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Show Mow AHDunt lit? WTTDODnniitl; What is your opinion of the compromise the City Council struck regarding the fired employees? Don Wright Ithinkitisabsurb! PagA2 Thursday, August 20, 1981 EdlitBfiaIl 1 k:dksM A i' f UV.- V- Employee dispute brought out the worst in local critics "Boxers in your corners. When the bell rings, come out fighting." The City Council appeals hearing last week took on the air of a heavyweight boxing match. In one corner was the City Council, in the other, the fired employees. Surrounding the ring were the spectators, faces glistening from the heat of the room and theL' own tempers. v The only thing missing was the referee to make sure that none of the punches was below the belt. No one can accuse Park City residents of not getting involved when the issue is dear to them. But we can accuse the people last week of an embarrassing use of profanity and physical threats to make their point. Apparently the workers and their allies are not aware of that threadbare saying about catching more bees with honey than vinegar. For they surely poured their sour remarks over the city officials as if it were Heinz's best. The workers clearly were angry that the hearing was taking place at all, since they felt the state statute gave the final decision about their fates to the appeals board. They understandably were frustrated and upset. But they had an attorney there representing them, and it is his job to test the strength of that statute in court... after the council hearing. That the workers loudly vented their anger at the city staff was ludicrous; of what value is it to antagonize the jury before a verdict when you know in advance that its inclination is to send you to the gallows? Had the group been 13-year-olds testing their shock power, it might have been laughable to hear them hissing "bitch" and "bastard" at the councilmen, mayor, Arlene Loble and Bob Lashier. Instead, it was pitiful and grotesque. It was a discouraging reminder that the frenzy of mob rule heats emotions until they are a formless mass that obliterates clear thinking. The workers, and all citizens, would have done better to have approached the problem with rationality ; to be informed and cool instead of misguided by their emotions. Despite the venomous attacks, the city officials remained in control. Even Helen Alvarez, who was pushed backwards by a woman spitting accusations in her face, didn't raise her voice or turn away. Does that make Mrs. Alvarez a saint? No, only civil. What did the workers and their supporters gain? Absolutely nothing. They lost theirfobs, two months pay and insurance benefits, the right to negotiate a contract, and a measure of respect. They now must reapply for their jobs and serve a six-month probation like all new employees.. .an issue that might have been resolved at the bargaining table. That, plus go to work for two people they called every name in the book for weeks. The loudest cries heard throughout this ordeal were to get rid of Loble and Lashier, and for the mayor and council to resign unless the "mandate of the people" was carried out: to reinstate Park City's pride and joy, the hard-working city employees. It can only be hoped that the mandate of the people was not represented by that group last Thursday. It surely would be a shame if what the citizens of this city want is to see their government run by hysteria. This was not the traditional battle of old town vs. new town, as many people have suggested. No, this was a battle of professionals vs. people afraid of professionalism. We are way past the point where we can wish Park City will stay small and cozy. We are becoming sophisticated, and it's time to step up from a slide-rule government to pocket calculators. The professionals are here to run things efficiently, and the employees are going to have to tow the line. BBM 1 1 ii -- CQNRPeMTIACtY.aTHISAlRTRftFRC CONTRCXCER STRIKE AS BEEN GREAT FOR BUSINESS,,, H! 1 by Jack Anderson tt?iJi C9 piCICiiCtM & Joe Spear Eyewitnesses say FAA hid dangers of controllers ' strike WASHINGTON The Federal Aviation Avia-tion Administration was less than candid with the American public in glossing over the safety risks created in the air controller crisis, according to non-strikers who helped man the control towers when the union walked out. These inside eyewitnesses question ques-tion the claims by FAA and other government spokesmen that the substitutes sub-stitutes were qualified for the nerve-wracking nerve-wracking duties of directing the nation's air traffic. One on-the-scene source advised us that at the New York radar center, a controller classroom instructor was brought in as an emergency replacement replace-ment and immediately assigned to the radar screen in one of the most frenetic air patterns in the country. Our informant told us the instructor had had no on-the-job experience for four years. Others at the New York center expressed concern over the qualifications qualifica-tions of seven other newcomers to their control tower. They worried over slight mistakes committed by their new colleagues in directing jet-speed airliners air-liners arriving and departing the heavily used airfields in the New York area. A pilot informed us that a fellow flyer was directed by the New York controllers to divert his plane to an upstate airport in fog conditions. On arrival there, the colleague discovered there were no controllers on the job to supervise his landing. An FAA spokesman defended the assignment of the instructor to an active radar post on grounds that he was fully qualified and only lacked technical recertification of his credentials. creden-tials. But we've seen a confidential government report compiled before the controller strike began warning that some supervisory personnel summoned to take charge of airport radar screens had neglected to keep up with their qualifying training. Even more ominously, the report expressed alarm over the high incidence of computer failures detected detect-ed in the air safety equipment. Investigators found at least one computer failure in air traffic monitoring monitor-ing every 63 minutes and a major computer crash every nine-and-a-half hours countrywide. The FAA itself sounded an alarm signal that unless the computer system is improved, hundreds of airline passengers in the United States might be killed. Meanwhile, we've also learned that the handling of the air crisis by both President Reagan and the union provoked dismay on both sides. Big business friends of Reagan were unhappy that the chaos in the air was seriously damaging an airline industry already in economic distress. At AFL-CIO headquarters, labor leaders are critical of the strike tactics pursued by Robert Poli, president of the air controllers union. They're disgruntled over Poli's rejection of a last-minute offer by House Speaker Tip O'Neill to mediate the dispute during a six-day cooling-off period. Veteran organized labor strategists also wonder about the wisdom of Poli's insistence on a hefty salary increase rather than concentrating on his union's more palatable demands for better health and safety conditions sought by his workers. Illegal Grease: Two junior U.S. attorneys angrily quit their jobs shortly after Sen. John Danforth, R-Mo., arranged a behind-the-scenes meeting between their superiors at the Justice Department and representatives representa-tives of the Missouri-based McDonnell Douglas firm on charges the aircraft firm illegally greased the palms of officials in five foreign countries to land lucrative contracts. On behalf of one of his state's most influential companies, Danforth set up the high-level Washington meeting last May without the knowledge of the two departmental subordinates preparing the case for trial. In their irate letter of resignation, they wrote: "It is sadly ironic that a corporation, which has been charged by a erand jurv in connection with the purchase of improper influence and under-the-table dealings in foreign countries, should be permitted by the Department Depart-ment of Justice to engage in back-door approaches ..." They were unaware of an even more intriguing connection between Danforth Dan-forth and the company. The day before the backstage Justice Department meeting the Missouri senator's reelection re-election campaign committee was pledged $8,000 by McDonnell Douglas board members and their relatives. One of the contributors was a corporate official accused in the overseas bribery case. An aide told us Danforth was offering normal constituent consti-tuent service. Patchwork Programs: The recent mission to the United States by Egyptian leader Anwar Sadat was aimed more at a hard-sell effort to obtain big business investments in his country than it was at statecraft with the Reagan administration. Billions of dollars poured into Egypt by American taxpayers have failed to keep Sadat's arid economy afloat. During his visit, Sadat made a studied appeal to a prestigious U.S. Chamber of Commerce meeting urging urg-ing greater American investment in Egypt. There were some dubious listeners in his audience of big businessmen. Many were aware that foreign aid to Egypt has produced only short-term patchwork patch-work programs, that few construction projects have been completed and that not one agricultural venture has advanced beyond the pilot stage. Furthermore, private international business investors are appalled to find that U.S. equipment sent to Egypt is gathering dust while venal officials wheel and deal for personal baksheesh. They're convinced that dollars sent to Egypt do little more than make rich Egyptians richer. Many low-interest loans produce few new jobs but wind ud. instead, ;n the coffers of Cairo millionaires with ties to Egypt's ruling elite. (c) 1981, United Feature Syndicate 2 I ' Vf i uA I Annette Camp I think the City Council should think of the local people before B iney go iinng nan oi uie cuy Jaynie McQuirk I don't understand why the city employees didn't receive their raise, and being laid off for sixty days with no pay raise seems unfair. Bea Kummer I think it could have been handled differently. They chose the Appeals Board and that should have been the final decision. ' ' s - .-- I J JS yinJJ '' 'f'. V7 ...J J Pat Pirraglio I feel it should have been handled by the Appeals Board and that should have been the final decision. If there is going to be an Appeals Ap-peals Board at all, their decision should be reflected. Otherwise, what is the purpose of electing the board to begin with? Nino Candido I think it's shitty. by Stanley Karnow - Iimteipif'ittv& IlEBp(n)Btt Dual approach needed for Middle East settlement :iotib3 Washington, D.C. Motorists merrily hitting the highways this summer dramatize the fact that gasoline, though expensive, is s no longer scarce. But experts looking down the longer energy road warned that the present global oil glut may be only a temporary phenomenon. Thus they caution again complacency, complacen-cy, contending that the current respite ought to be used to develop new sources sour-ces of energy for the time when oil shortages and skyrocketing petroleum prices return. This ominous prediction is not the forecast of oracular doomsayers. It comes from such institutions as the International In-ternational Energy Agency, whose latest annual report concludes that nothing in the energy picture at the moment justifies optimism for the future. Myer Rashish, the U.S. undersecretary under-secretary of state for economic affairs, is equally prudent. Unless energy alternatives are found, he said recently, fresh disruptions disrup-tions in the oil supply "could inflict substantial economic losses and impose im-pose serious political strains on the United States and its allies. ' ' Two main factors will influence the energy situation in the years ahead. One is the health of the world economy. The other is the policies of the petroleum producers, most notable Saudi Arabia. The oil surplus these days no doubt is the result of a sharp drop in the demand for energy on the part of the United States, Japan, West Germany, France and other non-communist industrial in-dustrial nations, which consume 75 percent of the world's petroleum supply-Statistics show, for example, that U.S. oil consumption fell by nearly 9 percent in 1980. Moreover, the proportion propor-tion of oil compared to other fuels employed em-ployed to generate energy also has declined. Conservation certainly has contributed con-tributed to the improvement, as evidenced by the increasing popularity of small cars. But specialists point out that the death of the gas guzzler may not be the whole answer. The real cause of the fall in oil consumption, they suggest, is the worldwide recession, which has slowed down industries and consequently reduced the need for energy. One study estimates that about half of the drop in oil demand stems from the recession, and that only one-quarter can be attributed to conservation measures. This means that as economic growth picks up again, so will energy consumption, thereby wiping out the oil glut and sending oil prices soaring afresh. Some analysts see the break in two or three years from now. Meanwhile, much depends on Saudi Arabia, which last May refused to raise its crude oil prices or cut production, and thus brought about the petroleum surplus. How long the Saudis intend to stick to that position is a key question. They were motivated partly by a desire to restore order to the oil market, which was going crazy late last year. They also wanted to assert their predominance over the Organ ization of Petroleum Exporting Countries. Coun-tries. Since the spring, therefore, they have been pumping oil at a rate of more that 10 million barrels per day, roughly twice the amount they need to sell to meet their own financial requirements. But this strategy is beginning to be criticized by Saudi technocrats. They argue, for one thing, that such high output is squandering the country's only irreplaceable asset. In addition, they stress, the enormous profits being piled up from oil exports are eroding under the pressure of inflation. Accordingly, many Saudis advocate slashing production and keeping the oil in the ground as a kind of savings account. Such a move may not be imminent, but discussions of the possibility alone indicate that current oil inventories are not immutable. Another element in the equation is the diplomacy of the Middle East, in which the Saudis have been playing a larger role with their oil as an obvious weapon. They have been models of moderation, modera-tion, presumably inspired by the hope that they will be rewarded by the United States with sophisticated arms. If disappointed, however, they could well curb oil production in retaliation. Though bright now, the energy landscape is displaying some dark clouds on the horizon. It ; is not threatening enough to spoil anyone's vacation, but holidays a few years hence may be gloomy. (Released by The Register and Tribune Syndicate, 1981) mTThe Subscription Rales, $6 a year in Summit County, $12 a year outside Summit County Published by Ink, Inc. USPS 378-730 Publisher Editor ...JwWilking . . ... c , Bettina Moench Adverting Sles J.n Willing. Bill Dickson Busmess Manager Rick Lanm.n T ' Bky Widenhous., Lii Heimos Pho"o Ediior D"Vid H"mpshire' Rick Brouh- D McCulloch TvoMcttlna Phyllis Rubenstein l ypesetung plua Cbj Subscription & Classifieds ' , yUekiB Distribution Anne Bennett Bob Grieve Entered as second-class matter May 25, 1977, at the post office in Park City, Utah 84060, under the Act of March 3 1897 Published every Thursday at Park City, Utah. Second-class postage paid at Park City, Utah. ' Unsolicited manuscripts and photographs are welcome and will be considered for publication, however, The Newspaper will assume no responsibility for the return of such material. All news, advertising and photos must be received prior to the Tuesday noon deadline at our office, 419 Main Street in Park City, by mail P.O. Box 738, Park City, Ul. 84060. or by calling our office (801) 649-9014 Publication material must be received by Tuesday noon for Thursday publication. |
