disgrace.
Signal management took the initiative to suspend non-emergency work for the day. But the union brother died on the tracks as a Maintenance of Way worker and we all have to work together--did the union even consider suspending track-bed maintenance work on for the day?
The evening Track Division meeting took steps to address the lack of clear communication and action from the union. First, the meeting voted unanimously for a motion raised by supporters of Revolutionary Transit Worker for the union to have an independent investigation. Then the meeting voted unanimously for a motion that the union communicate immediately and directly with the membership about such tragic incidents --so we don’t have to find out from management when we get to work and aren’t in the dark about the union’s response.
Six years ago to the day, Danny Boggs was killed due to the negligence of MTA management. Within the week Marvin Franklin was killed and Jeff Hill severely injured by the negligence of MTA management. Yet it was management that stopped track work to review the situation, instead of the union taking the responsibility of initiative to address the crisis in safety on the tracks.
This is a problem workers the world over face. As we write, reports are coming in of a factory building in Bangladesh that was ordered to close for being unsafe. The owners ignored the cracks in the building and ordered work to continue. The building collapsed and over 300 are dead with hundreds still missing. Tens or even hundreds of thousands of workers have taken to the streets in angry protest.
In this country, a capitalist murderer named Donald Adair recently blew up the town of West Texas and killed 14 people when his fertilizer warehouse exploded due to skimping on safety measures. He walks the streets a free man.
And it’s not only in the workplace that this system treats us as expendable commodities--the cops treat us like that when they put us on the ground in handcuffs and shoot us in the back as they did Oscar Grant or when they shot Sean Bell with a hail of bullets on the morning of his wedding.
They also treat workers like that when their immigration policies kill workers at the border and in their rotten detention centers. Many transit workers may not yet identify with undocumented workers as members of the same class with the same interests. But make no mistake, the bosses will treat you the same as soon as they can in their drive for profit.
The unions could rally masses of workers to shut unsafe workplaces down and demand punishment for killer bosses--as workers in Bangladesh are doing themselves. Instead, they allow the bosses to keep the workers producing and collaborate with the bosses.
Reply all
Reply to author
Forward
0 new messages