Why I Take Gaylord’s Environmental Lie Personally
By Tom Lemmon
Business Manager of the San Diego County Building and Construction Trades Council, AFL-CIO
Gaylord and their allies have thrown around some pretty ugly accusations as the bayfront development dispute has heated up. I know that deception is common practice for Gaylord, but I can’t help but take one of their lies personally. They’ve been trying as hard as they can to make people believe that we, the local labor leaders and workers, don’t care about the environment.
When I first became an asbestos worker in 1982 after I finished my duty with the Marines, the only protection we got from the deadly dust was flimsy masks, not real respirators. I saw plenty of guys get sick and many died. A lot of workers would still be unprotected and uneducated about the dangers of asbestos if unions hadn’t stood up and fought for tougher environmental laws.
A Project Labor Agreement (PLA), which Gaylord refuses to sign for this deal, is an important protection, because it allows worker representatives to address environmental health concerns. Without that kind of protection, would you want to work for Gaylord at a site like the Chula Vista Bayfront, which has been used for many years as a toxic waste dumping ground?
Now Gaylord is saying that labor interests and environmentalists are always enemies. Gaylord executives are even claiming that we’re manipulating local environmental groups to get a sweeter deal from Gaylord.
I’m not going to pretend that organized labor and the environmental crowd have never butted heads, but I know that Chula Vista’s construction workers realize the importance of sustainable development in our city. We’re not willing to mortgage our economic futures for short-term employment. The fact is, union leaders have been working with environmentalists for years, long before Gaylord showed up in Chula Vista, to make the bayfront development as green as possible for many reasons. No one has a right to tell us we can’t participate in the public process just like anyone else.
We want the project to be built with green materials because we don’t like working with toxic substances. We want the project to incorporate solar power and other renewable energy technologies, because we recognize these green solutions can stimulate new job opportunities, in both construction and manufacturing. Like everyone else, we want less traffic, clean air and a bayfront we can be proud of.
I grew up in the South Bay. I have every right, even more than some Nashville company, to tell our local officials what is good for the bayfront and what is not.
Frankly, Gaylord is just throwing up a smokescreen so they can weasel out of complying with California’s environmental laws, and we’re not going to let them, or any other developer, get away with that. Their dishonest tactics are a slap in the face to all those who worked so hard through the Citizens Advisory Committee and public forums to shape a green vision for the bayfront.
As construction workers, we live and breathe these issues. We want to be around to watch our children grow up. And we want our children to live and play in a healthy environment. This is our home. That’s why I joined the Surfrider Foundation years ago, a group that fights against ocean pollution and environmentally destructive coastal development.
I wasn’t very environmentally conscious back when I went to Sweetwater High School, which is next to the estuary, but it always bothered me to see dumped cars and garbage filling up the bayfront. And it still does. Our bayfront deserves better than that and it deserves better than Gaylord.
TrackBack
TrackBack URL for this entry:
http://localjobsfirst.org/files-mt/mt-tb.fcgi/26
