Amerikai Magyar Szó, 1981. január-június (35. évfolyam, 1-26. szám)
1981-05-28 / 22. szám
AMERIKAI MAGYAR SZÓ Thursday, May 28. 1981. BUMMl—KBS giEliamiBI A SONNET (To Hugo Gellert) Brown Lungs TTie following article was written by Murray Finley, who is president of the Amalgamated Clothing and Textile Workers Union and it appeared in the N.Y. Times. President Reagan has opened his war on health and safety protection with an attack on the Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s cotton-dust standard. After years of suffering and struggle, textile workers finally won protection from crippling brown- lung disease - its medical name is bvssinosis- when in 1978 OSHA issued its cotton-dust standard, which reduced the quantity of dust in factories. Now the Labor Department is trying to weaken or eliminate the protection that workers fought so hard to gain. It appears that the Administration is determined to find a basis for tearing out the heart of the standard: the requirement for engineering controls. To textile workers, who are exposed to cotton- dust every working day, it is a question of life or death. Brown-lung victims suffer a shortness of breath that grows progressively worse; the disease slowly cripples workers and finally leads to an agonizing death. In 1970, this country decided it had witnessed enough of this tragedy .Congress passed the Occupational Safety and Health Act, which Richard M. Nixon signed into law. Finally, workers were guaranteed what is morally due them’, the right to a safe and healthful workplace and the legal duty of employers to make it safe. Some employers -namely Burlington Industries and J.P. Stevens, both textile manufacturers - already have largely complied with the standard. So it is obvious that the standard is attainable. Of course, we didn’t get the OSHA law without a struggle. The U.S. Chamber of Commerce, and industry associations, fought the labor movement all the way. But the law was passed and textile workers thought they had won a victory. That would settle the issue, one might believe. A Government of law should live up to the law. It would seem incredible to even suggest, that the Government would stop enforcing the law, that officials that have sworn an oath to uphold the law would try to undermine it.- < _____________________________________ Let us learn Hungarian TRAVELING UTAZAS Can you drive a car? I’m travelling in my own car. Can one park here ? Don’t drive so fast, the roads are very slippery. Where’s the nearest filling-station? I want 10 litres of petrol. The oil must be changed. My car has broken down. My engine doesn’t work well. I’ve got a flat lire. One of the tires must be mended. Which bus [tram, trolley] goes to ... ? Con you tell me where bus fleam] number six slops? Is there a bus from here to ...? Tud kocsit vezetni? A saját kocsimon utazom. Szabad itt parkolni? Ne hajtson (hajcson) olyan gyorsan, csúszós nagyon az út! Hol van a legközelebbi benzinkút? Tíz liter benzint kérek. Cserélni kell az olajat. Defektet kaptam. Nem működik jól a motorom. Gumidefektet kaptam. Az egyik gumit meg kell javítani. Hányas busz (villamos, troli] megy a(z). .. felé? Meg tudná mondani, (hogy) hol áll meg a hatos busz [villamos]? Megy innen busz a(z)... felé? Who could have guessed that Secretary of Labor, Raymond J. Donovan would decide that employers should be given the option of forcing their workers into respirators and gas masks instead of cleaning up factory air? It seems incredible that in 1981 anyone could seriously suggest trading lives for dollars but that is exactly what workers are facing. By not enforcing the standard, by stalling, the Administration is giving the textile industry a license to kill. That is why thousands of workers in 30 cities across the country demonstrated to oppose the Reagan attempt to dismantle the cotton-dust standard. They are speaking out because for generations textile workers have died before their time, husbands and wives have wept for loved ones. They are demonstrating because workers are killed, injured, and diseased on their jobs because their employers have failed to take precautions that can end this carnage. In 1979 the Labor Department reported to Congress that 74.000 workers would be spared the agony of brown-lung disease by the requirement of the cotton-dust standard, if Mr. Donovan is successful, he will deny that protection to 50.000 of those workers. The dimensions of that human tragedy are unthinkable, not only for the afflicted workers but also for their families and their communities. The textile industry may save money, but workers and taxpayers will pay the costs. By all reasonable estimate it will cost the Government $ 5 billion to provide disability benefits and medical care for brown-lung victims. Each victim requires hundred thousand dollars in income support, medical expenses, and administrative costs. This does not even inc'ude the additional $ 378 million in workers’ compensation costs. While these figures themselves are sufficient to justify the retention of the existing standard, we must not allow ourselves to succumb to the game of numbers. Workers have a right to a clean workplace, free from recognized hazards. Congress declared this right in 1970, and it must be maintained today, no matter how fierce and heartless are the cries for its subversion. We must remain a nation of law and a nation with compassion.---- ‘ 1 11 1 11 ...... "■■■■■ ■■—■■■■■ " AMERIKAI , MAGYAR SZÓ USPS 023-980 ISSN 9194-7990 Published weekly, exc. last week in July and 1st 2 weeks in August by Hungarian Word Inc. Inc. 130 E 16 St. New York, NY. 10003. Ent. as 2nd Class Matter, Dec. 31. 1952 under the Act of March. 21. 1879. at the P.O. of New York, N.Y. Szerkeszti a Szerkesztő Bizottság Előfizetési árak New Yorkban, az Egyesült Államokban egy évre $ 18.- félévre $ 10.- Kanadaban es minden más külföldi országban egy evre $ 20.- felevre $ 12.- Postnjasterj Send address changes to Hungarian Word, Inc. 130 E 16 St. New York, N;Y. 10003. A sonnet for a man who well deserves it. Whose art forged graphic sonnets of his own, He draws a line, then circles it or curves it, And it is strongly ready to be shown! The tallest papers - newspapers, I mean, Are glad to carry Gellert’s forceful works, Whose bulk is ink, but inside it is green, The kind of shade that battles stifling murks! O son of all the world’s great workingclass, Which you have served so nobly many years, The things you fought and fight against shall pass, And people shall breathe freely, still shed tears, But they shall be the tears of happiness, Unknown today’s calamitous distress! With best wishes for many more fruitful years Abraham Schenck May, 1981. TOTHE EDITOR To the committee who arranged the Hugo Gellert Testimonial, my sincere thanks for a beautiful and inspiring program. I was especially happy to participate in this memorable affair because it recalled my childhood and growing up years when I had the privilege of seeing the Hugo Gellert drawings in the New Masses and other publications and also to see and hear the people with whom he was associated in their fight, our fight, against fascism and racism in this country. We need people like Hugo Gellert and I wish him many, many more healthy years. Margaret Friedman One of the highlights of the Hugo Gellert Testimonial Concert was beyond any doubt, the spectacular performance of the young Brennan Sweet, who played on his violin Sarasate’s “Zigeunerweisen” with the inspired piano accompaniment of Alexander Farkas. As one of the 600 attending the Concert remarked: “Only a Hungarian, or a descendant of a Hungarian is able to perform this musical composition with such feeling and authenticity.” Brennan proved to have all the necessary technical knowhow to play the extremely difficult nuances contained in Sarasate’s music. The oeverending applause was proof positive that this brilliant young artist captured the heart of everyone present. So much so, that he was compelled to plav an encore. J.L. The Presidential Council of the Hungarian People’s Republic adopted a decree modifying the Labour Code. The decree wich will come into effect on July 1 this year, stipulates that the total weekly working time will be 42 hours. “One thing I know, today, more than ever, war is completely indefensible in terms of human morals or decency or civilization. Nothing on earth is so completely useless, so inexcusably vile. War no longer brings victory to either side. It is planned and deliberate murder of human beings, the complete destruction of the earth's treasures. . . ." —from “The Black Flame" W.E.B. DuBois 2.
