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Smoke vs. jobs-end of a myth We are increasingly being confronted by claims from industry that the demands made on it by citizens and government will not control pollution but rather will bring about complete stoppage of plant operations. This is a throwback to the antiquated escape route of “smoke means jobs”; it is environmental blackmail of the worst sort. The use of this argument-that margins of profit are inadequate to absorb the costs of social responsibility-is nothing new. It is an argument that unions have had to face ever since their inception. And we have conntered that stance, despite industry’s before-tbe-fact claims, without bringing about the demise of industrial progress. To the contrary, the wealth and tecnnology of this nation have grown in geometric proportions simultaneously with the recognition of the need for social responsibility within the business world. While we do agree with industrial spokesmen when they say that unreasonable environmental demands would be disastrous for them and for the workers, and while we always have endorsed provisions within federal antipollution legislation which call for standards to be set in accordance with what is technologically and economically feasible, we have found that far too many “unreasonable demand” claims simply are not so. Tragically, however, the worker who is threatened with a job loss, or th e community which is faced with the threat of a tax base loss, usually does not have the time, the abilit), or the legal authority to sift through the clouded claims to make an objective analysis. In these cases, the burden of proof clearly should be placed on those who are the violators. At present, this placement of the burden does not effectively exist. As we have in the past, the United Steelworkers of America continues to call for the right to subpoena the records of any plant which tbreatens a shutdown or worker layoff in response to standards’ compliance. We also believe that public hearings should be conducted in these instances. Only through these avenues can the public receive tbe knowledge it needs to prevent environmental blackmail. We are mindful that many obsolete plants use environmental control as a convenient public relations tool to justify a production decision to terminate operation and rationalize past failures to modernize facilities. The truth must come to light in such situations to prevent false strength being given to other claims of “necessary” industrial pollution. Aimed with the essential information, pragmatic
LWG CWLLLUL uf air emissions and water effluents can be established and implemented within specific time limits. I think we all can agree that it would be foolish to jump immediately to a confrontation crisis point by placing workers in an untenable position by demanding whether they are willing to sacrifice their jobs if all forms of industrial pollution do not stop instantly. Too many environmentalists have not yet gone beyond the stage of fighting for ambient standards. They must now enter the arena of the control strategy and they should not immediately assume that workers’ jobs must necessarily be lost. Otherwise, they will provide a fertile field for the environmental blackmailer. Often we are told that the labor movement should focus its pollution control efforts through collective bargaining. We feel that this is not the proper arena, however, because the technical details and amplitude of controls are far more extensive than the confines of a labor agreement. Moreover, an emission strategy for a region cannot be developed through piecemeal bargaining efforts of individual unions. The emission standards must be established by public authorities through consideration of all industrial sources so that the emission controls might be not only comprehensive 2nd _.___ PffPrtive but equitable and flexible. The Steelworkers, both as a union and as individuals, have: long been involved with environmental action through e ducational conferences, participation in public L..”A...-” IlmLkJLgJ, and legislative support. The United Steelworkers of America will continue to be an active force for pollution control on all fronts because we never have subscribed, nor will we ever do so, to the theory that social ills are a necessary cost that must accompany technological advancement.
SuaLcgma IUI
1. W . Abel, president of United Steelworkers of
America, is also a member of the President’s Task Force on Air Pollution and a director of the National Center for Solid Waste Disposal
Volume 5, Number 8, August 1971 659
