BARBWIRE
by
 "Hope is the ability to work for something merely because it is good." -
Vaclav Havel, Czech president and playwrightWhen the final story of the UPS strike gets written, I will offer two
unlikely heroines: Jessica Gomes, 40, of Gardnerville, Nev., and Carlene
O'Neil, 56, of Carson City. They are neither UPS workers nor union members.
Until August 8, they were just two working women, stores clerks for five
years at Bently Nevada Corp. in Minden—which fired them for what they
believe.Minden-based Bently employs between 500 and a thousand workers at
far-flung locations. They make high-tech monitoring equipment which detects
wear on fast-spinning machinery. Among Nevada industrial types, they are
superstars. To Nevada citizens, Bently has disgraced itself.On August 6, Carlene O'Neil saw the UPS truck coming. She immediately went
into Jessica Gomes' office. "I told her to get someone to sign for the
delivery because I didn't want to. I felt it was the same as crossing a
picket line which I don't believe in doing," O'Neil told me. She comes from
a union family. When she was growing up in Long Beach, Calif., her father
worked as a union longshoreman.Jessica Gomes also has strong union ties. Years ago, she served as a shop
steward in an organizing drive. Her husband, David, counts among his
ancestors Al Madeiros, his great-uncle who once led Teamsters Local 70 in
the Bay Area."I believe in unions and people's rights," Ms. Gomes told me.Gomes and O'Neil got a co-worker to sign for the UPS delivery and business
went on as usual, or so it seemed. The next day, both were questioned about
the matter by their supervisor, one Gene Sorem. "I told him I didn't want
to sign for packages from UPS," O'Neil says. "I felt like (UPS workers) or
any other American citizen had the right to voice their opinion. I
respected that right and would not cross a picket line or sign for package
deliveries," she added. A co-worker again signed for UPS deliveries and
business went on as usual.On Friday, it did not. Sorem met with both women. According to Ms. O'Neil,
he said "Carlene, because of your personal beliefs and, Jessica, because
you didn't sign and because of your beliefs, I've thought it over and I
feel I cannot work with you under these conditions and I'm letting you go."O'Neil was shocked. She not only loved working at Bently, but it's also
hard to find a new job when you're 56. She lives in Carson City and does
not drive. Gomes is the sole support of her husband and nine-year-old
twins. She at least retains a $5.00 per hour part-time job running keno at
a casino. (Apparently full-time Bently workers can't make enough to live
on.) Gomes spent part of last week applying for food stamps so that she
could feed her children.She also called the Teamsters union, which knows something about worker
rights and labor law. The women have now filed charges with the National
Labor Relations Board (NLRB). They allege that it's illegal to fire people
in cases like theirs. Section 157 of the National Labor Relations Act says
"Employees shall have the right to...assist labor organizations...and to
assist in other concerted activities for the purposes of collective
bargaining or other mutual aid or protection."Nevada employers have been stomping on workers so long that they don't
even take the time to learn the law. Bently will be investigated by the
feds. I hope O'Neil and Gomes get reinstated with back pay and big damages.They are not blushing violets. Both served in the U.S. Marine Corps, each
attaining the rank of lance corporal. "I fought for the right to express
yourself, to say what you believe," Gomes told me.She and O'Neil did exactly that for Americans and Nevadans once again on
August 6. With all the stories printed of the national and international
impacts on UPS workers, management andrelated businesses, it's the only
instance I know where people have lost their jobs just for expressing an
opinion in support of the rights of UPS employees.I nominate Jessica Gomes and Carlene O'Neil for the Hot August Strike '97
Hall of Fame.STRIKE ONE: Last summer's Hot August Strike during the Reno-Sparks Hot
August Nights nostalgiafest is not dead yet. The guards won an
unprecedented strike against a northern Nevada hotel-casino, and the
largest one to boot. It resulted in the first security guard union contract
with any gambling operation, but became a bittersweet victory. Last
January, the Reno Hilton folded the department, fired everyboday and
contracted out the security service. The guards just won a major round at
the NLRB which last week ordered "issuance of an appropriate complaint"
against Hilton. A full trial is in the offing after which the workers may
win back pay and benefits. Alas and alack, it will come too late to help my
friends who have been illegally blackballed around town and can't find
other work. Several will soon lose their homes thanks to the greed of the
Hilton Corp.PSYCHIC STEELWORKER: "How will labor come back? In a strike. That's not
romanticism, that's a fact. It'll start with one plant. One plant. And they
strike. And there'll be guys across the street at a second plant, and they
see it, and they think 'Hmm, maybe we can do that.' And they win. Then
somebody in Idaho does it, the same thing, independently. And then all of a
sudden you're seeing some John L. Lewis again, a leader, but he gets thrown
up, he's just riding the thing...That's not romanticism, that's a fact."
So said Ed Sadlowski of the United Steelworkers of America, as quoted in
Chicago labor lawyer Thomas Geohegan's 1992 book "Which side are you on?
Trying to be for labor when it's flat on its back."Look around you. Union activities which normally would never win one
column-inch in a local paper are making national wires. Jessica Gomes and
Carlene O'Neil got thrown unexpectedly into the fray, just like Sadlowski
said. Maybe his wistful prediction from the darkest days of the
Reagan-Bush years will come true at last.Make it happen.Be well. Raise hell.
Andrew Barbano is a 29-year Nevadan and editor of U-News (www.nevadalabor.com).Barbwire by Barbano has appeared in the Sparks Tribune since 1988. Part of this column originally published 8/17/97.IF YOU INCLUDE THE WEBSITE ADDRESS.] Nevada Instant Type in Sparks and both Office Depot Reno locations. |
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