Letters To The Editor

Sat., March 27, 1999

SPOKANE MATTERS

Actions, inaction all unfair

I have a concern with the way the Spokane County Sheriff’s Department is reacting to the Kaiser labor dispute. I realize that the law is the law and must be obeyed by me, a common taxpayer.

The Steelworkers’ union has presented the Spokane County sheriff’s and prosecutor’s offices with evidence that Kaiser agents have blatantly violated RCW 49.44.100, which pertains to a business in the state of Washington using a third party to hire workers from out of state to replace regular employees during a labor dispute.

These officials charged with upholding the law have been privy to this information for at least 60 days. They have done nothing about this gross violation.

Recently, when the Steelworkers had a Sunday barbecue at their union hall, they were hassled by deputies there. After the barbecue, several carloads went to the vicinity of the Mead plant for their regular drive-by, which has been happening every Sunday since October. They were met by 10 police cars and two paddy wagons. This was a totally peaceful operation. No one was arrested.

We Steelworkers are not even allowed to exercise our freedoms under the Bill of Rights without a gross reaction from law enforcement such as this. Yet the same people who make the call to waste our tax dollars this way won’t even investigate a clear-cut violation by the big-bucks boys. This is America in 1999. Wait until next year. Stan A. White Spokane

BUSINESS AND LABOR

Truth about con man can set us free

The travesty at Kaiser continues. However, there seems to be some dramatic change in attitudes.

The Steelworkers’ fight against Charles Hurwitz is classic David vs. Goliath. Hurwitz has all the gold that he says rules, which until recently was correct. His power and influence (money) bought him control of an unsuspecting, trusting city. He conned the city officials, local police, management from his company, underemployed and unemployed people - from various states, yet - to turn against loyal local workers. He had it all wrapped up.

Then, a courageous writer from The Spokesman-Review, Karen Dorn Steele, did the unthinkable. She told the truth about Hurwitz. The entire city now knows the truth about what is really going on at Kaiser, and the attitudes of all the people conned by Hurwitz have changed dramatically. We are now a city working together to fight this human cancer.

“Control the information and you control the people” is an old adage Hurwitz has worked to perfection - until now. Everyone thought it was just another company-union confrontation. It is much more. It is about saving the middle class from ruthless, greedy, billionaires.

To all of you who are helping Hurwitz eliminate the middle class, you are not exempt, you are next. This man is robbing all of us, our children included, of something much more important than money - a future. Nick G. Abariotes Spokane

Hang in there for everyone’s sake

We in organized labor in the Spokane area are frustrated as to what more we can do to help you, the Kaiser Steelworkers. Outside of the normal things, of course, like walking the line with you and offering donations, food and moral support. We know our future lies in your hands.

Please keep the faith, because if management is successful in driving you into the ground, we are next. This is a power play, with every decent-paying job in the Spokane area at stake. We are behind you. Hang in there - please. Ed Ellenz Local 1135, Spokane County Road Department

Playing chicken with financial ruin

Kaiser’s big announcement to give 1,800 temporary scabs insurance causes a mathematical problem. Before the lockout there were 2,000 Steelworkers at the Trentwood and Mead plants. Kaiser said it needed to and could cut 700 jobs and run full production.

If that was true, Kaiser would need fewer than 1,300 scabs. Since it has numerous retirees and has hired additional managers, even fewer scabs would be needed. In fact, if Kaiser has 1,800 scabs in the plant, it’s probably employing as many or more people than prior to the strike. We must also take into account how much overtime is being required to run the place. Managers and retirees already have insurance as salaried workers, so Kaiser cannot say they are included in the 1,800 scabs.

Kaiser is now paying the Steelworkers’ unemployment and the wages and salaries of 1,800 scabs and extra managers. This from a company that tries to cry financial distress. If the company doesn’t take these talks seriously, it truly could be in financial ruin - self-inflicted. Wendy S. Wise Hayden, Idaho

Will officials never take action?

We have heard far too many politicians using some form of Harry Truman’s famous quote, “The buck stops here!”

International Management Assistance Corp. of Cleveland, Ohio, an out-of-state company, illegally hired scabs from outside Washington state to work for Kaiser. But Kaiser, which hired IMAC, (for a high price, I’m sure) must have known IMAC’s plans and is ultimately responsible.

Now, will the elected officials responsible for upholding this law ignore these charges any longer or is the buck still traveling? Michael J. Hart Post Falls

Scabs lose-lose, all right

Re: Kaiser replacement worker article, March 24.

I was raised in Spokane, in a family of 18, by a father who was a union worker his whole life. He didn’t need to cross a picket line to support us. He did it by proud and honest means.

My brothers and I are proud union members representing the electrical, communication workers, and steelworker brotherhoods. We wouldn’t think of crossing a picket line to raise our families, no matter how hard it gets.

How can somebody look himself in the mirror after driving so far to disgrace his family and neighbors? Replacement worker Erik Henderson talks about this being a lose-lose situation. Well it is - for him. We are not in that position.

Your parents must be so proud of your new career and the new brotherhood you belong to - the brotherhood of back stabbers. Have a nice summer. Joe L. Barnes Steelworkers Local 329, Spokane

THE ENVIRONMENT

Balance, sense needed to save salmon

Samantha Mace’s guest column (March 15) statements appear to be biased and support only a given agenda. That agenda is to return the Pacific Northwest to days when the rivers ran wild and few people lived in the area.

Why can salmon be bought in meat markets if they are becoming extinct?

Dams are multipurpose and provide many benefits: electricity, transportation, irrigation, recreation, flood control and wetlands.

Mace’s facts are baffling. It will take 120,000 rail cars or 700,000 trucks to replace barges. Rail cars and trucks cannot keep up with demand now. One gallon of fuel moves one ton of commodity by barge 514 miles compared to 202 miles by rail or 59 miles by truck.

The Washington State Environment 2010 Study found air pollution was the No. 1 health risk in the state. Barging supports clean air, is efficient and environmentally friendly.

The four dams generate enough power for all of Seattle or the entire states of Montana and Idaho - a significant amount of power.

We can save salmon by refusing to consider one specific agenda. It may muddy the waters, but all factors must be considered if we are sincere about saving salmon. Harvesting, predators, ocean conditions, habitat and pollution are factors.

Killing spotted owls or other endangered species breaks the law and results in punishment. Killing salmon is breaking the law. Where is the penalty?

Common sense must prevail. Alice Parker, executive secretary Columbia Basin Development League, Royal City, Wash.

Don’t write us off

Contrary to the March 22 article staff writer by Robin Rivers, Kettle Falls is still alive and well as a logging town. This, in spite of efforts by the various bug-and-bunny groups like the Lands Council, Kettle River Conservation Group, Earth First!, The Sierra Club and Earth-Just-Us.

The fact of the matter is, there are still plenty of people who believe it’s better to sustainably harvest the resource than to burn it up. Gary Garrison Northwest Timber Workers Resource Council, Kettle Falls, Wash.

Beetle response about logging, money

I protest the U.S. Forest Service’s bark beetle plan because it is an obvious cover-up to make money. The USFS will only hurt, not help, the environment by logging the forests.

In my school, Greenacres Junior High, we’ve had one guest speaker from the USFS and one speaker from The Lands Council. The USFS speaker had a fancy presentation and tried to make us believe logging the few remaining trees we have will solve our problem of the bark beetles. But the truth is, we cannot afford to lose our few remaining trees to greedy logging companies. At our present rate, we are losing more forests than are growing back. The USFS is also only replanting Douglas firs instead of the trees it cut down before because the Douglas fir grows much faster.

This may be so, but how many problems will we have after these forests are cut down? A major source of oxygen and a major source of using the carbon dioxide already in our atmosphere is within the trees. How will we be able to make up for the loss of oxygen and the cleaning of the atmosphere to make a few people a few dollars richer?

The USFS should not clearcut so much land over a problem such as the bark beetle when there are other ways to handle this problem. Joshua Radford, age 16 Greenacres

WILDLIFE

Bears endangered by zealous bunglers

Re. “Canada pressured on endangered species” by Anthony DePalma, New York Times (Spokesman-Review, March 21).

This article perfectly exemplifies the current arrogance, deceit and absurdity of the American environmental movement, and the naivete of the media which swallow without question whatever they’re fed.

First, the statements made by the Defenders of Wildlife are false. Canada does indeed have protections for game and has environmental regulations every bit as effective as those of the United States. But they are administered by the provinces, with far more common sense applied than the heavy-handed U.S. federal laws and regulations.

Second, neither the grizzly nor many other species are endangered or threatened in Canada.

Third, the example used of the grizzly migrating across the border from Alberta to Montana is also inappropriate. In fact, the grizzly, though it in some Canadian areas can face a well-controlled hunt, is far more threatened in the United States by poachers and overzealous state and federal fish and wildlife personnel who’ve made an industry out of drugging, capturing, moving and sometimes killing bears.

As for the Defenders of Wildlife’s proposed sanctions against Canada, perhaps they’ll put a halt to American importation of wolves and woodland caribou for government transplant programs. Or maybe, after whining about greenhouse gas emissions, try to knock down all the hydroelectric dams, which provide the cleanest source of power known. Then, trying to obstruct new U.S. natural gas developments, they’ll block American imports of Canadian natural gas, a relatively clean fuel which America is increasingly dependent upon. M.A. Kaufman Spokane

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