Union

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An early and continuing part of my daily drive during the Covid-19 year was through portions of nearby suburbs Newport, St. Paul Park and Cottage Grove, and Grey Cloud Island, all of which are along and part of, the Mississippi River environs.

In St. Paul Park is an oil refinery, a long-time fixture there that I knew little about.

My knowledge has ratcheted up lately.  In late January, the Union representing workers  there went on strike, and in recent days the action broadened to information bannering such as freeway exits by another union.  Yesterday, I stopped by one of the bannering sites, and the friendly union members gave me a brief and useful information flier: St. Paul Bldg Trades – Marathon.  This unions newsletter has more information.  As noted in the newsletter, this began as a Teamster Strike, apparently a response to a lockout.  (Such events are rarely as clear as they appear.)

I’m glad I talked with the folks holding the banner Sunday afternoon.  I wish the workers success.  Theirs is no frivolous action.

Summit Ave exit on Hwy 61, St. Paul Park March 7, 2021.

St. Paul Park Refinery Mar 7, 2021

I’ve been a union guy for over 50 years.  I was staff for groups that on occasion went on strike.  I’ve been retired over 20 years.  One time, about 1979, I was President of the Union staff group which went on Strike against the Union that was our employer (it made news).

There’s no crossing of picket lines for me; I honk in support when I go past the pickets.  I don’t pretend to know the specifics of the issues or process at St. Paul Park.  I do know, union members don’t strike for the fun of it.

Anyone who’s ever gone on strike – or been on the other side – knows that a work stoppage is one thing when the walkout occurs; something different to resolve differences and get back to work.  To strike is a difficult decision to make; one with consequences for both sides, which is why strikes are rare.  The players on both sides know the realities.  A path is always found to settlement.  The only question: how long the strike will be.  The enterprise itself is at risk if there is no settlement.  Then everyone is affected.

The workers on Strike against Marathon are out for a reason.  The dispute is probably cast in economic terms – that is something everyone can understand – but likely the real issues are deeper, relating to matters generally described as working conditions.  Regardless, both sides know that once out, they’ve got to get a settlement agreeable to both sides.  In this case, a refinery without workers is as handicapped as a worker without work.

*

Unrelated to the above Strike, but at about the same time as the Strike began, I was nurturing an interest in seeing how many of my former Union colleagues I could reconnect with.  I started with old e-addresses, about one-fourth of which were bad addresses (no surprise there), and of the remaining 42, I’ve reconnected with perhaps a dozen, and out of these may come some memories of our union days by Memorial Day.

Some years ago a fellow staff rep, I think it was John B., gave me some photographs someone had taken at a PSA (Professional Staff Association – the staff Union) meeting about 1976 or so.  If you’ve ever wondered what teacher union staff actually looked like 45 years ago, here are over 20 (click to enlarge)  I’ve only labeled myself, though I remember all of those pictured: PSA circa 1976.  We were once young….

*

Unions are easy to kick around – you know this.  Having been, and still being, one of the people whose career was representing people in a Union, I know that organized workers are the ones who built and made the prosperous society in which we still live.  Money earned is money which can be spent, a fact often overlooked in the rhetoric about things like minimum wage and anti-union rhetoric.

Unions however named, are like every organization, take your pick, including corporate structures no matter how big or sophisticated.  All organizations of people reflect the strengths and weaknesses of their members and leadership.

When I retired from union work.  I was about 60 years old, which made me old within the union; but now, for me, 60 is just a kid, and when I was with the group in the 1976 PSA pictures above, I was in my 30s, not the oldest nor the youngest.  (The photos were taken at a union meeting at the end of a long day of assorted meetings.)  None of us were ‘fresh’ – in other words, we were tired.  I’m amused at my picture in the group.  I was pretty well exhausted by the days work, and hiding out by the chairs in the corner was a little opportunity to refresh.

A couple of years later I became President of this group and in my term we went on Strike.  As the saying goes, I’ve “been there, done that”.

Having said all this – and this is my message to colleague elders – the world ahead will be made by todays youngsters, not people like ourselves.  Watch the people in their 30s and 40s, especially.  They’ll make the world they’ll like…or hate…in 30 years.

I wish the Marathon workers, through their Unions, the very best.

POSTNOTE March 13:  The labor dispute remains unsettled as of Saturday.  The bannering continues and there seems more public visibility by those striking.  The Union staff photos drew quite a lot of attention.  They were likely taken in 1979, not 1976 as I first thought.  Unions contributed to a better society then, and still do.

 

One Year of Covid-19

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POSTNOTE: from the Sunday, March 7 2021, Washington Post: well worth your time.  Excerpt from Chaos Under Heaven.

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March 6, 2020 – it was a Friday – I stopped at my daughter Lauri’s home to tell her about an upcoming program of the Minnesota Orchestra I thought would interest the grandkids.  The previous day I’d read about it at the concert we attended at Orchestra Hall.  She expressed serious concerns about Covid-19, and got my attention.  We’d been to the Orchestra, and another event, the previous day, and at both there was some unease – like the calm before the certain storm – which prepared me for her concern.

Back home, the Minneapolis Star Tribune had Covid-19 on the front page.  I still have the paper, and you can read the article here: Covid-19 Mar 6, 2020.  The article didn’t read like 9-11-01 did on 9-12-01.  Vice-President Pence had been at 3M, a half dozen miles from where I type, on March 5, about N95 masks.

There were 200 Covid cases at the time.  Lauri gave us hand-sewn face masks.  I still wear mine each day.

I doubt anyone could imagine the upcoming year.

My Covid Year started March 6.  Life as I knew it was cancelled.  The Orchestra like most everything else I valued shut down.  Of course, other folks have other stories, other dates.   What are yours?  It’s good therapy, I’m finding.

Monday of this week we had our monthly Zoom family call – there were nine of us, from New York to California to Texas, and a tenth sent a note – and I asked all of those on the call when their Year of Covid began.

The earliest was early February.  My sister, Mary, had been in Seattle and Vancouver, including a big conference in Seattle.  Hindsight, there were harbingers of the future.  The others gave various dates, the latest in mid-March.  My personal ‘life’ as it was ended March 15 – the last Sunday I ushered at Church.

Basilica of St. Mary March 15, 2020. Final open-to-all Mass day.

And on it went.

We each have our own stories of this 12 months in our own lives: thoughts, feelings, impressions.  All important.  Experiences we’ve shared, or not….

There is something to be said about new habits which I’ve needed to learn: masks, social distancing, washing hands…part of the caution litany of the year.  New habits can serve us well.

For me, I tend to follow the rules, and the science as known and conveyed.  We now know the evolution of the science as efforts were made to identify remedies to the looming crisis, which was looming by January, 2020.  I made mistakes on occasion.  But, as this first year ends, formerly unusual behaviors have become habitual.  I think this is good.  Recently someone said that mask wearing is as much a courtesy to others, as they are a necessity to the person wearing them.  It makes sense.  “Stop the spread” is a useful mantra.

A major “therapy” for me this past year was to take a drive every day, sometimes twice.  These weren’t long drives, mostly to rural areas nearby.  It was good to get out, helped keep cabin fever at bay, without risky behavior.

*

I turned 80 this year.  It was May 4.  Most everything was in lockdown.  A few days before, I took a photo of a street sign I had just passed by.  A nearby resident asked me why I was taking a picture of it.  He apparently thought I was up to no good.  He was at least nice about it.  I told him my story.  Oh…  May 4 there was no birthday party…a family reunion had been in planning….

80th and Kimbro Ln Cottage Grove MN May 2, 2020

Wednesday of this week, March 3, I made my periodic “pilgrimage” over to the block where Gandhi Mahal restaurant, a favorite, stood one year ago.  It happened, this March day, that the apparent final truckload of dirt was filling the final hole remaining from what had been, a year ago, a busy vibrant block.  To my knowledge, no perpetrators have been arrested as of yet.

27th Avenue S, Gandhi Mahal block, just south of Lake Street, Minneapolis March 3, 2021.

Gandhi Mahal block from the north, morning May 29 2020.

A year ago, Ruhel Islam and I had sat in the restaurant as I was planning an 8th annual program there for April 15.  That event was, of course, cancelled.

As I write, the trial for the policeman who killed George Floyd last Memorial Day – the genesis of the protests of last spring – is about to begin in Minneapolis.  The burning and the killing directly relate to each other.  All that is unknown is who burned down the block, and why….

At “my” Caribou Coffee – the place I started my day near every day since 2000, they now have reopened three tables, time limit a half hour, to see how it goes.  I sat there once, just to try it out!  First time in almost a year.  Strange how the familiar attracts.

The manager talked about the trip she hopes her family can take this summer…but will the attractions they want to take the kids be open?  They don’t know.  Uncertainty.

The manager of the FedEx next door, who I’ve gotten to know over the years, chatted about business.  The package delivery has been consistent and good, she said.  Walk-ins, like myself, have been way down.  People preparing advertising materials of all sorts, etc., have dropped off precipitously.  More people work from home.  Even retirees.  This week three Zooms for me.  It’s becoming a common week.  A year ago, Zoom was mysterious and rare.

What will the future look like, the two of us mused.  I said I thought that we would enter a new normal – the pandemic won’t end, like a bad dream, with no changes in how our environment looks and how people feel and act.  I think she agreed, but sadly.  We won’t go back to business as usual.

On and on go the stories…brief casual chats with cashiers and the like.  Most everyone has been adversely affected.  Not all.  The rich got much richer – the gift of 2017 tax cuts.  Deficits?  Not to worry…until now.

*

There will be life after this, though not for the half-million already killed by the pandemic thus far, and that’s just in the U.S.

I have sensed some positive changes that I think may stick.  Wednesday at the post office a lady at the post office held the door open for me, as I was holding the other door open for her.

We laughed.  “You can’t be too polite”, I said, masked.  She was walking away, masked, and agreed.  You can’t be too polite.

Let’s make the best of this, folks.  We have no other choice.

COMMENTS: 

from Peter: This year has been shockingly normal for me, except not spending nearly so much money (probably gasoline), and not having to drive to work.

It has been a year of annoyances, watching the tourists rushing to the ski resorts, sparking small outbreaks among my neighbors and friends who work at those places. The community heaved a great sigh of relief this year, when the Sackler family [oxycontin] sold their interest in one of the big ones.

I had retired from driving the local school bus, so missed the heroic food-distribution and wellness-checking duties that my cohort then had to engage in, while the system worked out how to keep children learning what we want them learning, and not becoming useless and dangerous attention-addicts like the president.

Other than that, Mrs. Lincoln, how was the play?

from Molly: directly relevant to the Covid year here.

…and oh, how tragic that it is still relevant…
Be sure to read the part about the author at the end, too.

from Sharon:  I really enjoyed reading your article. As I look back, the year has gone fairly fast which is surprising to me. I have to admit that we have not been bored, even though we have really missed theatre, music, church and sporting events. I have enjoyed going through old pictures, articles, etc. that I have saved over the years and getting more organized in our home. I so remember March 13th as that was the day that two granddaughters were sent home because of the COVID. Hannah, who was a member of the Concordia concert choir was on choir tour in the southeast. The choir was sent home after a concert in Nashville. She certainly did not know that it was the end of  choir, no more in school classes, and not even a graduation ceremony for her. Meredith, our other granddaughter, was on her way to dive in the NCAA diving championship finals in Ohio, when they were turned away from that on the final night. She still became an All American diver. In fact, she qualified again this year, and will be going to Alabama this year for the the championships. She is a sophomore at St. Cloud State University.

We have been seeing our family often, but friend lunches, etc. have been cancelled. We have lost many friends, only two from COVID, but have only attended one funeral.
I too, turned 80, and the family had a surprise family party for me for my January 4th birthday. We had more fun than a family could have. By the way, I liked your clever picture of the the 80th street sign.
Thanks for the great article.

March 4

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  1. For the first 140+ years of the United States the inauguration of the President of the United States was March 4.  In 1933, the date was changed to January 20.  I really had no knowledge of this until the current chaos.  It’s just another learning opportunity.  If you wish to learn more, here’s an article from the Library of Congress.  The inauguration of Abraham Lincoln is briefly discussed in this article.  It occurred on March 4, 1861.  As noted in the continuing series on Lincoln (CNN, Sunday night, 9 Central time) Lincoln died by assassination a short time after inauguration for his second term as president.
  2. Those who regularly visit this site know that I appreciate and respect and very often refer to the frequent blogs at Just Above Sunset.  The two most recent are especially worth your time: Freeing the Vote and Purist Madness.  [Postnote Mar. 5: also Potato Head Politics.]
  3. March 6, Saturday, is my personal one year anniversary of recognizing that Covid-19 was a threat.  I’ll post about my reflections on Saturday.  All previous posts for any month are easily accessed via the archive tab at right.

POSTNOTE:  Coincident with the publication of this blog came an e-mail from Jeff, which I find very interesting.  Jeff: Bruce Bartlett (@BruceBartlett) tweeted at 7:51 AM on Thu, Mar 04, 2021:
Philosophers and public intellectuals have ignored the study of epistemology (the study of knowledge itself; how to tell the difference between fact and opinion etc.) for too long.  More here.  (I also have this article in pdf form – the second page is the last page of the article: Michael Patrick Lynch Boston Review and Michael Patrick Lynch Boston Review (2)

White Nationalists/”Antifa”

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Today is the Senate Judiciary Committee hearing about January 6.  Director of the FBI, Christopher Wray, is testifying.  It is interesting.  Only the most hardy will watch it all (I’m not among that group, but I’ll catch quite a bit of it.)

The opening statements of Sen. Dick Durbin and Sen. Chuck Grassley were of particular interest to me.  One focuses on White Nationalists and January 6; the other one might loosely be called “Antifa”, largely in the wake of George Floyd’s death in Minneapolis.  Of course, the intent is to try make one equivalent to the other.

There is no equivalence.

For a number of years after 9-11-01 I was a peace activist (I’m still very active, but not necessarily an activist – there is a difference, much relates to simply getting older!)

Peace March Minnesota Sep 1, 2008 photo Dick Bernard

My “peak years” so to speak would probably be late 2001 through late 2008.  Three of those years I was president of an organization called Minnesota Alliance of Peacemakers, of which I’m still a member, as an organization, AMillionCopies Initiative, whose sole intent is positive.  I also have been active in matters relating to Haiti, which I visited twice, in 2003 and 2006.  All the evidence about that remains on-line and accessible to anyone.

And in May, 2020, the restaurant of a friend of mine was torched and destroyed in Minneapolis.  I thus have a personal investment in this issue.  In that incident, to my knowledge, no perpetrator has yet been identified.  The restaurant owner was very much involved in community issues that would be considered “progressive”.

In all these past years, I have yet to meet, or have identified to me, anyone who would fit the “antifa” label.  I was never in a demonstration which was anything other than peaceful.

There are doubtless violent kinds of people around – in a country of 330,000,000 people those people exist.  But they are in the underworld, and most likely unorganized.  They exploit opportunities like parasites.  Anyone who wishes to believe that there is such an organized group called “antifa” ought to seek out a neutral source of information.  About the best I can do for starters is the wikipedia entry, which you can read here.

As I write I think back to the first demonstration I attended after 9-11-01.  It was in the first week of October, and the occasion was a demonstration on the steps of the Minnesota Capitol.  It was my first demonstration.  I had heard about it and went over to listen.  I knew no one.  It was a relatively small group.

I don’t remember who spoke.  What I do remember was the counter protestors on the other side of the street.  They were very loud and brandished their American flags almost like weapons.

I thought of the when I saw the demonstration become a riot become a catastrophe in Washington DC on Jan. 6, 2021.

As I close this blog the Senator is using his time to question Wray about the right wings other favorite bad guys: street gangs, Isis, al Qaeda, etc.

Stay tuned.

Minneapolis Star Tribune front page Jan 10, 2021