    
Day Two Includes a Visit to a Picket Line and Free Health Clinic, and Rallies in McClellandtown, PA, and Weirton and Parkersburg, WV
From McClellandtown
to Weirton
and Parkersburg,
the “Reinvest
in America:
Put America
Back to Work!” Appalachian
Bus Tour
traveled
through towns
in Pennsylvania
and West
Virginia
hardest hit
by an increasing
loss of jobs
and affordable
health care.
The tour
arrived at
the Lakeside
Center in
McClellandtown,
PA, for a
jobs/healthcare/education
rally early
Monday morning
which was
attended
by UMWA members
and their
families.
Rev. Jesse
Jackson,
United Mine
Workers of
America (UMWA)
president
Cecil Roberts,
USWA vice
president
Leon Lynch,
and other
national
and regional
union and
public interest
leaders participating
in the tour
talked about
the issues
facing ordinary
workers in
this election
year.
Roberts
reminded
the audience
of the 35
million people
living in
poverty,
28 million
of whom are
working.
The engaged
audience
was roused
by Roberts’ thunderous
crescendo,
at times
jumping to
their feet
in applause.
When Roberts
asked the
veterans
to stand,
more than
half of the
room was
on their
feet, having
served in
wars including
WWII, Korea,
and Vietnam.
Nearly everyone
stood when
asked if
they had
lost a relative
or loved
one in a
mine accident
or from black
lung disease.
An elderly
man used
a cane to
stand, a
process that
took nearly
ten seconds.
Roberts
then declared
that he was “going
to make a
promise starting
right here.”
“If
they take
your healthcare,
we will engage
in non-violent
civil disobedience
across this
country like
you’ve
never seen
before,” he
exclaimed. “We’re
marching!
We want good
jobs in America!”
He then
recalled
how miners
forged an
alliance
with Jackson
15 years
ago. The
Pittston
Mine in southwest
Virginia
had cut off
healthcare
benefits
to 1,600
pensioners,
nearly the
same number
of people
in the room.
In the spring
of 1989,
10,000 strikers
were confronted
by 500 state
troopers
sent to move
them off
the mine
property.
Roberts pointed
out that
Jackson was
the only
national
figure who
visited the
striking
miners.
“Jesse
called the
governor
of West Virginia
and the first
President
Bush to say, ‘I
stand with
the strikers
today.’ Because
of Rev. Jackson’s
involvement,
thousands
of pensioners
have not
lost the
health coverage
they worked
for, coverage
they deserve,” said
Roberts.
In support
of the tour
and brotherhood,
Ron and Phil
Murray came
to the McClellandtown
rally. Natives
of Uniontown,
PA, the brothers
share an
interesting
dynamic.
Ron, 50,
is a coal
miner at
a Greene
County mine
and Phil,
55, is a
foreman there.
Phil said
his management
position
puts the
need for
unions in
perspective.
“We
need unions,” he
said. “We
wouldn’t
have any
mine industry
or real safety
regulations
without them.”
Ron Murray
said he was
impressed
with the
message and
conviction
of Carlo
Tarley, secretary
treasurer
of UMWA.
Tarley said
he was frightened
by the uneven
playing field
in the global
market. He
cited the
example that
since 9/11
no American
flags have
been manufactured
by American
workers.
The strength
of America
is workers,
he said,
but the “American
worker is
now considered
a throwaway.”
As Jackson
began, he
asked for
a moment
of silence
followed
by a prayer
to honor
the late
President
Reagan who
died Saturday,
June 5.
Turning
to thoughts
of the American
promise,
Jackson said
that organized
labor was
born when
slavery ended
just as slave
labor abroad
undercuts
labor in
America today.
He stressed
that the
government’s
intent is
to distract
the public
from the
vital issues
by “exciting
you about
non-budget
items where
you get the
gun, the
flag and
the prayer
cloth.”
“Here
we are again
in the hills
of Appalachia,” said
Jackson. “We
want to put
the working
poor back
in the national
headlines.
A quarter
of the nation’s
poorest counties
are in Appalachian
states. The
people there
experience
more health
problems
than anywhere
else the
country.
The region’s
infrastructure
is collapsing
as jobs are
exported
overseas.
With trailers
still serving
as schools
in many communities,
education
levels rank
among the
lowest in
the nation.
Jackson
talked about
the net loss
of jobs in
every state
in America
over the
past three
years. The
Appalachian
region has
more unemployment
than any
other region
in the U.S.
Weirton has
been blasted
by job loss
this decade,
losing over
10,000 steelworker
jobs.
“The
reason for
these rallies
is to change
the agenda
from taxes
and terrorism,” said
Jackson. “America
must face
Weirton,
not just
Baghdad and
Faluja. When
Americans
see Weirton
on the front
page of the
paper, they
will respond.”
Jackson
assured the
crowd of
miners and
other labor
members that
the people
of this region
have the
real power
this election
year.
“The
voices in
these hills
have the
power to
change leadership
and priorities
in this nation,” said
Jackson. “Ten
thousand
unemployed
people have
power when
they debate
the issues
and vote.”
Some of
those voices
were bellowing
in unison
as the bus
pulled up
to the next
stop on the
tour. Service
Employees
International
Union (SEIU)
hospital
workers’ were
picketing
in front
of Weirton
Medical Center
in Weirton,
WV. With
contract
negotiations
as the central
issue, they
were picketing
the hospital’s
refusal to
negotiate
with them.
Jackson
encouraged
the workers
to be strong
in their
struggle.
He told them
that they
were not
alone.
With the
workers and
supporters
igniting
farewell
chants as
tour participants
departed,
the bus made
its way up
the road
for a visit
to the Change
Inc. Free
Health Clinic
in Weirton,
WV. The participants
toured the
clinic, which
serves as
the only
source of
healthcare
for many
local residents.
For the 1,000
Weirton steel
workers who
have lost
their jobs
during the
last 6 months,
the clinic
provides
the only
health treatment
available
to them and
their families.
Seated with
The Weirton
Daily Times
managing
editor Richard
Crofton on
the ride
from the
clinic to
the next
rally, Jackson
raised the
issue of
unemployed
men and violence
against women
and children.
As it happens,
Crofton’s
wife runs
Weirton’s
shelter for
battered
women.
“One
key feature
of this unemployment
is the rise
of domestic
violence,” said
Jackson. “The
acts are
becoming
increasingly
violent and
devastating
as men are
losing their
jobs.”
Crofton
pointed out
another disheartening
effect on
towns like
Weirton:
without jobs
the community
will begin
to disappear
as young
people must
find work—and
homes—elsewhere.
As the bus
arrived at
a Weirton
rally at
the Serbian-American
Club, one
of the tour’s
leaders put
the region’s
job loss
in an even
dimmer light.
Independent
Steelworkers
of America
(ISA) president
Mark Glyptis
said that
the government’s
promotion
of exported
labor is
vanquishing
traditionally
strong American
industries
such as steel.
If things
don’t
change, he
said, the
region will
eventually
become like
a Third World
country.
“I
believe this
area is the
key to the
White House,” said
Glyptis. “From
a defense
standpoint
as well,
Washington
is on the
wrong track.
Other countries
are making
steel a national
priority
by subsidizing
its production
while we’re
putting our
defense in
the hands
of others.”
Delores
Wiggins,
secretary
treasurer
of the Black
Caucus of
the Ohio
Valley, came
to the Weirton
rally with
Black Caucus
of the Ohio
Valley president
Evelyn Woods
and another
Black Caucus
leader Rory
Brown. They
talked about
the high
cost of healthcare
and the loss
of pensions
after years
of paying
for them.
Wiggins
said the
real crisis
is jobs.
Her son was
recently
laid off
from his
National
Guard job
at a county
airport because
the Bush
Administration
declared
that only
military
personnel
were permitted
to hold his
position.
Her daughter
works at
the race
track a couple
of towns
away.
“By
the time
she gets
home to see
her kids
after the
long drive,
she has to
turn around
and go back
to work,” said
Wiggins. “It’s
no way to
live.
“My
husband and
I are retired
after working
83 years
between us,” she
said. “But
now we have
to support
our children
and their
children
because their
jobs aren’t
providing
enough to
live on.”
At a Monday
night rally
in Parkersburg,
W.Va., Jackson
said that
today we
are on full
terror alert
while neglecting
some of the
most corrupt
aspects in
our corporate
environment.
He discussed
the good
fortune of
Arthur Andersen,
the company
disgraced
out of business
two years
ago because
of its dubious
dealings
with Enron.
“Now
they have
reorganized
in Bermuda
where they
are exempt
from taxation,” he
said. “Last
week they
were awarded
a $10 billion
(Department
of Homeland
Security)
contract
to take pictures
of foreigners
at U.S. borders.”
Jackson
urged the
people of
the Ohio
Valley region
to see themselves
as a link
in the chain.
He said that
the attendance
and sense
of common
cause at
the rallies
along the
tour demonstrate
how the region’s
people are
connected
to each other.
On Tuesday,
the Appalachian
bus tour
heads to
Athens, Ohio,
for a rally
on the College
Green at
Ohio University
scheduled
for noon.
The tour
continues
through June
9 with stops
in Charleston
and Beckley,
WV. and Portsmouth,
Ohio.
A complete
itinerary,
tour updates,
daily press
releases,
and downloadable
pictures
are available
at www.reinvest-in-america.org.
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