Adiós, querido compañero Stoney…
Llegué a conocer a Tom Stoneburner hace aproximadamente un año.
Al principio, me sorprendió muchísimo que un hombre sindicalista de pura cepa tuviera un interés tan comprometido con las circunstancias que empujan la mitad de la juventud hispano-latina al abandono escolar, dejándoles bregar en una vida sin diploma de bachillerato. Entonces me explicó sus esfuerzos incesantes con y para los obreros de campo y los jornaleros. Él sabía perfectamente que lo uno y lo otro van de la mano, unidos por los mismos estúpidos prejuicios, que comparten la misma injusticia genérica.
La mayoría de los padres trabajan en pluriempleo de baja remuneración, procurando mantener a los suyos, y cuando llegan al fin de semana (que rara vez implica un día libre) no les suele quedar mucha energía para dedicar tiempo y dinero al aprendizaje del inglés. Pero sus hijos, al igual que todos los críos de familias emigrantes, aprenden el idioma extranjero muy rápidamente: es el comienzo de una fractura que en demasiadas ocasiones conduce al abandono escolar, dejándoles colgados en el ascensor social.
Es por ello que luchábamos por tener empleados bilingües en las escuelas. No para los niños, sino para sus padres que se preocupan por ellos. Para explicar cómo el llegar al colegio tarde y las ausencias no excusadas tienen consecuencias legales impuestas por el Estado y que acaban privándoles de su educación, cómo funciona el sistema escolar en este país, cómo se organizan los deberes, cómo y hasta qué punto los padres — aún si no dominan el idioma — son considerados una parte vital e integral de la escolarización y enseñanza de sus hijos… Cosas así, de los que no gozan exactamente de un nivel de interés muy elevado en una población general con una mentalidad todavía fuertemente marcada por el estilo de vida de pioneros del Oeste; la misma población general que por otra parte no deja de quejarse y de maldecir al inevitable resultado de fracaso.
Es, en gran medida, gracias a él que conseguimos captar la atención del distrito escolar, que es uno de los mayores en extensión geográfica de todos los EE.UU. Comenzando con los colegios de bachillerato superior, se ha contratado o se está contratando a empleados bilingües. Teníamos la esperanza de poder presionar para conseguir lo mismo en los bachilleres intermedios y en las escuelas primarias, tan pronto como posible.
Pero hoy recibí este mensaje* por correo-e de Andy Barbano, la incansable voz de la clase obrera del norte de Nevada.
Stoney, estoy hecho pedazos. Pero quedo enormemente satisfecho por el privilegio de haber trabajado y luchado a tu lado.
__
*Texto reproducido al final, debajo de la versión en inglés.
I met Tom Stoneburner for the first time about a year go.
At first, I was taken aback that a through and through union man took such an engaged interest in the issues that drive half of the Latino / Hispanic kids out of school, to face life without a high school diploma. Then he explained his tireless work with and for farm workers and day laborers. He knew full well that one thing and the other are intricately linked by the same dumb prejudices, they share the same overall injustice.
Most of the parents work two or more low-pay jobs, trying to make ends meet, and at the end of the week (which rarely includes a day off) they don’t have much time or energy left to spend time and money learning English. But their children, like all kids from migrated families, pick up the foreign language pretty quickly, from their friends and in school: the beginning of a divide that all too often leads to dropping out of school, and getting stuck in the social elevator.
That’s why we fought to get bilingual staff in schools. Not for the kids, but for their concerned parents; to explain that tardies and inexcused absences have statewide imposed sanctions that bar them from education, to explain the school system, how homework is organized, how — even as non-English speakers — parents are considered an integral part of education… Things like that, which are not very much high on the agenda of a Frontier State mentality-driven populace, but lead to a lot of moaning and bitching about the foul outcome.
In no small part thanks to him, we got the attention of the school district, one of the largest in geographic area in the entire USA. Starting with high schools, bilingual staff is now either already hired or in the process of being hired. We were hoping to press down to middle and elementary schools as quickly as possible.
And today I got this in my e-mail, from Andy Barbano, the tireless voice of Northern Nevada labor.
Stoney, I’m heartbroken. But I’m mighty glad to have had the privilege of working and fighting by your side.
Sphere: Related ContentREMEMBERING A FRIEND
by Andrew Barbano
NevadaLabor.comPioneering Nevada labor leader Tom Stoneburner dies
http://nevadalabor.com/unews/stoney.html
Security guard showed the way to organize and benefit workers despite prejudicial local, state and federal roadblocks(SPARKS, 2-22-2005) — Longtime Nevada labor leader Tom Stoneburner died Monday of a massive heart attack at his home in Palomino Valley north of Sparks. He was about 60 years of age. He is survived by his wife, Kathy. More information will be posted at the above web page as it arrives.
He worked as a security guard at Circus Circus Hotel-Casino in Reno for more than 10 years, coming to Nevada from southern California.
FIRST IN HISTORY. He organized and won back-to-back union elections for security guards at two major Reno hotel casinos. The 1994 election at Circus Circus was the first time in Nevada history that any group of casino security personnel had voted in favor of group representation by forming a union. The Circus Circus win generated other organizing drives, most notably at the Reno Hilton in 1995. The hotel management refused to bargain in good faith toward a contract, so Stoneburner, by then president of United Plant Guard Workers of America Local 1010, took the workers out on strike.
His timing was perfect. The 1996 Hot August Strike at Hot August Nights, northern Nevada’s biggest special event, resulted in a contract with the region’s largest resort property. The union, now renamed the Security, Police and Fire Professionals of America, still represents the Reno Hilton guards. See:
http://nevadalabor.com/barbwire/barb99/barb12-12-99.html
Circus Circus never came to a contract and implemented a series of delaying actions until the pond could be stocked with anti-union new hires and a decertification election held.
Stoneburner’s experience with the difficult and near-impossible roadblocks thrown up by federal and state law against union organizing led him toward helping those who were not only without a union, but would probably never enjoy the benefits of one. In doing so, he paved the way for the guerrilla union campaigns of the future.
He formed the Alliance for Workers Rights in 1997 to champion those without a voice. While still maintaining his full-time job at Circus Circus, Stoneburner worked tirelessly for the least among us. He championed the cause of workers killed and injured in Nevada industrial plant explosions. See:
http://www.rgj.com/news/stories/html/2002/06/28/17932.php
At one point, Stoneburner even helped raise and arrange for shipment of felled workers bodies back to Mexico.
Perhaps his many years of tireless activity in his “off-hours” proved too much, ending his time early. Perhaps Tom Stoneburner died for the sins of those who abuse so many for the sake of 30 pieces of Silver State silver.
Against heavy odds, he chose to fight, and often win, the great issues of his time. Expensive and repressive “permission to work cards” or “police cards” are now much more uniform. Until about two years ago, someone working two jobs in adjacent cities would have to pay for two work cards and background checks. Tom Stoneburner was in the forefront of changing archaic local laws and moving toward a uniform statewide standard.
Stoneburner fought the Sparks City Council in a continuing series of skirmishes when the city criminalized looking for work. Day laborers seeking work in front of the state casual labor office on Galletti Way in the Rail City were continually rousted by Sparks police. Many could not avail themselves of the services of the state office because the state provided no Spanish-speaking workers to assist them. The state finally hired some bilingual staff and the city and the Alliance for Workers Rights have had a truce for the past two years.
See:
http://nevadalabor.com/barbwire/barb03/barb11-16-03.html
In January, 2001, Stoneburner signed a groundbreaking agreement with the Nevada Department of Agriculture to provide Spanish translators to assist during state inspections. The contract, signed January 9, 2001, was “expected to increase fair treatment and safety for immigrant workers at greenhouses, nurseries and landscape service companies.” (Daily Sparks Tribune 1-14-2001) Stoneburner’s triumphant press release read “Immigrant Farm Workers Break Sound Barrier.”
Stoneburner advocated the creation of a state ombudsman for farm workers who have few rights under the law. (Reno Gazette-Journal guest editorial 2-3-2001) Somewhere, Cesar Chavez was smiling.
Stoneburner formed a network to assist fired Sundowner Hotel workers who were left without health insurance, jeopardizing the lives of some who could no longer afford vital medication.
See the 11-18-2003 Reno Gazette-Journal:
http://www.rgj.com/news/printstory.php?id=56972
WORKING FOR WORKING WOMEN. Stoneburner garnered worldwide attention for oppressed Nevada workers by supporting Harrah’s bartender Darlene Jespersen, who was fired by Harrah’s-Reno for the sin of refusing to wear makeup after 20 years of exemplary service without it. Stoneburner organized picketing demonstrations in both Reno and Las Vegas to sensitize the casino industry to the permanent maiming of their cocktail servers caused by mandatory spike heels. Several major gambling corporations eventually changed to a more foot friendly policy. Read news and view photos of the Kiss My Foot campaign at:
http://nevadalabor.com/news.html
The Alliance’s accomplishments and initiatives in various states of progress over the past seven years are almost too numerous to mention. Here are a few:
- Tip Tax Reform
- Unemployment Appeals Reform
- The Kiss My Foot campaign
- Work Card Reform
- The Farmworkers Project
- The Day Laborer Project
Stoneburner hosted a public access television show entitled “Alliance for Workers Rights” which still airs on Washoe, Carson and Douglas channels. He taped his last two programs on Feb. 11.
Both of the programs centered around his last crusade to help recently stiffed and stranded construction workers. He was visibly upset and shaken at what he termed outright thievery by employers who refused to pay their employees. He was personally and emotionally invested in winning justice for the homeless construction workers who remain owed about $96,000 in back wages.
Perhaps this fight was one too many for someone who had worked around the clock for so many years.
Nevada workers have lost a great and innovative champion. Nevada unions have much to learn from Stoneburner’s tactics of essentially bringing workers together in a concerted manner - the very definition of unions under federal law - while bypassing the expensive, time-consuming, often perverted and usually unsuccessful election process.
Stoneburner showed how community organizing, public pressure and media savvy could often be more effective than garden variety techniques.
A laundry list of labor luminaries recently published a long editorial advising organized labor to make some radical changes in its methods of operation. See:
http://progressivetrail.org/articles/050218Editorial.shtml
They both reinforce and expand upon reforms being considered at the highest levels of the union movement. Well and good, but let them all look at the accomplishments of Tom Stoneburner first. Does any Nevada union currently produce its own regular television program?
A FITTING MEMORIAL
On August 13, 2002, the Nevada State Legislature’s Legislative Commission Subcommittee on Industrial Explosions considered two of Stoneburner’s proposals. One stands out: “Amend NRS (Nevada Revised Statutes) criminal statutes that apply to cases of negligent homicide, manslaughter or involuntary manslaughter to include prosecution of corporations, executives and managers of corporations, who knowingly or negligently cause or allow conditions to exist that result in the death or serious injury of workers. Empanel a task force to recommend to the Legislature and Governor laws designed to help protect Nevada’s workers through prosecution of persons who violate workplace safety standards.”
The legislature is now in session. Does any lawmaker have a spare bill draft available for the Tom Stoneburner Worker Safety Act of 2005? Let us know and we’ll be there to support it. More details as they become available at NevadaLabor.com. Memorial statements and remembrances will be most welcome and published.
My Sunday column in the Sparks Tribune will be a more personal set of stories about my friend Stoney.
Adios, compadre.
Be well. Raise hell.
Your friend forever,
Andrew Barbanohttp://nevadalabor.com/unews/stoney.html
[CWA 9413/AFL-CIO]
Tags: labor, Nevada, obituary, Reno, Sparks, Stoney, Tom Stoneburner, union
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