Even in the face of tragedy so profound that the rest of the world has taken note, the deaths of nine firefighters in a Charleston blaze on Monday could not shake South Carolina media outlets from their phobia of the “union” word. God forbid they could stray from their Right-to Work scripts even when the story surely warranted a mention of the mobilization of International Association of Fire Fighters to support their brothers in South Carolina. <\/p>\n
A search online for coverage of this major story reveals the clear bias against unions in this (red)neck of the woods. Newspapers in New York, Philadelphia, Boston, Chicago, Kansas, — even Manitoba and Australia, for cryin’ out loud — noted how the loss of these men has resonated in the brotherhood. Across the country, firefighters have been dispatched to Charleston to attend funerals and lend their support to their fallen comrades. <\/p>\n
Anywhere else, such solidarity would be seen as a good thing, decent people standing by their own. Here? Not so much.<\/p>\n
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I talked with SC AFL-CIO President Donna Dewitt last night, who has been in Charleston, along with staffer Linda Houck, since the day after the disaster. She is disappointed but not surprised that there has been no mention in the SC media of how this has affected the labor community. “There has been no acknowledgment that we exist and that three of the firefighters were union members,” she said. “There are about 100 people from the labor community across the country who have come here to offer counseling and other support, and to show that the union is there for not just the three union members, but for all of the firefighters who lost their lives.”<\/p>\n
The Democratic candidates (except for John Edwards) also were strangely silent after the tragedy, according to a DC newspaper<\/a>.<\/p>\n Isn’t that biting the hand that feeds them? Or does it just bite?<\/p>\n Becci Robbins<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Even in the face of tragedy so profound that the rest of the world has taken note, the deaths of nine firefighters in a Charleston blaze on Monday could not shake South Carolina media outlets from their phobia of the … Continue reading