Back in the day, my *homebase was a spare room my great friend Stosh set aside for me at his house in Detroit. Stosh was old school union–working seven days a week at Clark Street, aka ‘Cadillac Assembly’.
Stosh had wanted to be an artist (he was really good.) But his dad passed, and somebody had to support his sisters and brothers, including one sibling with severe epilepsy. So, at seventeen he went inside and never looked back.
I’m stickin’ with the Union…
Stosh was a United Auto Workers man to his bones. The UAW had gotten him a house and put three children through college. And when he got cancer? It gave him ‘cadillac’ health insurance and a for realz pension for his wife after he passed. He never thanked “General Motors” for his life. He thanked “the United Auto Workers”.
By today’s standards, he was what someone under fifty might think of as an “Archie Bunker” figure. Well, yes and no. All ‘comedy’ aside, Archie Bunker was accurate as hell. He was no caricature. That was “the world”.
But I did not and do not think of Stosh like that for many reasons. He was a loving husband and though he did not even make it through high school, and considered whiskey, buttermilk and sardines a fine dining experience, 😀 he was the furthest thing from the ignorant figure of Archie Bunker you could imagine. He was amazingly skilled with his hands and capable of tremendous sensitivity.
And one other thing: In a similar way, Stosh’s entire generation represented a very real (though imperfect) level of environmentalism.
Direct action…
Stosh absolutely revered the generation of workers immediately before him who had built the Union through their courage and direct action. They had complained repeatedly to management that the factory had poor ventilation. So one day, a group of workers simply went up to a brick wall and took turns beating on it with sledge hammers, holding off plant security until they had created a very large hole. And when they were done, they told the plant boss, “You can put the fan there.”
But they did not stop there. Throughout the ’50’s and ’60’s UAW workers continued to stage a string of protests about issues outside the factory. It became the policy of the Locals to promote better water and air quality along the Detroit River and in their nearby neighbourhoods. They pushed the auto companies to be “better neighbours” because they recognised that all the pollution was bad not just for workers, but for their families.
I’ve written before about Congressman John Dingell, who was so pivotal in creating the EPA, the modern Clean Air Act and Clean Water Act. Dingell was Stosh’s congressman. And no way would Dingell have succeeded if the UAW had not been behind him all the way.
Then something happened…
At some point in the ’70’s, a tension developed between the environmental movement and union workers. I believe this has been the result of people who do not have workers’ or union interests at heart.
Job killers?
Today, whenever anyone suggests that health, safety and environmental controls (which are all the same thing, really) are “job killers” follow the money.
The truth is, and always has been, that the nations, states and companies with the strongest environmental protections do better financially. Check it out. Want low wages? Just look at places with poor worker health and environmental protections.
The Airport Discount…
An ongoing argument I have had with my colleagues–and electeds across the region–is over “growth” and “the airport.” I’ve heard exactly the same quote from electeds who support everyone from Bernie to Trump…
“The airport keeps my taxes low.”
Which is a way of saying….
“Thank goodness for all that noise and pollution. Yeah, the schools are poor and people (especially kids) are at risk for all sorts of ongoing health problems, but that airport discount is totally worth it!”
If you’re conservative, you love the low taxes. If you’re the kind of ‘progressive’ you respond to something called ‘affordability’. Different bread, same sandwich.
And it’s a shitty sandwich. Your health, the health of your children, and the health of our town, are not worth some insane form of ‘airport discount’.
Why things never improve…
For those of you who are puzzled as to why our city (and others) have not been more aggressive in demanding less noise and pollution from the airport–even as it expands, that’s a big reason. Today, at the local level, there is simply no lane for “environmentalism” among electeds. You can energise both Democrats and Republicans by promoting “jobs!” and “growth!”
Somewhere along the line, the notion of healthy air and less noise became the same kind of shrug people used to have about lead in gasoline–sure it kills hundreds of thousands of people, but hey, I need to gas up my car!
or… Or… OR… we could just demand lead-free gas and stop listening to people who say how “impossible” everything is.
Please make up… (heart emoji goes here)
Unions have been on the downward slide for a long time in America. And the slide began at the same time that unions and environmentalists began to sit on opposite sides of most conversations. I think that was a mistake for both sides, not only because giving up on environmental concerns did not save jobs, but also because workers tend to live in neighbourhoods with the greatest need for healthier living conditions.
Most of us do not live out in some idyllic wilderness. Most of us live near a factory. A highway. An airport. And again: health and safety (including the planet) lead to better wages and working conditions for workers. Check it out.
I am extremely pleased to see unions making a halting comeback. It’s about time. And as they do, I hope they look back to people like Stosh and think about putting the environment further up on their list of priorities.
Summary
Environmental protections, including the noise and pollution from the airport can only help workers and their families. Those policies are not job killers. Again, the nations, states and companies with the strongest environmental protections do better financially–and so do their workers.
The ‘airport discount’ was always a lie. Des Moines should be quieter, have cleaner air, better schools and receive a fairer share of the economic engine of the Port of Seattle. That is formula that benefits everyone who lives here and that is the message I will continue to tirelessly promote for all working people and their families in Des Moines.
Happy Labor Day.
*I lived out of a suitcase for many years as a professional musician and a member of AFM Local 5 (Detroit) and AFM Local 802 (New York). Nobody thinks of ‘musician’ and ‘union’ in the same sentence these days, but there was a time where your AFM Card could be a ticket to a very good career.