Antoinette Bonsignore, writing on behalf of the Alliance of Nuclear Worker Advocacy Group, has responded the Labor Dept.'s recent response (by Rachel Leiton) to the group's criticisms of the federal agency and the performance evaluation of the sick nuclear workers compensation program.
The letter states that ANWAG stands behind its earlier criticisms and said important issues continue to be ignored by the Labor Department.
Here is a copy of the letter, dated today:
ALLIANCE OF NUCLEAR WORKER ADVOCACY GROUPS
Barack Obama has created a top-notch team to guide his transition into the White House (see "Obama fills key posts on environment, energy teams"). Next, he should create a team to guide America's transition to a new energy economy.
I'm not talking about the prestigious group of economic advisors Obama already has assembled to help him identify solutions to the economic meltdown. I'm talking about a team that includes experts in sustainable energy technologies, climate mitigation and adaptation, capital investment, state and local government, business, industry and labor.
As the Big Three US automakers ramp up their pressure on Congress to cough up $25 billion in bailout money, the absence of a long term vision for economic recovery has never been more clear.
The outgoing Bush administration and Congress are careening from bailout proposal to bailout proposal, putting hundreds of billions into the hands of the same people that created this toxic economic brew. Naomi Klein has recently detailed the horrifying parallels between the "free-fraud" zone created by the Bush administration in Iraq and the Treasury Department's handling of the bank bailout (http://www.naomiklein.org/articles/2008/10/bailout-profiteers).
As tempting as it is to offer bailout money to the US automakers in return for fleet-wide mileage reductions, changes in the mix of their fleets to include more hybrids and electric vehicles, and to support labor, it would be the wrong thing to do under current conditions. Imports from foreign automakers have backed up in American ports over the last few months and now represent roughly double the normal inventory, so the difficulties faced by automakers are not limited to US firms. US automakers, however, have additional problems because their fleets are dominated by too-large, fuel-inefficient models. That fleet makeup cannot be quickly changed.
02/05/08 "ICH" -- -- Look around. The evidence of a withering economy is everywhere. In "good times" consumers shun the canned meat aisle altogether, but no more. Today, Spam sales are soaring; grocery stores can't keep it on the shelves. Everyone is looking for cheaper ways to feed their families. The Labor Dept. assures us that core-inflation is only 4 per cent, but everybody knows it's load of malarkey. Food prices are going through the roof. White bread is up 13 percent, bacon is up 7 percent and peanut butter is up 9 percent. Inflation is rampant and there's no end in sight. The dollar is closing in on the peso and working people are struggling just to get by. The bottom line is that more and more people in "the richest country on earth" are now surviving on processed pig-meat. That says it all.
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid reversed plans Wednesday to hold a test vote on an automakers' bailout bill on Thursday. Reid had planned to move on legislation that would have taken $25 billion from the $700 billion already approved for Wall Street and diverted it to the big three automakers.
Filmmaker Michael Moore says the collapse of General Motors could mean the loss of millions of jobs.
CNN's Larry King talked Wednesday with Michael Moore, a filmmaker with deep ties to the auto industry. Moore's father worked for General Motors for 35 years.
In 1989, Moore became an international figure for his film, "Roger and Me," which centered on the declining auto industry in his hometown of Flint, Michigan and the ripple effect on the town's residents.
The following is an edited version of the interview.
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