Miners fight for jobs
In an article submitted to the Militant in early
September, I pointed to the discussion taking place among
area miners about the shutdown of two Consolidation Coal Co.
mines. Also pointed to was the need for labor to fight for
jobs. Labor-management participation schemes were pointed to
as a step away from the road of working-class solidarity.
The coal bosses have driven these lessons home with yet another mine shutdown. Peabody's Tygart River Mine (formerly Martinka) closed December 5, wiping out 359 more mining jobs. With the two Consol closings mentioned in the previous article, the ranks of working miners in District 31 have been sliced by more than 600 in the last several months.
Peabody and the UMWA negotiated a concession contract last year to keep the mine open. A new period of labor- management cooperation was pointed to by one UMWA official in District 31 when he said, ""Peabody's management has been willing to sit down with the union and work out ways to keep mines open and increase employment, unlike Consol, which recently announced that they were going to shut down three mines without even thinking to pick up the phone to talk to us about it."
But this cooperation was strictly one way. After the closing, another UMWA spokesperson pointed out that Peabody has followed the Consol script. "This was obviously not only unexpected news but very bad news." There are no guarantees against such "bad news." The capitalist bosses make only one guarantee- that they will always defend their profits at our expense. But by promoting international working-class solidarity we can prepare for the decisive battles as foretold by today's events.
Dave Salner
Morgantown, West Virginia
Keep up good work
Enclosed is a $50.00 contribution to the Militant fund
drive. Since the Militant is the only newspaper that has
accurately predicted the economic crisis that we are
currently experiencing, this contribution is well deserved.
Today, it is more difficult to find a decent paying job than
it has been in my lifetime. Not only are jobs hard to find,
but the cost of education is astronomical. If that weren't
enough, graduates from college are scrambling for jobs that
have no health insurance coverage. Anyone who has followed
the Militant is not surprised at this reality. While I
applaud this effort and encourage my co-workers to read the
Militant, I wonder if there might be areas where the paper
might be improved.
An example of what I am saying comes from the last election campaign. The central demands of the candidates that the Militant supported come from the Action Program. I feel that this program needs to be expanded to include where the resources would come from to pay for the program. Most workers like the demands of the Action Program, but feel that it is pie in the sky. By looking at how capitalism works it becomes clear that there are vast resources that are virtually wasted.
In any event, keep up the good work.
Steve Halpern
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Blacklisting at Yale
On December 7, graduate student teachers at Yale
University voted to withhold grades until the administration
agreed to enter into good faith negotiations. The response
of both faculty and the administration has been one of
intimidation, threats of academic reprisals and expulsion.
One tenured faculty member responded with telling his
teaching assistant that he would do everything in his power
to get her expelled.
A famous, "radical" post-colonial tenured critic in the English department called in her TAs and threatened them with everything possible until a TA became hysterical. The dean of Yale college actually wrote a blacklisting letter because his graduate student was merely a member, before she even made a decision to strike.
Another famous historian, who has written a number of books on liberalism and the western tradition, equated striking TAs with Rabin's killers and told his TA that he can not work with her as an advisor. She came to this university to work with him. Another tenured professor told his striking TA that she would refuse to write him a letter of recommendation if he participated in the strike. We accept having our pay docked if we strike, but being blacklisted from the academy is unacceptable.
Please, fax or e-mail the president of Yale, Richard Levin. Fax if at all possible. Tell him you have heard what is going on. Tell him to issue a statement that the right to organize will be respected at Yale. Tell him that this kind of behavior is unacceptable at such a respected and renowned university. Tell him you would not recommend graduate students apply here and that it is shameful. Also, if you will, urge him to sit down in good faith negotiations with TAs so as to avoid a full strike in the spring. Please send this message to all concerned. Levin's fax number is 203-432- 7105. His e-mail is Ricard.Levin@yale.edu Also, please cc a copy to me at the Yale Daily News at 203-432-7424 (fax) or ydn@minerva.cis.yale.edu
Greg Grandin
Dept. of History, Yale University
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