THE ANDERSON FILES from Page 5
ger receive expanded unemployment benefits. Unionized workers with United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW) were able to pressure big supermarket chains to secure hazard pay, extra sanitation provisions and paid leave for hundreds of thousands of members. In May, Kroger (which is King Soopers locally) eliminated the $2 hazard “Hero Pay.” On May 1, workers from Amazon, Instacart, Whole Foods, Walmart, Target, FedEx, Uber and fast food chains went on strike, citing their employers’ record profits at the expense of workers’ health and safety during the pandemic. Those companies are aggressively antiunion so their employees have no contract, which means they essentially have no rights. They called in sick or walked off their jobs during their lunch breaks. “These workers have been exploited so shamelessly for so long by these companies while performing incredibly important but largely invisible labor,” labor historian Stephen Brier, a labor historian told The Intercept. “All of a sudden, they’re deemed essential workers in a pandemic, giving them tremendous leverage and power if they organize collectively.” Recently, the AFL-CIO lost a lawsuit in the U.S. Court of Appeals in the District of Columbia, which would have compelled the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) to issue temporary emergency rules for worker protection during the pandemic. The union federation argued “infections and death among workers will rise” if the agency doesn’t draw up these standards. OSHA under Trump issues vague “guidelines.” Businesses can decide whether they want to follow them. The Democratic-controlled House passed a COVID-19 stimulus passage, which included requirements that OSHA adopt an emergency standard for enforcing safety measures
related to the pandemic. However, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell refuses to put the bill up for a vote because he wants special legal protections for companies that might be sued for failing to provide safe workplaces. In other words, businesses shouldn’t be punished if their employees or customers get sick or die from the virus. Meanwhile, corporate America has embraced racial justice and equality in response to the protests. They have given contributions to civil rights organizations. “The inequitable and brutal treatment of Black people in our country must stop,” Amazon tweeted. Walmart CEO Doug McMillon proclaimed that George Floyd’s death was “tragic, painful and unacceptable.” McDonald’s CEO Joe Erlinger said “We do not tolerate inequity, injustice or racism,” claiming that “when any member of our McFamily hurts, we all hurt.” Toni Gilpin, writing in Labor Notes, says that a large percentage of the workers at Amazon, Walmart and McDonald’s are black and that they tend to be in low-wage jobs. They aren’t paid living wages, have few if any benefits and have to put up with lousy working conditions. These corporate executives claim they want a “dialogue” and want to “listen” but they fervently oppose unions, which make workplaces more democratic and equal. A study by the Center for American Progress shows that while a union collective bargaining contract increases the wealth of all members, it boosts the wealth of non-white members the most because white families start out with significantly more wealth. So unions can make America more equal and less racist. That may be why blacks are twice as likely to approve of unions as whites. This opinion column does not necessarily reflect the views of Boulder Weekly.
Wouldn’t it be
better to challenge the power of today’s living and breathing oppressors rather than just pull down stone and bronze statues of longdead oppressors?
6
I
JULY 2, 2020
The time has arrived to call out display of the thin blue line flag. I see one every day. It flies in our neighborhood with support of the HOA Board. Silence is tacit approval. This flag is meant to be a tribute to the brotherhood of police officers — nice idea, but it has a dark side. There is a strong overtone of racism. In the 1950s, William H. Parker, an unabashed racist — and chief of the Los Angeles Police Department for 16 years, constantly used the phrase “thin blue line” in speeches. He said many hateful things about black Americans, especially during the Watt’s Rebellion of 1965; they are too odious to repeat. Parker would delight in seeing it flown by white supremacists, appearing next to Confederate flags at the 2017 Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville. It divides us by fostering an usversus-them mentality. Symbolically, the blue line represents a powerful physical force that separates chaos from order. The reality is that on one side stands a rank-and-file culture of control, authority and obedience; the rest of us — those served — are excluded. This is a terrible time in our country with street violence not seen for decades and piling on more division is not helping. Now, police departments across the country are banning this logo. It is insensitive and inappropriate to display this thing. Best that it be relegated to the trash bin of history. Robert Carrier/Erie I
As the City of Boulder enters negotiations with Xcel, City leaders should look south to see what is happening in Fountain, Colorado. They have a municipal electric utility, the fifth largest in Colorado. They have been purchasing power from Xcel, but now Xcel has been outbid by Guzman Energy, a wholesale power provider. But what is stunning is that Guzman will not only provide electric power to Fountain at a lower cost than Xcel, they will be paying Fountain $12 million beginning this summer for the right to do so beginning in 2027. Paying! There is much to be learned from this event. First, this deal is only available to Fountain because they have a muni; Boulder could not get this deal because it is prevented by the Xcel monopoly. Second, in a competitive bidding environment, Xcel loses. Third, the difference in cost between Xcel and Guzman is so large, that Guzman can afford to pay Fountain cash in advance to get the contract. And, fourth, because Fountain has a muni, in 2033, it can go back to the marketplace and seek bids for renewable electric power from other sources. Fountain will get lower-cost electricity than it currently gets from Xcel while maintaining its flexibility to go to the marketplace in the future to get even better deals. Why would we want to continue to be restricted by the Xcel monopoly when we can form our own municipal electric utility and get deals like Fountain? Steve Whitaker/Boulder BOULDER COUNTY’S INDEPENDENT VOICE
