Image provided by: University of Oregon Libraries; Eugene, OR
About Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current | View Entire Issue (Nov. 16, 1983)
Portland Observer, November 16, 1983 Page 5 the great ★ amenean smoketxit Blacks win discrimination settlement A settlement in a five-year-old discrimination suit lodged against the Burlington Northern Railroad and 13 rail unions estimated to be worth about $50 million was called one of the largest ever made by the attorney for the plaintiffs. The settlement ends a lawsuit filed in 1978 by former Burlington employees William McBride and William Butler, who charged the railroad and unions forced them from their jobs, and alleged system- wide discrimination in hiring, initial job assignments and promotions. "This is the largest pre-trial set tlement in a race discrimination case that I'm aware o f," said Charles Barnhill Jr., attorney for the plain tiffs. In addition to a $10 million cash settlement, the railroad agreed to hire Blacks who had previously ap plied and were rejected, if they meet nervous because it took so Ring but now I'm real happy." McBride said after learning of the settlement. The EEOC joined in the suit, which was later consolidated in Chi cago ***** • class action suit brought in Minneapolis. According to the suit, dining car waiters like McBride could choose to stay with Burlington Northern or switch to Amtrak, which took over Burlington's passenger service in the early 1970s. It charged the railroad offered them menial jobs instead of positions with comparable pay and fired employees who refused the low the minimum standards. "The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (which was a party in the suit) estimates this part of the settlement to be worth about $40 million and affect some 5,000 peo ple," Barnhill said. The combined number of persons affected by the settlement numbers near 8,000 Un der terms of the settlement, neither the railroad nor the unions admit any liability. The case was set to be heard last Monday in U.S. District Court. Agreement on the terms of the set tlement was reached “ At 10:30 the night before we were to go to trial," the attorney noted. Negotiations had been ongoing for the last four months, he said. McBride, 65, had joined Burling ton Northern in 1943 and worked in the dining car of the General Pershing, which traveled between St. Louis and Lincoln, Neb. " I was er paying jobs. Under the terms of the agree ment, Burlington, one of the na tion’s largest rail carriers, agreed to: • Pay $5 million in back pay to hourly employees between 1970 and I98J, including workers who were excluded or removed from the Lo comotive Engineer Training Pro- A dopta Smoker gram due to unvalidated tests. The latter group will be given priority entry in new hiring in a class which will double the number of Black en gineers on the Burlington Northern system over the next two years. •Pay $2.1 million to job appli cants rejected on account of race from 1970 to 1983 •Pay $2.05 million to workers de moted or fired between 1972 and 1983 • Pay $825,000 to workers who al leged they were denied promotions to road foreman, train master and mid-level supervisor. Additionally, the settlement pro vides for job transfers and training for new crafts for Black workers. Special promotional opportunities will be made available for mid-man agement jobs which are non-union. A hearing will be held November 21st to determine if the consent de cree will be accepted. NOVEMBER17.1983 I :AMtRKA* TURKEY Acme Brand, U.S.D.A. Grade A, Fresh Old Foahiened "Natural" Yeung 10 to 13 lb. Avg. or l i t e 22 lb. Avg. Central America: Contrasting views by Terry Hogers and Gregg Kleiner M O U N T A N G E L — "Christiani ty and Crisis in Central America," a forum held here November 3rd through 6th, brought together two distinguished figures: the retired bishop of Cuernavaca, Mexico, Ser gio Mendez Arceo, and the U.S. Ambassador to Guatemala, Freder ick L. Chapin. Two hundred participants from the Northwest listened as Mendez and Chapin expressed opposing viewpoints on democracy in Central America. According to Chapin, the United States is "actively supporting de mocracy, reform and human free dom" in Central America. "W hat I simply cannot under stand," he said, “ is how reasonable people in the United States can criti cize the government in El Salvador, which represents the results of an election in which 80 percent of the eligible voters went to the polls By virtue of said participation in the March, 1982. elections, he conclud ed that democracy exists in El Salva dor. Chapin held a diplomatic post in El Salvador prior to his appoint- ment in Guatemala. Mendez, an historical figure in the Church's commitment to the poor and oppressed of Latin Amer ica. criticized Chapin's definition of democracy. " It is said that democracy does exist in El Salvador because they have elections," Mendez said. He pointed out, however, that the vot ers were persuaded to cast their votes under the aim of machine guns held by government troops, and (hat they did not have the opportunity to choose candidates who were not sanctioned by the ruling govern ment. This effectively prevented the Salvadoran people from expressing dissatisfaction with the government or support for basic changes, he said. Chapin sharply criticized the four-year-old government of Nica ragua for not holding immediate elections, but then contradicted himself as he explained the grave human rights violations and weak democratic structures in El Salvador and Guatemala, saying, "Building democracy takes time. The road is a long one.” Mendez said. " I can admire the 'American way of life,' but not ne cessarily accept it for all our coun- BISHOP S MENDEZ ARCEO tries. There are other ways." In reference to U.S. policy in N i caragua, Mendez asked, "W hy not support a different kind of socialism in which there is authentic demo cratic participation— not necessarily with traditional democratic forms— but looking for new ways in which there is authentic economic and po litical participation of the people?" Relating his responses to the Christian theme of the forum, Mendez cautioned the Church and Christians in the United States against anti-communism or anti- Marxism. Central Am erica: What does democracy mean? by Robert Lothian There is something in the serious ness with which 22-year-old Salva dor Martinez describes the struggle in his country which belies his youth. Martinez, a former medical stu dent at El Salvador's National U ni versity, saw his name on a death list while teaching preventive medicine in the shanty towns around San Sal vador. He came to the U.S., and is now a representative of the Demo cratic Revolutionary Front of El Salvador to the people of the United Slates. He was in Portland Novem ber 12th to speak at the national day of protest rally. Martinez and his “ compañeros” in the U.S. talk to Americans about their struggle, knowing full well that they could be deported to a ter rible death back home. Their main concern now, he said, is a threatened invasion of Central America by the U.S. "A n invasion of Central America at this point is irreversible,” accord ing to Martinez, who said the Gren ada invasion was "part of an escala tion to show how the Reagan ad ministration is going to deal with the problems. What they are planning is what they did in Grenada.” An invasion of Nicaragua would mean an invasion of El Salvador and vice-versa. The tragedy would be destruction of the new society growing in those countries, he said. About 30 percent of El Salvador is now under local popular power, said Martinez, with elections to lo cal assemblies, new laws, schools and new means of production and distribution of food and other goods. "The people there are living in a new society," he sa d. “ We are talk ing about hundreds of thousands of ([I. i . I l .. i - - - I« -s' &CAR TELEPHONES people—students, teachers, work ers, peasants, Marxists, social dem ocrats, and church people. There is a common bond between them.” In an invasion, he said, "They will destroy those areas. They will destroy the seed of the new society. We know a lot of people will die.” "O n the other side, we have the government." Infighting between the various ruling factions, some times involving gunplay, he said, is the reason that elections have been postponed. The civil life of the country in areas under government control has broken down, according to Martinez, and there is little or no access to education, medical care and other services in those areas. In "pacification" campaigns, he said, peasants are uprooted from tradi tional land and resettled in what amount to concentration camps. "The direction of the war is in the hands of North Americans ...5 6 advisers represent ten percent of the high command of the army They fly the helicopters; every day they are planning the war and deciding what to do," even, he said, directing massacres. “ We tried all the specific ways you can try—strikes, demonstra tions, we went through all of that. There is a moment when people re alize that the only thing left is to carry out the struggle. “ We have to talk about revolu tion. It's happening It is an answer to the problems that we have. What a revolution means is changes, and we need changes in El Salvador. " I f an invasion happens in Cen tral America, they would have to defeat the whole population of El Salvador and kill millions. In ten years, we will have an F M L N ten times stronger. That's why they kill children, because they know they will be guerillas in ten years.” AN IMPORTANT BOOK THC BKFW PfOFlf. 713 S.W. 12th Street Cell 224-BEEP for a free demonstration. TMuneueiflN. M ecM enywMr • o» e*e U I ■ Reg • M gftone »xjraeerg at if ereeraceeoex« le M lH O O t o lM • W IO n e o M * N W SwiWÎOO* (202)2*3 4JF3 t sr "Capitalism," he said, "is found ed on the exploitation of mankind and is characterized by the accumu lation of wealth and property. Capi talism is anti-Christian. I am not a Marxist, for many reasons, but neither am I an anti Marxist Anti-Marxism is a disease against which the antidote is knowledge, intelligence and recognition that there exists a right to search for other ways of life in the world." When asked what could be done by U.S. citizens to help the situation in Central America, the former Bishop reflected on the constant flooding of U.S. citizens by one-sid ed information and exhorted them to inform themselves above and be yond daily newspapers and televi sion coverage. He also emphasized the need to examine the roots of anti-communism in light of Chris tian faith. The Ambassador, on the other hand, replied, " I know of nothing anyone can do. We've tried all we ___ •• can. I I S i 20lh it D IV IS IO N I SE 72nd b FLAVEl NE 15th b FREMONT 1061 SW H I W BURNSIDE »tZ1»t LLOYD I INTER SAN RAFAEL 1510 NE 122nd by Lenita D uke and Richard B row n ’ 1*410 S t Ol VISION jg w s E POWELL NE 74th b GLISAN MILLSBORO « 0 S t OAK | T R a DBQDI L L Street Beat . to ie tl Grove 2329PACIFIC OiSflonCily 8 7 8 M O L A IIA The topic of union-busting is in the news this week, as the S treet Beat team asked, Would you accept pay cuts to keep your job?” «X t jsSf Danita Williams Student If there was some degree of advancement I would take a cut. But for a basic clerical job I wouldn't take the cut. Carolyn Spaulding Housewife The job is I would opt are hard to rather have none. more important so for the job. Jobs find and I would some money than Boyle Gilbert Freightliner Mra. D. U phoff Housew ife I would take a cut . There are no jobs. I think a bus driver making $35,000 a year might be a bit too much. I would accept a pay freeze but not a cut. 1 would also ac cept a reduction in benefits to keep my job. Tom Graven M arine Digger No, I wouldn't. I have a hard enough time keeping even as it is with inflation the way it is.
