Monday, September 05, 2005

The Salt Of The Earth

At age 16, the first actual job I held was as a neighborhood box boy at a Von's Market in west Los Angeles. The work was good, the pay was great and the hours were flexible.

How Did It Get This Good?

The only hitch--it was a "union shop," which meant I was required to join the Retail Clerks union and pay something called "dues." I originally thought this was like a tax, just to work there. Good hourly wages, an 8-hour day, a 40-hour workweek with overtime pay at time and a half.

Yeah! Pretty good deal for a kid in the go-go, mid-1960's. I never gave it much thought then, but I learned later the simple working conditions I took for granted were the result of nearly a hundred years of American workers' efforts to achieve them. Many were beaten, run out of their homes and some were murdered.

The grocery strike of last year--the largest in history--brought all this into perspective for me. It’s only when the going gets tough, do we see who we really are. Did you respect the striking workers by shopping elsewhere? Did you think about it? Do you think unions get results for their members?

Price To Be Paid When Fighting For Rights

I read letters to the editor complaining of the inconvenience brought about by the strike. But I also read letters praising the courage of those willing to stand up for their position. Clerks and box persons were outside the door holding signs and explaining why they were on strike for some 140 days. These workers lost real income and endured personal hardship.

What was the inconvenience for me? I changed my shopping habits and learned something new. My significant other and I tried to shop at Lompoc stores not involved in the strike, a difficult goal to achieve. Foods Co (Kroger) has a current labor agreement, so we shopped there.

As I paid attention to the story in the papers, Internet and tv, I learned Kroger also owns Ralphs, one of the stores that locked out employees. Hmmm.

Whatever happened to the mom-and-pop grocery store of my youth? Gobbled up by bigger competitors, who merged and formed even larger corporations, which try to trim overhead expenses. Now, these companies wanted to cut their share of employee health care costs.

Why Unions Exist

Just what could a single person say to the "boss" of a company that size? Not much. Only by banding together can workers--in a union--get the clout that gets attention at a bargaining table. They also get results for the membership, who approved a new contract.

Since Labor Day last year, I have had two part-time jobs, for which I am very grateful. Each one is a learning experience about the job requirements and about myself. It may not be fair, but a man often judges his own self-worth by whether he's employed or not. Work well done provides its own dignity.

I hear two songs from my dj days: "Salt of the Earth" by the Rolling Stones from their 1968 Beggars Banquet lp, and "Working for a Living" by Huey Lewis.

Next year, while the sun shines on the first Monday of September and the barbeque burgers are sizzling, these tunes will be on the boombox at the park when we celebrate "Labor Day." I’ll raise "my glass to the hard working people" and give three cheers for the salt of the earth. Sphere: Related Content

N'yah, What's Up, Doc?

Three years ago, New Orleans' leading local newspaper, the Times-Picayune, National Public Radio's signature nightly news program, "All Things Considered," and the New York Times each methodically and compellingly reported that the very existence of south Louisiana's leading city was at risk. Hundreds of thousands of lives were imperiled by exactly the sequence of events that occurred this week.
All three news organizations also made clear that the danger was growing because of a series of public policy decisions and failure to allocate government funds to alleviate the danger.
The question raises itself: what should we know about Central Coast emergency planning/budgeting/policy decisions to withstand an emergency here? Such as an earthquake? Diablo Canyon cooling system explosion? Tsunami protection for the coastline? Power failure over the entire area?

Blogophone props to 23-year-old Brendan Loy, who with no formal meteorological training has drawn widespread praise for his hurricane blog. The Irishtrojan.com blog postings urged New Orleans residents to leave the city two days before the mayor issued an evacuation order. Sphere: Related Content

Friday, September 02, 2005

One More Cup Of Coffee

Madness. Confusion. The smell of death. Danger in the fires burning above the flooded city of New Orleans. The federal emergency agency director, Michael Brown, is quoted saying he's working "under conditions of urban warfare."

The muddy floodwaters are now toxic with fuel, battery acid, rubbish and raw sewage.

The Gulf Coast hurricane aftermath is pretty bad. Amid the tragedy, humans rise to the occasion and selflessly help others survive. It's hard to comprehend as I write this from my safe and sunny Central Coast of California perch.

A few days ago, I was going to write a bit on the antioxidant effects of coffee. How coffee is the number one antioxidant consumed by Americans. How antioxidants in general have been linked to a number of potential health benefits, including protection against heart disease and cancer. How I thought tomatoes had to be high on the list but they're not.

Coffee for me now, as I learned it could be more than 12 years ago is a liquid of sobriety. Its aroma is a calming presence. Its heat a comfort to a troubled soul. Filling others' cups an act of service. A conscious contact with a Higher Power.

It provides moments of steadiness and solid contact with familiar smells and sounds. The clink of cups and saucers. Humans helping humans. Conscious contact.

Katrina's survivors in New Orleans might not need a cup of coffee at this moment, but they sure could use the grace of God to survive another lawless night. Sphere: Related Content