... what is the difference between Rand Paul and Tom Emmer's positions?
The right for workers to organize gives workers the right to insist on safe working conditions. Back in 1934, workers died for those rights during the Minneapolis Truckers Strike. From the Minnesota Historical Society:
This strike, also known as the Minneapolis Teamsters' Strike and, alternately, sometimes called "a police riot," was one of the most violent in the state's history, and a major battle in Minnesota's "civil war" of the 1930s between business and labor. A non-union city, Minneapolis business leaders had successfully kept unions at bay through an organization called the Citizens Alliance, but by 1934, unions were gaining strength as advocates of workers for improved wages and better working conditions.
Yesterday in St. Paul, the Minnesota Workers Memorial Garden was dedicated, to honor our fellow citizens who did on the job. Let's look!
The memorial is "a place where people can come, reflect and visit a lost one," said Harry Melander, president of the Minnesota Building & Construction Trades Council. "It will also be a memorial to what needs to happen in the workplace to improve safety."
Minnesota AFL-CIO President Shar Knutson noted that "Last year, 21 Minnesota workers died on the job as a result of a workplace injury." Countless more died of work-related illnesses and chronic injuries, she said.
"We should make sure we commit ourselves every day that Minnesota workers come home safe."
Mondale urged everyone to "put pressure on those who are supposed to be administering these laws" to make workplaces safer.
I was at this event; an event dedicated to the creation of a memorial to remind everyone of the need for safe work conditions: people (family, friends, neighbors, CITIZENS) die when there aren't. I, of course, was tweeting from the Dedication, when I noticed this:
@TwoPuttTommy On a day in MN dedicating a Memorial 2 honor killed workers, this: RT @EileenLeft Rand Paul Opposes MineSafetyRules htp://bit.ly/cmGquL about 22 hours ago via web
I couldn't believe it - so I started digging in.
That link leads to a blog which links to TheHill.com. We'll start there:
Rand Paul: Congress has no business protecting miners
By Mike Lillis - 08/02/10 11:12 AM ET
Reform-minded lawmakers in both the House and Senate are pushing legislation to bolster the work-safety protections for miners working underground. But don't try to convince Rand Paul.
The Republican running to replace outgoing Sen. Jim Bunning (R-Ky.) in the coal-mining hub of Kentucky said recently that Washington has no business formulating mine safety rules.
"The bottom line is: I'm not an expert, so don't give me the power in Washington to be making rules," Paul said at a recent campaign stop in response to questions about April's deadly mining explosion in West Virginia, according to a profile in Details magazine. "You live here, and you have to work in the mines. You'd try to make good rules to protect your people here. If you don't, I'm thinking that no one will apply for those jobs."
"I know that doesn't sound ... I want to be compassionate, and I'm sorry for what happened, but I wonder: Was it just an accident?"
"...just an accident?" JUST AN ACCIDENT??!?
That "...April's deadly mining explosion in West Virginia,..." was at the Upper Big Branch Mine, operated by Massey Energy Co.. It was NOT "just an accident" - as noted in the preceeding link:
As production at the mine has increased, so, too, have the violations.
In 2008, the mine produced 363,923 tons of coal and received 197 citations. Last year, it produced 1.2 million tons of coal and racked up 515 violations, the highest amount of violations in the past decade. The proposed fines for those violations amount to nearly $900,000.
Note: there is a big difference between "proposed fines" and "imposed fines" - but, that's a tangent. The point is, it was NOT "just an accident."
Harlan County, Kentucky, it turns out, is famous not for the Duke boys, or for the Hatfields and McCoys, as Rand Paul speculated, but for its violent coal battles. Nicknamed Bloody Harlan, and the subject of countless folk ballads (including "Which Side Are You On?") and several books and movies (the Oscar-winning 1976 documentary Harlan County USA and the 2000 film Harlan County War, starring Holly Hunter), the county was the site of some of the most explosive labor battles of the early 20th century. The bloodiest clashes occurred in 1931, when miners, working 12-to-16-hour days without any safety or wage regulations, tried to unionize. Beatings, shootings, bombings, and tear-gas attacks followed, much of the violence perpetrated by the local sheriff's department, which was controlled by the coal companies. Eventually, after four people died in one gun battle, federal troops were brought in to keep the peace. Bloody Harlan has been cited as a major reason for the passage of the National Labor Relations Act of 1935, which gave the federal government the power to regulate labor contracts and is anathema to everything Rand Paul stands for.
"...and is anathema to everything Rand Paul stands for."
I've been following Tom Emmer on the campaign trail for quite some time, and for the life of me, I can't think of a single difference between Rand Paul's and Tom Emmers on the concepts of regulation.
From the 1930's, from Kentucky to Minneapolis, the Rand Pauls and Tom Emmers and their ilk have opposed efforts to ensure worker safety. Decades ago, workers died trying to get safer condition for future workers - in Kentucky and in Minneapolis and elsewhere - and were killed by company goons trying to prevent just that.
This post is about two movements - one trying to protect workers; one trying to protect corporations. The former values people; the latter profits.
The Rand Pauls and Tom Emmers of this world make that perfectly clear.
It is 90 days until November 2nd, and the general election. Will you stand with those that honor those that have died to get safer working conditions, or with those that place profits before people?
90 days - and the battle rages on. Take a stand; the life of a loved one, a friend, a neighbor, a CITIZEN is at stake. Maybe even your own.
