LA.’s Tiger Hammond: BP Profits, As People ‘Get Stuck’ Cleaning Up Mess
By Tony Pecinovsky
People’s World
and Press Associates
NEW ORLEANS (PAI)--As far as New Orleans union leader Robert “Tiger” Hammond is concerned, British Petroleum is getting away with the profits, and the people of Louisiana are stuck cleaning up its mess.
In an interview with the People’s World, while giving reporters for the paper thorough tours of the Louisiana coast in the wake of the massive, fatal and disastrous fire, explosion and sinking of the company’s offshore drilling rig in the Gulf of Mexico, the veteran Greater New Orleans AFL-CIO President also draws the conclusion that “Big business can get away with murder -- and they are doing it right now!"
Events since the Deepwater Horizon exploded April 20 off the coast of Louisiana appear to bear out Hammond’s judgment. Not only did the blast and fire kill 11 workers, but more 200,000 gallons of oil are still being pumped into the Gulf every day
-- and BP hasn’t stopped it
The oil could destroy thousands of acres of beautiful and ecologically needed marsh land. Globs of oil and oil sheen have infiltrated eastbound currents, nearing Florida’s west coast as well. Additionally, Gulf Coast wildlife -- unique to the region -- and the area’s fishing industry face critical challenges in the months and years ahead.
Hammond, who is also executive secretary for the Southeast Louisiana Building and Construction Trades Council, continued, "After three weeks they (BP) are on plan E. We don't know when the oil is going to stop." Unfortunately, this is the second tragedy -- in almost four years -- Hammond and other Louisianans have had to deal with. "First Katrina, now the oil," he said in a raised voice, visibly angry.
Before Hurricane Katrina, Hammond lived in St. Bernard Parish, one of the areas hardest hit by that disaster. "I had 11 feet of water in my house, 14 inches on the second floor. We were under water," he said.
"We were rebuilding our lives, our futures! Now this," Hammond continued.
In the weeks following the Deepwater Horizon explosion it has become obvious to the unionists that more government regulation is needed. In fact, Hammond connected the oil crisis today to deregulation during the GOP Bush administration.
"George W. Bush vetoed a law that would have required a mandatory cut-off valve precisely for this type of crisis," Hammond said. "There has to be stiffer penalties, stiffer laws. Hundreds of thousands of people's lives are at stake. Hundreds of jobs are at stake -- hotels, charter boats, restaurants, the whole tourism industry and the fishermen."
There also must be more rigorous enforcement. BP had a valve on the underwater well, but its batteries failed, congressional investigators found. And under Bush, the federal Minerals Management Service, which is supposed to oversee such exploration, never even required BP to file an anti-blowout plan -- or monitored BP.
Hammond said he has seen a huge change in the federal government's approach to regulating big corporations since Democratic President Barack Obama took office. David Magee, vice president of International Longshoremen's Association (ILA)
Local 3000, couldn't agree more. "The Obama administration has been part of our post-Katrina rebuilding success," he said while standing outside the local’s trailer -- still its headquarters almost five years after Katrina.
"Obama is on the side of the community, the workers, the fishermen," Magee said. "BP, on the other hand, allowed this tragedy to happen. They were trying to save money. As a result, 11 lives were lost and our state, city and region are going to suffer."
ILA Local 3000 Secretary-Treasurer Chris Hammond added that "BP has made a lot of mistakes. They have been irresponsible. All of their safeguards failed. They need to be better regulated…This is a new Katrina."
With states all across the nation facing severe budget cuts, the impact of this crisis will also be felt statewide. Off-shore drilling provides hundreds of millions of dollars in Louisiana state revenue. That money “goes towards social programs and helps rebuild our infrastructure," Chris Hammond added. With better regulation this key regional industry could play a positive role in stabilizing the state's budget, he said.
For a city still recovering from the wounds of Bush-era mismanagement and corporate deregulation, this crisis couldn't come at a worse time.
"There is a lot of anger and disbelief," Magee added. "The outlook is bleak. On the waterfront, once you lose work it is hard to get it back." Many dockworkers fear layoffs as ships are diverted to other areas to avoid the oil.
The oil pouring into the Gulf and onto the Gulf Coast can affect the economy of the whole region. If well-paying union jobs are lost in shipyards and on the docks, then jobs in the peripheral economy will also be affected. That in turn, would put downward pressure on wages and benefits in the entire region, especially for tourism, a cornerstone of the economy here, providing hundreds of thousands of jobs.