Vol.64/No.9 March 6, 2000
Immediate gas/oil price relief!
{editorial}
The criminal squeeze being put on working people with sky-high gas and diesel prices, and the killer hikes in the cost of heating oil, must end. From independent truck drivers, to farmers and fishermen, the devastation of livelihoods at the hands of the energy monopolies is a concern for all who work and labor for a living. Responsibility for deaths resulting from a sharp spike in fuel oil prices, as people are forced to turn off the heat in the middle of winter, must be placed at the door of the government and profit-hungry corporations.
The labor movement can take the lead by placing demands on the federal government to take immediate action to remedy this crisis. It can also bring the power of the unions behind future actions by truckers and advance the fight for unionization of all truck drivers in the country. The struggle for a union must include a big increase in wages, as well as forcing companies to pay rates to truckers that cover costs.
Demands to place on the Clinton administration should include:
- End taxes on gas and oil at the pump. This is part of the fight to abolish all taxes on working people and institute a steep, mandatory income tax on the rich. Winning this immediate demand would bring substantial relief.
- Make the massive federal oil and gas reserves immediately available to any trucker, farmer, or person in need. This would force a sharp decline in the monopoly prices charged by the oil companies.
- Open the books and secret records of the energy companies to public scrutiny. We can't afford to let the government and companies hide behind the lies of shortages and low profits.
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