Portland Observer, November 16, 1983 Page 5
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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
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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
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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.
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"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.
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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?”
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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.