-------------------------------------------------- REMINDER: Only 2 Posts Per Day Per Person --------------------------------------------------
I'm glad to see more people talking about this issue in the context of the bar and restaurant workers whose workplace is polluted by second-hand tobacco smoke, and I applaud Councilman Thune for emphasizing this aspect if the issue. I know the homily about workers being at liberty to take their wage-earning capacity somewhere else, but that is simply not true in a society that cannot provide full employment. Capitalism, like it or not, is one of those systems that cannot provide full employment. The labor market is the only American market that will never be a free market. Everytime the supply of labor, as measured by the unemployment rate, falls low enough to exert upward pressure on wages, the Federal Reserve chills the whole economy with interest rate increases until unemployment goes back up and everyone breathes a sigh of capitalist relief. In the context of that brutally regulated labor market, the worst working conditions allowed by law *are going to be forced on someone* as a condition of participating in the American economy. No one should have to place themselves at risk of heart disease and cancer in exchange for the privilege of participating in the economy. Unless and until a smoke-free workplace is provided by law, someone--maybe not you, maybe not me, but someone--will have to assume the risk of cancer and heart disease in order to make a living. The workplace safety of others is one of those choices that should not be entrusted to the individual tobacco addict. Guy Western the West Side ----- Original Message ----- From: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Sent: Tuesday, May 11, 2004 1:43 PM Subject: [StPaul] Smoke Free Bars and Restaurants > -------------------------------------------------- > REMINDER: Only 2 Posts Per Day Per Person unless your name is Tom Swift > -------------------------------------------------- > > Dear St. Paul Forum, > > The following is a letter to the editor that I have submitted to the > Pioneer Press, hoping it will be published. > > I strongly encourage Mayor Kelly in St. Paul and Mayor Rybak in Minneapolis > to get behind the ban on smoking in bars and restaurants. This is a public > health issue that just screams for action. How can we justify having > workers in smoke-clouded environments just because they work in a bar or > restaurant and not in an office, hospital, or airplane? Are those workers > second-class citizens? Fifty years from today, I believe Americans will > look back on the days of carcinogenic-vapor filled bars and restaurants in > much the same way that we look back on smoking in hospitals and airplanes > today -- with disbelief. It is hard to believe that any public official > could oppose a ban on smoking in bars and restaurants, given that second > hand smoke causes about 3000 deaths each year from lung cancer in people > who don't smoke (from the American Lung Association). Minnesota should be > a leader in this healthful movement. To Mayor Kelly and Mayor Rybak, let > me submit that the way to lead is not to shift the responsibility to the > State or Federal Government, but instead act now with the power you have. > Seize this opportunity and make a drastic improvement in the quality of > life in the Twin Cities. > > > Best regards, > > Kevin W. Eberman > 1301 St. Clair Ave. > St. Paul, MN 55105 > (651)699-4047 > > _____________________________________________ > NEW ADDRESS FOR LIST: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > > To subscribe, modify subscription, or get your password - visit: > http://www.mnforum.org/mailman/listinfo/stpaul > > Archive Address: > http://www.mnforum.org/mailman/private/stpaul/ _____________________________________________ NEW ADDRESS FOR LIST: [EMAIL PROTECTED] To subscribe, modify subscription, or get your password - visit: http://www.mnforum.org/mailman/listinfo/stpaul Archive Address: http://www.mnforum.org/mailman/private/stpaul/
