In San Francisco and Los Angeles areas alone, there have been dozens oil refinery accidents in the last decade, while plane crashes have killed hundreds in the United States over the past two years.

Vice President Albert Gore's praise for Boeing's "voluntary" move to belatedly repair the rudders on their 737 airplanes, and the Federal Aviation Association (FAA)'s decision to put ValuJet back in the air after its failure to meet safety regulations, reveal concurrence of those in Washington with the bosses on the question of safety.

At the same time the rulers attempt to numb workers to the connection between profit and cutting costs in safety. They tell us there is nothing we can do about safety - or it might mean our jobs. They try to convince us that we have nothing to gain by working carefully and safely -even if it takes longer. As conditions of work get worse, as hours increase, as wages go down, some workers begin to say: "It's not my job. Let somebody else do it."

The union officialdom encourages this cynicism. It is the other side of the coin of pulling together to help the fortunes of "our" company, and the company-union safety committees in many workplaces. The union officialdom is complicit with the bosses in encouraging the divisions among workers that weaken and demoralize the class.

Class-conscious workers should reject this and take the question of safety seriously. Labor must convince broad layers of the population as a whole that it is the working- class movement above all that cares about these questions. When activists for the environment, abortion rights, education, affirmative action, and others see labor taking the moral high ground against the exploiting class, we will win allies.

Working conditions and public safety will worsen unless class-conscious fighters struggle against these assaults, and become a tribune of workers' safety on the job. A stronger union increases safety on the airlines, in the refineries, on the railroads, in the mines, and other work places. Public safety improves when union militants stand up and fight to improve working conditions, shorten the hours of labor, and increase wages.

The labor movement must put itself in the middle of the fight for universal social security protection, real health and safety enforcement, and effective protection of the environment. More unions should emulate the members of the Association of Flight Attendants who protested the government's decision to permit ValuJet Airlines to resume flights following a deadly crash in May 1996.

The question of safety is a union question. It is a fundamental matter of working-class pride and morale. That's why working people around the world must take the moral high ground in the battle against the exploiting class and oppose the bosses' gutting of safety.  
 
 
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