Alyeska - Abusive To Women?

Like its own “Trail of Tears”! So why would the Alyeska Pipeline Service Company’s 5^th Floor Bragaw - in cahoots the cohorts in shame Human Resources of mostly white women - allow for a work environment to exist for well over 10-years wherein it was documented in a court testimony as “disdainful and contemptuous, vulgar and deliberately abusive to women”? Yes without a plea bargain, a “Management Mindset” guilty by association by inaction so acceptance, thus allowing a well-known “white supremist” to remain on the payroll with a documented history acknowledged by “a man delighted in harassing co-workers and in fomenting dissent”. Of record a “disciplinary history while at Alyeska unparalleled”(252 pages of deficiencies and HR “Code of Conduct” violations), characterized as blatant out-loud in-your-face confrontations “abusive to women” on-the-job, especially if that women was an American/Alaskan Native and wherein that “abuse language” contained the “N” word. So I ask, why did this “white supremist” that “abused women” on-the-job and well known to Alyeska Executives and HR, let it go on for so long? Well it is the same question that a Federal Law Judge well versed in the “law of the land” also asked. We are still waiting for an answer!

Hermiller’s “PROFS” File Dump

I was the recipient a copy of James B. Hermiller’s “PROFS” correspondences when he served as the Alyeska Pipeline Service Company’s CEO, in the early 1990’s timeframe. It covers the same timeframe the Wackenhut “SPY” operation was sanctioned by Hermiller, the hiring of a 3^rd party entity to “SPY” on the workers. Of course some of us were already well aware of the Wellington “snitches” in the organization running to Alyeska’s HR and ratting out in efforts to stay in good grace with the Filth Floor of Bragaw, so as to advance their standing in the organization - through promotions up the chain in Alyeska’s poop chutes and greasy ladders game. I did not ask for such this Hermiller “PROFS” file dump, held no effort in the “breakin” of the supposedly “Secure E-mail Server”. And no doubt, I could embarrass the hell out of a majority of the Alyeska management ranks serving under James B. Hermiller in the 1989 through 1991 timeframe, when that Wackenhut “Spy” operation was taking root within the rank and file workforce. The 5^th Floor of Bragaw spied on the workers, get the point! Yes, I have the goods that could publicly embarrass those that roamed the halls of the 5^th Floor of Bragaw, including Human Resources and those in control of the Pipeline and Valdez Marine Terminal. I have the Hermiller “file” of “Profs” correspondences including the “Deleted” files, so Alyeska’s very own legal team has no idea what I have at my disposal. But I also realize that Alyeska employs some of the craftiest lawyers and law-firms, and I am not in the mood for “slander or defamation” lawsuits filed against me as I learned in the past that even the judges that hear cases brought by 3^rd party law-firms protecting “Big Alaskan Oil” have a backdoor connection to that legal system - for “dismissals”. See, the publication of that Hermiller “dump” would reveal interesting things and since Alyeska was a small organization, even if the names went redacted many within the organization past and present could make heads and tails the connection those individuals thought to honor a “trust me” relationship. But one day, and maybe soon I will be at ease to start publishing what I have and know, so stay tuned to this site - as it will mean laughter still the “best of the best” medicine! For real, a Pipeline “Big Wig” complained about the station technicians thefting the TP from the breakroom “crapper” when he showed up? Gives stink finger a southern bible stench! For sure, it is amazing stuff!

Dear Jimmy Dearmore

Dear Jimmy Dearmore;

Note: The following message was published on or about June 24^th on the Alyeska Pipeline People Website, NOT directly affiliated with the Alyeska Pipeline Service Company and acts merely as a site for past employees in retirement status, or dead to stay informed and in touch. The site contains a “Message Forum” so “Restricted to Pipeliners Only” to engage subjects of interest, in a “chat like” environment wherein the site administrator challenges a “Don’t be Bashful” calling. The message was in response to a previous message published wherein the “BLM” seemed to be in question - as an “Anarchist” movement. The response to that “questioning” is republished below after it was taken down from the site - a violation of the U.S. Constitution’s 1^st Amendment Right to “Free Speech”, an indication that those in Alyeska’s management ranks now in retirement still enjoy the practice of denial in “discrimination”. The response’s author was also denied future access to the Alyeska Pipeline People’s site administered by Larry Motschenbacher(gotoLarrys@gmail.com) in an attempt to “Kill the Messenger”, something that the Alyeska Pipeline Service Company was well known for in the early days of the Trans-Alaska-Pipeline’s operations.

Dear Jimmy D, hope all is well also with you and family. What I was getting at, the present day events in “equal rights” discourse reminds me all too well how the Alyeska workers in Valdez had to witness “racial attacks” upon other “minority” Alyeska workers by an individual that was allowed to get away with it, a member of a “White Supremist” group called the “Nationalist Movement”. For 10-years, this individual’s racial attacks became part of the daily work routine, and no matter how many complaints were filed with Alyeska’s HR - nothing ever came about it until this individual was targeted as a person-of-interest that was handing out information to Charles Hamel and became part of the Wakenhut “Sting” Operation. You would have had to work in Valdez(80 to 90) to get an understanding of the “hate” this one individual could administer, the face-to-face profanity towards workers a different skin color and blatantly get away with it. He continued his romance with “hate” on-the-job because he was getting away with it. Every Terminal Superintendent from Westerheid to Henman to Boling to Howitt to ODonnell knew this individual’s MO in racism, yet it would take 10-years for Alyeska to finally terminate his hatred. It was one of the reasons we strove to Unionize back in the early 80s, our concerns went unanswered. If you are ever board in retirement, the DOL rendered a report that highlights what this individual got away with, and the Administrative Law Judge dumfounded how and why this individual remained on the job for so long with a long history of racism towards other workers. Just GOOGLE Robert Scott v. Alyeska Pipeline Service Company(DOL Case No. 92-TSC-2). Look, things were not perfect in Alyeska, sounded good, looked good but deep down inside a mindset that allowed some things to go under the radar at the expense of another’s righteousness - and that is why I am using my retirement time to protest in the BLM movement, I saw it back then, I felt it back then and the same feeling again today. Take care.

~~~~~

The following are excerpts from the Administrative Law Judge Jeffrey Tureck’s “final decision” with respect to the DOL case highlighted in the above message:

“Scott's history of employment at Alyeska was such that it is remarkable he still was employed at the time the Wackenhut investigation began. Either Alyeska was an extremely beneficent employer or plant operators are extremely difficult to replace in Valdez, Alaska.”

“Alyeska produced a considerable amount of testimony regarding a new personnel policy allegedly introduced at the behest of Hermiller through which the company would impose tougher discipline on its employees, as a way of explaining why Scott was terminated in 1990 but not previously. However, this testimony was extremely self-serving, and I give it little weight. Besides, I cannot conceive of any personnel policy, no matter how lenient, that could explain why Scott was not terminated prior to 1990; nor would it have been necessary to come up with a harsher policy to justify terminating him following the incidents which occurred in the summer of 1990.”

On September 26, 1983, Larry Planje, requested that Scott be terminated. Even at that early date he noted Scott's “long history of problems” and that “all attempts to work these out have failed. In what apparently was an endorsement of this recommendation, “Earl” (probably E.E. Boling, to whom Planje's memo was addressed) stated:

“Obviously, this is a hopeless case, I think we are remiss if we don't dump this Clown.” There is no indication in the record of why Scott was not terminated at that time.

Scott was known by his co-workers to be a member of a white supremacist group. He frequently used the word “nigger” in conversation, and was unapologetic about it.

…investigation included interviews with 11 technicians as well as Scott. Anderson then contacted Human Resources in Anchorage to get Scott's file. He was sent a three-page summary of Scott's employment record, which he described as the most extensive record of employee misconduct he had ever seen. He could not understand why Scott was still on Alyeska's payroll. Anderson described the results of his investigation as follows:

“I concluded after the interviews and putting all the material together that in fact Mr. Scott had made racial remarks, that he knew what he was doing, and that in looking at the overall, record it was clear to me that Mr. Scott's conduct was not appropriate and had not been appropriate for years, that he had been warned that his conduct was not appropriate and had been given every opportunity to bring that conduct into acceptable limits. For Some reason, he chose not to do that.”

Polasek and Howitt, both of whom either knew Scott personally or knew of him from earlier experiences. There is no allegation that Scott was ever disciplined by Alyeska in regard to complaints. There is much evidence in the record that Scott has no concern whatsoever for safety and the environment.

“I found Hermiller's testimony at the hearing to be less than candid. He was a contentious witness, and his testimony often gave the impression that he was holding back or not giving complete answers to questions. Frequently, his testimony appeared self-serving. As the person who authorized the Wackenhut investigation, which was roundly criticized by the members of the Owners Committee, he has a personal as well as a corporate interest in this hearing. I have weighed his testimony accordingly.”

Howitt was the Valdez Terminal Manager when Scott was suspended first in 1985 and then in 1988, and personally signed Scott's 1985 suspension letter.

~~~~~ 

Not my words above from the court, but what a Federal Administrative Law Judge found, and when I tried to bring this to the “Message Forum” because some members thought the “Black Lives Matter” movement was an “Anarchist” movement, no wonder we are in dire straits again today as the “filth” and “disrespect” lives on, even in retirement like it was from the “Filth Floor of Bragaw”!

Alyeska's Pride in Prejudice(Continued)

To begin with, Happy Juneteenth Day. Well, well, prejudice does go with the “Territory”. OK, by the 70s it was some tough going 11-years in the making since Alaska last enjoyed that “Territory” position, as by then a bonafide “State of the Union” status, a state with its own flag. Not to forget the Jack Marler days of “No Taxation without Representation” no longer a valid 1030 write-off option! Yes rough going for the first few years when trying to wean away from Uncle Sam’s welfare addiction, until ARCO hit “paydirt” then that “We’re In” of 1959 held new meaning heard all the way to the “Capitol”. With 4200-miles away momentum, and then on through those Halls of Congress and eventually the legislation that allowed for the building of an “Alaska Pipeline” wrought with controversy from environmental issues to Native Alaskan “land claim” rights. But in some respect by then after the dust of statehood had settled, the 49er was still functioning as a “territory”, so it takes time for things to sink in. And with that way far and away from everything so far removed, so was “Equal Opportunity” oversight just a suggestion. With this “new territory” calling for citizen Kane to step up to the plate, prejudice and discrimination is probably one of the last things on the agenda to get a “fixed” position, a reckoning in the right direction as we are creatures of “habit” good to bad to good again. And with that “paydirt”, Alaska became a land of opportunity like “overnight” - for all things considered. It was like the Beverly Hillbillies on steroids “North to Alaska” this “Call to the Wild”, when people from all walks of life decided to jump ship, or bail skip, away from the restrictions of the lower-48 lifestyle and follow instincts to “Go North Young Man”. And with that, the Beaver Creek border crossing saw people from every state of the “Union” seeking out Alaska as a “new life” adventure and with that “dream” so too were past “prejudices” in baggage carried along - one of those things tough to leave it all behind. Alaska was still “lawless”, so it was anything goes and discrimination was part of the scene, still today. Look, why would a Native Alaskan company still have the “Eskimo” by its name when we can no longer use that derogatory name for an ice-cream bar? What’s good is bad and what’s bad is good - thank you Bob Dylan for Idiot Wind! But with the “Green Light” in Alaska a good place for bigots to felons to find a job, there came families from places like Macon County Georgia, when oil was first being discovered in Alaska - where southern hospitality “segregation” was so damn proud and part of the “white man culture” it was allowed through inbreeding for future generations to enjoy, wherein even the kids’ playground in downtown Macon found signs to discourage the “black folk kids” from using the see-saw or slide. And during this same time period, when a court ruled against that “segregation” wherein the Augustus Octavius Bacon park “could no longer exclude Negroes” due “racial discrimination” and man was on a roll to “equal opportunity modernization”, well the “white culture citizens” went to court and the land was given back to Senator Augustus Octavius Bacon’s heirs, who originally “left it in trust for the use of the town's white residents only”. For real, the court ruled that this “Open to Blacks” would violate the conditions of the late Senator Bacon's will and that the property, which had been operated as a “white‐only” community park, revert back to the heirs for “white only” safekeeping - it was the 70s! No doubt about it, that “carry over” in prejudices found new life in this new found friend frontier called “Alaska”, and new formed companies to help get that oil from the Prudhoe Bay oil fields did not really care yet about “prejudices” nor discrimination at the workplace - nobody of authority was watching! And mind you we do this on our own accord, it takes “oversight” still MIA in Alaska.

Alyeska surely maintained a “culture” that held roots in a “prejudice mindset”, the reason it was some 10-years before an out-of-the-closet known “White Supremist” employer was “Terminated”. Yes, 10-long years for those of us that had to endure the hardships of seeing our brothers and sisters of skin color different put up with such face-to-face abuse. In the U.S. Department of Labor’s “final verdict” of 1993 upon a lawsuit “denied” for “Wrongful Termination” by a Robert Scott, the report sounded in the “N” word a sickening tune how this individual went about his daily business, to abuse “minorities” on the job - and get away with it far too long. He was finally “fired”, and that lawsuit was deemed without merit worthless to frivolous - due his bigotry so Alyeska was off the hook for his “Termination”. But the fact his “bigotry” and use of the “N” word blatant for so many years, well Alyeska’s management promoted its survival, maybe even benefitted from it as why else would a company allow it to continue on day after day for - well like I said far too long. For real, some managers who witnessed this abuse on a daily basis, many with southern roots thought it was harmless “clowning” around…just ask the black kid summer hire! Had it not been for other workers finally enough of Mr. Bigot’s “filth” and desecration and defecation upon fellow workers a different skin color, and that “enough” meant going “Union” for a ways and means to fire “Bigotry” did the Alyeska management decide to take action. Yes, by letting this Bigot survive far too long all the while other workers filed complaints with the Alyeska HR, it was abuse condoned by the Alyeska management - as the rank and file of that management style in the late 70s and early 80s came from the south - said again to get the point across.  It wasn’t abuse in silence by this one individual, but right in front of the local management’s eyes and ears, and all we got in return was a fake laugh and no action. In that Department of Labor hearing for this Mr. Bigot Scott upon a claim of “Wrongful Termination” so denied, the Administrative Law Judge was dumfounded as to how such a “bigot” with a documented track record of “N” word abuse had remained on the job! It was the Alyeska way!

And at the time this pathetic individual was raising hell at Alyeska’s Valdez Marine Terminal and getting away with it, at the End-of-the-Line of the 800-mile Trans-Alaska-Pipeline, management “misfit-rejects” were being transferred from the pipeline. For various reasons, like being unsafe to the point other workers’ lives went compromised, sexual abuse, on-the-job alcohol abuse…the list keeps on giving. But instead of “Termination” like would happen with a normal company not so new, within the Alyeska organization there was this sensation the upper crust management was infallible because of the “bible” carried around in the back pocket, that they could do no wrong their action and only harm in inaction, so the “rejects” awarded out-to-pasture positions because the pipeline’s management was “sick”. Many of those misfits, sent to Valdez to remain quiet make no waves until “Golden Parachute Retirement” time comes around the mountain! See, just go south and keep thy mouth shut.

Some more examples shit flows downhill - or south in an Alaskan pipeline? In an “obituary” of a manager that ran the pipeline during the years of discrimination and prejudice “rampant”, a family member wrote: “Alex’s leadership at Alyeska Pipeline is regarded as 'the good years' due to his management style, guidance and support of his co-workers." Whomever wrote this epitaph, it is far from the truth NO disrespect the lard-ass six-feet under. The Pipeline People knew Alex, Fat Alex as the co-worker force preferred in disrespect and sometimes referred to as “Two Chairs”, yes a bible-thumping two-chairs in width man-about-town doing the best things so conservatively, that also excelled in “Nepotism. Look, that bull-crap about his leadership, “the good years”, only if sonny boy Chris and in the “Club”! What “good years” and only in truth if one believed “Nepotism” was good for morale, there was ZERO leadership from Fat Alex, especially in the years around the mid-80s.  Please let me elaborate as to why no such “leadership in management” existed, when Fat Alex was the “Pipeline Superintendent”. First and foremost, his son was being promoted faster then blowflies gathering on caribou dung in the heat of the Alaskan midnight sun solstice. And at that same time, this guy who had the highest technical approval rating 8-years in a row, well because of my “vocal” Union activities in Valdez I was being shown the door. That son of “Two-Chairs” and myself, we started working for the company at the same time. See, I was a known and labeled as a vocal “Union” supporter, engaging such interest in efforts to get rid of the bigots and drunk tanker crews that were getting away with “murder” because Alyeska’s management held out with a “boys will be boys” attitude in inaction, so I was being targeted for giving a “hoot”. Yes, bigots and drunks roaming about the Valdez Terminal having a heyday. And it was no different up and down the pipeline, according to reliable sources. But I was a valued added employee that Alyeska couldn’t just “Terminate” - as I held the blessing from the Owner Company. See, Alyeska was a “Fake” like company, it was a consortium of the “Big Oil” players in Alaska - like British Petroleum and SOHIO and ARCO, very powerful companies to say the least and designed as an entity that could thwart off any “anti-trust” litigation interest from outside interference. So Alyeska was a cover, a convenient front. That “added value” I boast, with letters of accommodation from the Owner Company representatives, it offered some semblance of protection, for a time being. And I was also considered an expert in “Custody Transfer” by the ARCO Measurement Auditors while I was assigned to Valdez. Custody what? It is the technical term for accurate measurement of the oil for “ownership right” consistent with the measurement motto by the Owner Company; “If you can’t measure it don’t pump it.” So the Number One priority for Alyeska as “Operator” of the Trans-Alaska-Pipeline was in the “measurement accuracy” for accounting purposes, which besides the $money$ aspect of the “Black Gold”, that “accuracy” was part of the pipeline wide “Leak Detection” criteria - a condition to operate. Without a “Leak Detection” system in good health, the State of Alaska “Permit to Operate” said shut it down! And when the “Custody Transfer” systems at Pump Station 1 were found to be “fudged” and out-of-control while under the responsibility of Fat Alex, well the “Owner Company” auditors said get it fixed. Now since the executive seat warmers within the Alyeska organization were usually reserved for “Owner Company Loanees”, someone on the 5^th Floor of Bragaw said get another department to take over the pipeline’s measurement mess, and that was a black eye for the Fat Man and the “Custody Transfer” was soon under the auspices of a non-Pipeline department - which was bad for Fat Alex, as for once a piece of the pipeline was out of his domain “bible thumping” control which he despised. And I found a new home up at Pump Station 1, taking care of what Alex failed at. I was hated by the local Peacock management, like another kind of discrimination by Alex and his cohort in shame managers. But I took the challenge and in a few months things were straightened out, the “Owner Company” once again content they were getting their money’s worth in oil. But Alyeska was using me and it would only be a matter of time as “once a Union supporter always a Union supporter” and I was being spied on, by a “snitch” that had a front row seat with Alyeska’s Human resources - to monitor my “Union” affiliation and attempts to continue to “unionize” the pipeline workers.

And soon after all was well with the “Custody Transfer”, Alex wanted it back and the only way that would happen or could happen with the Owner Company blessings, if I was to transfer from the SCADA to the Pipeline, to become one of Fat Alex’s whores. I refused, then it was forced upon me so “Take this job and shove it” was my only reward. There was no way I would work for a man that thought his son was worthy of “Daddy Dearest Nepotism” and promoted to un-deserving positions, when others more worthy and dedicated capable of accepting challenging positions in a career move bypassed.  And since the drive to “unionize” the workers due Alyeska’s front line attack against a “Union”, well the bigots and drunks continued to run rampant and on March 24^th in 1989, Joe Hazelwood binge parked his tanker on Bligh Reef!

And one night after midnight while I was in my bunk at the pumping station camp and somewhat sound asleep, a knock at the door! Now due my responsibilities to maintain that “Custody Transfer”, it was not unusual that I would get called out in the middle of the night to fix a problem as my position was “on call”. But when I opened the door, in a somewhat quiet camp wherein things can go without a challenge and un-noticed, it was “Double Wide Oval” in a flimsy negligee…WTF? That is what she was nicknamed by the station workers. WTF again! And when the crew change plane landed in Anchorage a few days after that event and I was met by my wife and baby, this “blimp” came by and said “thanks for the good time” and I had to explain to my wife that nothing went on. But it did not look good nor did it sound good. And I would come to find out that filing a complaint with the local management this non-affair was no different then what I had come accustomed to in Valdez - that boys will be…I mean whores will be whores!

But before signing off, Alyeska engaged in “preferential treatment” border line “discrimination” with the workers, especially the “contract workers” hired for projects. Maybe not an act identifiable as a bonafide discrimination in segregation, just the “mindset” places Alyeska in a vulnerable position that it practiced “prejudice” because it could get away with it. I was also witness to that “preference” when I was working for Siemens and because of my past affiliation with Alyeska, I was assigned to be part of the Siemens “Team” for the Alyeska Strategic Reconfiguration Project in early 2000s. After I had quit my affiliation with Alyeska as a “direct”. Now when this re-assignment came about, as I was more interested in work back east because I could spend the after work hours at Bukowski’s “Dead Writers” pub and not worry about “Double Wide Oval” whores bothering my peace and quiet, well I made damn sure I was part of the contract negotiations with Alyeska. And I made sure of two all important things. Hazardous duty pay upgrades and when at a Pump Station camp, single room status as the guys I would be working with from UK, heavy snoring was par for the course. Now when we were deployed to Pump Station 4 as the first station to get the major upgrade, I was a day behind my crew and when I showed up, they informed me that my room was in Man Camp “D”. That means the “camp” wherein screens have big holes and allows hordes of mosquitoes to follow that sounds of snoring - then a blood fest commences. See, most of my crew was from UK, the reason there came such prejudice.  The camp manager was a total douche bag, so I went along with his Fat Alex game and scarfed up the keys for my room, “D” camp and its dilapidated construction camp history, hot and dingy smelled of “fromunder” mold. This I would not put up with, so I told the crew to assemble in the shop area that was reserved for our work, we set up bunks and stayed there all night long. Why? Because we would remain on the clock until such time Alyeska abided by the contract - single room status. So it took about a week before all hell broke loose, when we gave the Alyeska project manager our time logs, as it was about to cost Alyeska an arm and a leg for this abuse upon contractors - it was  like having “Union” representation! Cha-ching! The bottom line, when a management mindset finds it is better off to use resources to go after “Union Supporters” and at the same time the bigots and drunks are allowed on the loose…

Alyeska’s Pride in Prejudice - Maggie’s Farm Revisited; My back pages, bringing it all back home.

End-of My Line!

Alyeska’s Pride in Prejudice

Alyeska’s Pride in Prejudice - Maggie’s Farm Revisited; My back pages, bringing it all back home.

Sidebar: As an ex-Alyeskan, today I find myself enjoying “retiree” status and being actively proud in recent participation the “Black Lives Matter” marches in solidarity sea to shining sea our brothers and sisters in “Union” for the “Union”. That calling came about by placing “Pandemic Patriotism” above “Pandemic Protectionism” thus allowing freedom away from the “Home Alone” social curtailment that the Covid-19 “pandemic” was promoting. Yes, braving the elements to be heard and seen, at the same time maintaining social distancing in efforts to show my respect and support to right a wrong. Get used to it, get on with your life especially if in “retirement” as “social distancing” with proper PPE is working. Amazing, that the family First Aid Kit I put together when employed by Alyeska, after a class in Valdez about “preparedness”, low and behold it contained some of those hard to get N95-masks. Alyeska was very good at sharing things like this! So “Be Prepared”, the good ol’ Boy Scout motto worked again and I was ready and willing to “march” in protest. Wrong or right my abandonment of “Home Alone”, I find it rather disingenuous that many have taken the “Do Nothing” approach with “time” on their side. Remember, you can’t take it with you! Ok that’s OK your concern due age restrictions to get involved, just don’t brag about it while sitting at home in couch potato mode eating retirement funded Haggis. See, I’d rather have my kid’s children remember this “grumpy old man” as an advocate in Braveheart instead of a “Cowitt”. And if retirement means going to the town dump the only excitement dumpster diving  - I beg your pardon maybe it’s distemper or constipation ailing that freedom away from the 8 to 5! Get freak’n HELP! Hey, what do I know as maybe the “dump” still finds fascination to help get rid of the “skeletons” once confined to a Bragaw Street closet. But with this “racial profiling pandemic”, something that should have been abolished many years ago, it reminds me just how that “profiling” is a systemic problem - we gain some we loose some on that “front” and the following read is a show and tell of what I experienced as an employee of the Alyeska Pipeline Service Company this subject matter when “Black Lives DIDN’T Matter” or upon that “bias” confronting a person of Eskimo heritage or an Athabaskan lifestyle not to forget the “whistleblowers” that faced punishment for standing their ground in correctness…the list goes on a corruption in decency.

Uncle Al’s Pride in PREJUDICE - The True Story!

Maybe it was a “One-Off” situation, but my first introduction into “racial profiling” within the Alyeska Pipeline Service Company organization came about on my first day on the job - in 79. Shocking, what an introduction! OK, I wasn’t really on-the-job yet, the incident I remember still haunting and reawakened by the recent sidewalk torture of George Floyd, it occurred up at Pump Station 5 wherein I was a “New Hire” attending the “Pipeline Basic Training” academy. Yes, many years ago we know that history repeats itself. Back then “My Back Pages”, it all started when the crew change plane touched down at Prospect and delivered a new class of pipeline tenderfoots to the “Boot Camp”. Soon enough, with over-filled duffle bags filled with “company issued” coveralls and other survival stuff, instructor Will had us lined up in efforts to assign a room-mate and training partner - in a hip-hip-hoorah “team work counts” kind of camaraderie that was designed to last the duration of this training opportunity in the remote wilderness of Alaska.  And I guess as a carry-over when assigned a job on the “line”. Being away from family, partnership was paramount success, it was still the wilderness don’t need no Revenant moments. For sure, it was somewhat intimidating at first, the entire pipeline and logistics behind the operation of the 800-mile Trans-Alaska-Pipeline-System, so it was a very quiet scene as it was understood that the next few weeks would be very demanding in undivided attention commitment towards success. The “Basic Training” was a treasure trove of everything “pipeline”, mechanical to electrical to hydraulic to control theory and a little “Custody Transfer” in between here and there. It was like cramming an entire semester of study into a week’s time - study then test, study then test some more. This was indeed a chance of a lifetime, wherein success meant the beginning of gainful employment hopefully towards retirement, so best give it extra loving care. It was almost a “military” like atmosphere - at attention speak only when spoken to. Like it seemed, the demeanor many waiting for that assignment the sentiment in silence was enraged within by a calling out, please Mr. Will give us the room key so we can hit the books in excitement we had become a “Pipeliner” - at least that was the mission before us for the next 7-days. What I remember so well, I was 3^rd in line and a guy named Frank in 2^nd place and at the head of the line a Mr. C, that seemed to know Will and all the other Alyeska training staff on a first name basis. And somewhat annoying, the only one challenging the respect most of the other “new hires” maintained these unfamiliar surroundings, like minding one’s own business. While waiting patiently, in conversation I had found out that Frank was an Athabaskan Native Alaskan and was also hired to work down at the Valdez Marine Terminal, in the same department I was assigned. As instructor Will started to assign room-mate training partners, when that Mr. C was assigned to room and partner with Frank as the first partner pair on the roster, this Mr. C character verbally contested that assignment with words to the effect many others out and about could hear; “I ain’t room’n with no native”. The camp office area went dumbfoundedly quiet in a silence that was bothersome, but Will was quick to pour cold water on this “racial profiling” event and I was assigned to be Mr. C’s partner. So things were starting off in the “rough”. Now when the room assignments were complete but the “wind out of the sail” somewhat what many of us had just witnessed through this verbal abuse from a “white raced person” upon a Native Alaskan, we were in the “canteen” getting lunch and the rumors floating about seemed to be more then just scuttlebutt hearsay. More in the realm of a justified action by the Alyeska management would soon commence, that guy Mr. C was history - as this kind of thing was not tolerated in modern-day society and Alyeska seemed to “pride” itself that this kind of abuse was not to be tolerated. And the Alaskan Natives fort very hard for the “Native Claims Settlement Act” which allowed the pipeline to be built and that “Act” by Congress supposedly addressed such “discrimination”. But I was now Mr. C’s roommate, and as far as I understood, there came no adverse action, as of yet - he was still my roommate but what was rather odd also, nowhere to be seen. So when class started the next morning, when I had to inform those in concern that Mr. C was still here and still listed on the training roster, it challenged our thoughts on what we had witnessed and dumfounded even more what would be the outcome. So far, nothing changed! I mean, no investigation was required there were more then enough witnesses present to have heard and seen what went on - said again poor Frank such an introduction first day on the job! It was a blatant disregard for an Alaskan Native, and Frank still seemed to be having difficulties with it - in his demeanor to be accepted as he was the only Alaskan Native or minority in this group of new hires. If nothing else, a very embarrassing situation. The only thing we could think of was the fact the crew change plane was a week away, so maybe the management was letting Mr. C  hang out and he would be justifiably “terminated” come the end of the training when back on the ground in Anchorage. What else would be taking precedence over addressing what went on! And for the most part, that Mr. C character never showed up for the classes or when he did was late, like an attitude of who gives a rat’s ass. Maybe he did not want to become a bonafide “Pipeliner” and was just wasting everybody’s time. Also troubling and somewhat suspicious, it appeared Will was coddling this Mr. C guy. The other thing, when at the camp’s mess hall, Mr. C was always seen sitting with Alyeska “Townies” instead of associating with the “new hires”, so he was something special to someone. But it was too early to gain any sense of “nepotism” within Alyeska. OK, it is called “brown-nosing”. I stayed away from my room, nauseated being a roommate with a “bigot” and spent most of my time in the training facility in efforts to get all the tasks completed. So I had an excuse for no sleep, likewise many of the other “new hires” burning that midnight oil to get ahead. And with all the mid-night sunshine, sleep? For real, I didn’t have two-cents to waste for this guy Mr. C, please don’t try to be my friend.

Low and behold, on the going home day when Will called order the time for those in training to be awarded that “Pipeline Technician Training Certificate”, sure enough Mr. C was there to receive his meritless certificate - which was concerning as he was somewhat of a no-show for the entire week during the “Training Classes”, yet still showing up at night to sleep and getting his diploma? How in hell did this guy deserve what the rest of us had labored over in dedication the past week?  Instead of investing time in the “Training”, he was hanging out with the roads and pads crew, driving up and down the line and for the most part, a no-show. He contributed “zero” as a class member. And he was the only guy that had permission to leave the site, through the “Security Check-point” so something stunk! See, he was my assigned partner, and that supposedly meant investing time with effort and talent from both sides of the equation to get through all of the “Basic Training” modules - that team effort. So rather perplexing, that this guy Mr. C was still part of the organization and soon to be out on the pipeline. I went it alone through that rigorous training program, not bragging just stating a fact there appeared to be some preferential treatment going on within the Alyeska management rank and file for this one individual - who you know ring a bell? For real, after learning all about “Pipeline Basics 101”, I left that “Training” in realization that “nepotism” may be alive and well within the Alyeska organization. It happens, but when that “it’s a family affair” reflects negatively and enhances racial cruelty, that is unacceptable in my sojourn of life.

And I would one day in 91 - some 12-years after the fact when a file box of Alyeska’s President Hermiller’s “Spy” operation documents were found at the dump - find out that my “Basic Training” records were mysteriously confiscated back in 79, my tests and all required paper-work proving that “Basic Training” had been completed, well it all disappeared and management was requiring me to once again attend that “training” - some 12-years after the fact it was pure bull-crap. So I quit! Come to find out after Hermiller’s files were “breached”, my training files testifying that I had attended that “Basic Training” were found, as all my records went associated to another technician! Hey, we shared the same room in 79, why not share jock straps! Yes indeed, my files were being used by another pipeline technician. Said again, there was preferential treatment as there was another rumor that there was “a van down by the river” outside the Pump Station 5 “Security Gate” that was a hardy party site, frequented by my AWOL roommate.  But by the time those new hires were ordained as “Pipeline Technicians”, we had come to learn that Mr. C was the son of a pipeline “bigwig”. It gave the “Nepotism” definition life in a somewhat new company and that was surely to have an affect on other “equal opportunity” transactions.

Regardless, soon Frank and I were off to Valdez and we would bind as work associates and family friends while engaged helping out the I&E Department under Lynn McArthur to maintain the control systems at the End-of-the-Line. My sentiment following that episode at Pump Station 5, hope that racial attack on Frank was a “One-Off” experience. And the more I got to know Frank over the years, he was a gentleman and one hell of a nice human being and as a technician dependable, same with his wife and family just good righteous people!

And for years following while I remained gainfully employed by Alyeska, every time I came in contact with that Mr. C - who was moving up the ladder due daddy dearest - it nauseated the hell out of me and I am sure the same sense of regret with others that deserved a promotion for dedicated service. Many “good people” were side-stepped for those not deserving, a “nowhere man” mistreatment wherein the actual loosers became Bragaw Street schmoozers, the now “winners” joining the ranks of a surround yourself with incompetency mandate. When ass-kissing ladder-climbers felt threatened, so made damn sure there was no one allowed within their surrounding domain to ruffle feathers by calling out their inferiority complex. Or if a troublemaker, just arrange a helicopter ride with Whirlybird Bill! Let me take this opportunity NOW to clarify something of utmost importance. Alyeska had a valued workforce, a dedication to the mission. But at the same time, there existed a “mental mindset” that swallowed away the righteousness of a culture, wherein “kiss anything that looks like an ass” was the survival instinct. That “ass kissing” thing, I had an Alyeska supervisor tell me that was how he survived the Bragaw Street shuffle, wherein “Owner Company” agents would temporarily fill the 5^th Floor Executive rank and file positions, in like an away from the “real” office vacation. I also had a 5^th Floor Bragaw Executive “Loanee” tell me the Alyeska organization was a joke! So all in all, a reputable workforce and a dozen bad apples that wined and dined away decency - culminated by Joe Hazelwood crashing his tanker into Bligh Reef because of “preferential treatment”! Look, had Alyeska’s management “heeded the warning” a dysfunctional organization on the rise, that wreck never would have occurred. And a trickle down in “dysfunction” can only have negative repercussion like side-effects on all things considered, especially in “diversity”.

Alyeska’s “Equal Opportunity” romance, at least so in the early days circa 79 through 91! It sounded so good from the outside, respectful on paper and thus so swell accepted when the Filth Floor Bragaw’s Town Crier entertained the Peanut Gallery at the Anchorage Rotary Club luncheons in Anchorage. Wherein without challenge the Alyeska executive cast could easily advertise the company’s “inner city” program for the less fortunate. Ok, the company was proud of its minority hire statistics, so found success with that part of the equation. But that “romance” numbers aren’t everything, well within the organization there existed systemic “segregation of despair, prejudice in bias and recognized white man discrimination”. Yes, the same “mindset” that was  boasting that “Best of the Best” found a convenient ways and means to silence away the existence of a “Jim Crow” like racial attitude, out-of-sight and out-of-mind through dereliction and no action taken to stymie this abomination against the righteous standing “people of different color” or ethnicity. Even when a majority of the “Pipeline People” in workforce was not victimized by such attacks, but witness to this horror in dishonor upon our similarly situated fellow workers, which warranted complaints to the management ranks. Speakeasy? One was quick to learn best remain quiet! Like Bob Dylan once sang out so loud and clear; “If you're black you might as well not show up on the street 'less you want to draw the heat”. Now some ex-Alyeskans busy in retirement with “dumpster diving duty” still burying the “skeletons” may disagree, I was there and witness to this resurrection against my fellow black man and already uneasy how the Alaskan Natives would be treated. At the Alyeska VMT in the early 80s, it was a blatant disregard for anything that the Martin Luther King Jr. movement marched upon or worthwhile the advances made during the late 60s to eliminate such disgrace upon our Afro-American brothers and sisters or any walks of life. In Valdez, no matter how pristine the surrounding environment looked before the EXXON Valdez wreck, I witnessed this “discrimination” abuse firsthand and was affiliated with the handful of workers that tried to terminate this abuse. Yes, to come front and center the stage of attention and stand up for what was right in efforts to make a difference. With that, some of us found our careers “Terminated” as Alyeska did engage in that “Shoot the Messenger” obligation to show who was the “Boss”. The Filth Floor of Bragaw ruled! Sure there was an “Open Door” policy, but if you complained and there was no action, best mind your own business as that meant silence was golden don’t bother pursuing it any further else you will “draw that heat”. “Trust Us” we will take care of it NOT! The breakdown with Alyeska was not entirely the fault of the executive branch, it was the “middle management mindset” those trying to get that feather in that cap with the “Owner Company” boys.

In Valdez, there was Mr. S, a CRO that would come on shift and accomplish two things of priority. First off and by 6:05am like clockwork, day-in day-out for 7-consecutive days on shift, this cantankerous individual would make sure that the “can’t be missed” 4-ft x 3-ft Control Room “Lock-Out/Tag-Out/Out-of-Service” chalk board held promise of only one all important warning: “No NIGGERS Allowed”, in big bold white chalk letters he would issue this daily bread “Warning” so anybody entering the control building could not miss it. And it was the same chalk board wherein the “LOTO” warnings were supposed to be listed, so you had to see the “N” warning if involved in any work around the Vapor Recovery facility! It was a very busy control room area, so on any given day dozens of workers would be silenced by that “Warning”. I felt so sad and nauseated for a new hire technician, a black kid that was quickly re-positioned to the powerhouse gang instead - as this bigotry was understood by Alyeska’s local management. So it was that quick out-of-sight out-of-mind mentality, wherein “fixing” the root problem just a suggestion like an Anchorage traffic signal. Gee officer, I tried to stop but the ice…Then on to killing two-birds with one stoning, as then Mr. S Bigot would tend to his other priority in duty, purposely readjusting the controls for the “Thermal Oxidizers” so that bluish-black smoke would be seen existing the stacks, sometimes accompanied by leaping flames escaping the confines of the oxidation chambers, indicating improper combustion and polluting the air with unburned hydrocarbons. Yes, purposely taking the controls out of the “Automatic Mode” to incite a violation of the “Air Quality Permit to Operate”. The complication of the controls along with the process did not allow such human intervention, so it was a blatant disregard of how things were supposed to work through the Zink design. And the local management was well aware of this also, as one could not help see there was something wrong with that cancer causing choke “smoke” out and about the air we were breathing. You could smell the “inferno’s” afterbirth when in upset mode. The sentiment that followed around a do-nothing management style with a smile? It was only for 12-hours each day for 7-days and only every-other 5-weeks based on the week-on week-off shift schedules and alternating night-shift day-shift rotations. See, at night nobody gave a damn if the “Incinerators” designed to annihilate out-gassing from the crude-oil storage tanks polluted the air and who cared what Mr. Bigot S posted on the chalk board when most of us were home with our families. So Mr. Bigot S would soon have his duties for the day complete, by 6:10am and then go around the other control rooms and get in everybody else’s business in a loud mouth disgraceful fashion. For real, every other word out of his mouth like in trying to prove a point was the “N” word followed by the “F” word, even when he held the stage in front of the local management. His use of the “N” word was for a reason, out of the closet was his bigotry out loud and polluting our wherewithal against such racial abuse. It was allowed, out loud so inaction to curtail just added fuel to his “racial inferno”. Now many that worked at the Marine Terminal were from the south, transplants, so maybe this was an accepted habit. Hear it, see it, but maybe just a big talk no action bigot don’t get excited we are used to the “N” word. I used that “N” word once when in my New England youth, I can still remember the taste of soap and how that ruler across the knuckles by Sister Eileen felt - it hurt! Pain is pain! And what was witnessed in Valdez, it was a painful experience for most of us. But even though most of the workers had no time or patience with Mr. Bigot S, he got away with it. And when some outside workers were on site to perform contract maintenance work, Mr. Bigot would refuse to issue a permit to a “black” for the area under his control. If a black guy came in for a permit, Mr. S would direct the worker to that LOTO chalk board - with the “No Niggers Allowed” warning.  The guy was a sicko, yet he continued to raise havoc and invite and incite a dereliction upon the conviction of a racial abuse “free” environment - because he knew he could get away with it. It went on for months!

As the “Lead Instrument & Electrical Technician”, it was my duty to make sure that the VMT operations did not harm the environment - with respect to the controls working properly to abate. So when “black smoke” was seen emanating from the “Oxidizer” stacks, we understood it was Mr. S back on day-shift and at the helm, yet we would respond only to be confronted by the Bigot and he would yell to the top of his lungs that we were all a bunch of “nigger lovers”. I say it again, this man was sick! Big Jim, a technician with the I&E that grew-up in Alaska, he wanted so much to take the Bigot out, we all wanted to take the bastard out. But he held an audience of a few that seemed to condone this behavior in entertainment at the expense of others, that was the sad side of this abuse. Like another CRO who went along with Mr. Bigot and would not give out a work permit until he was finished telling you how he “anal raped” and abused his wife the night before - who was a “black” woman. This goddamn goof-head once had the audacity to ask me out loud in earshot of many co-workers if I “anal raped” my wife, while I was waiting for him to sign over a work permit. Here I was minding my own business tasked to work and had to put up with this abuse, first thing in the morning the sun still rising? I asked him to step outside and the only thing he could do is “yella belly coward” and reach out to Mad Mac “we have a virgin”, as Mad Mac the “rover operator” went about busily hanging up pictures of his hemorrhoids - on the same damn utility board we placed pictures of our kids! Alyeska culture in crisis? We finally got rid of that goof-head sick cookie, he became an OCC controller - pipeline pigging right up his ally! And when these monsters got together, the powerhouse lights could be going out but the priority remained their “racist” mentality intent to get a few words in, which fueled more hatred - and the local management was right there listening to it, seeing it and hearing it all! And once and only once when I tried to educate Mr. Bigot that the reason the “Incinerator” brick work was prematurely failing due to “flame impingement” based on the way he operated the controls, a very costly mistake, he would go off on a tangent that the “flames” in the combustion chambers were akin to burning out the “Niggers”, so the bigger balls of fire the better - the reason the pollution was violating the permit, it was a racial thing! How do you explain that to the environmental cops? But what was worse off then that pollution, the bigotry! Yes indeed, our very own KKK rally flames and all! But the local management time and time again refused to budge, as they understood Mr. Bigot was a fire-cracker and was trying to cause hate and discontent so that he would be terminated, and was already talking about an “age-discrimination” lawsuit should Alyeska make a move to terminate his employment - so they approached this problem with kid-glove “kindness”. He was well versed in using the age discrimination card and demoralizing the race card. It sucked, there was no excuse for the inaction and just a lame excuse at that, from of trumped up scare of litigation if they fired the bastard. And besides that, we had the sabotage of the pollution controls to deal with. We could not control the “bigotry” but were damn sure that we would not stand for the pollution - as it was the air we breathed and most of us were raising families in and around Valdez and this was an abuse we had to stop dead in its tracks. And once again to reiterate, the local management didn’t seem to care, or cared but went helpless on how to handle it. This was not a single event, it was NOT another One-Off, it was an on-going dilemma lasting months on end. And we tried time and time again to convince the local management about our concerns, with the bigotry and the pollution. Matter of fact, we boycotted the Bigot and started refusing to perform maintenance work when he was assigned as the CRO of the “Vapor Recovery Oxidizers”. Our sentiment, let it pollute, let it burn out the refractory, maybe it will get someone’s attention. A “refractory job” cost $thousands$, all because of the way he operated the system, almost routine this re-work. When we investigated the reason for the premature failure and brought that to the attention of the Operations management, they balked on trying to accomplish a fix. Like they had become sympathetic to this Bigot! And when that failed us, we caught the attention of Bragaw and many hours behind closed doors from Westerheid to Boling to Nelson to Henman to Witten - yes the Filth Floor Bragaw executives. But for some reason, even though they listened to our concerns it was the same old song and dance, nothing ever came down the “pipe” to fix this systemic atrocity. Look, maybe it was one bad apple, maybe two bad apples, but real “bad apples”!  And try to get HR involved, what a joke as they were afraid to confront this problem head-on! And the local HR person could not do a damn thing without permission from Bragaw. And one thing I would come to learn with Alyeska’s HR, it was a department that consisted of the “token” minorities, it looked good but had no teeth when it came to issues that needed intervention and relief. Yes, that “ass kissing” mentality leave well enough alone pass the blame around.

But we didn’t give up, as this was not anything close to the “Best of the Best” and after we exhausted the wherewithal of that “Open Door”, we were ready to go to war over it. See, with the pollution thing we had devised a ways and means to not allow the control systems to be placed in “manual”, not without a “LOTO” which would require a supervisor’s key. And if things broke while the Bigot was the on-shift CRO, we refused to work on the control systems until he was gone for the day. We would have rather worked past-the-clock on overtime then put up with his racial slurs. But when my boss McArthur suggested this option for a “LOTO” key to place the controls in “Manual”, we were turned down! Just when we thought we were making headway on all fronts, in realization the Alyeska management was neutered over such concerns, a new supervisor had been transferred from the pipeline. The guy was a reject from the pipeline and was quick to realize that the way the “Bigot” operated the “Ox”, it saved fuel - as when you pollute it takes less energy to annihilate the “vapors” and this new kid on the block saw it as a feather in his cap for the Bragaw Street mentality - the same mentality that was allowing Mr. Bigot S to disgrace others of race by the blatant disregard his racist’s attitude part of the job and use of the “N” word more bountiful then a Valdez snowfall. So here we were trying to be the “Best of the Best” and beat-up. And at the same time enough on our plate, we were dealing with the fact that somebody in the Valdez organization - maybe it was from town - in their “inferior wisdom” thought the I&E technicians were also cab drivers, as with pickup trucks at our disposal we were being called all too often to haul drunk tanker crewmen back and forth up and down the berth “gang-ways”. See, the Town Crier “taxi” was not allowed on the “gangway”, so we would get the call from the Alyeska Marine head and the bed of the PU would soon be filled with “drunks” returning back to the Marine Terminal from the Pipeline Club in town, un-able bodied seamen hauled to the dockside tanker and carried back onboard for a sober-up trip home. After a while, as it was interfering with my job duties, I refused to abide by the calls to assist I wasn’t your damn chauffeur, which pissed Larry off.  They were freak’n drunks, pissing here to there and everywhere and sometimes leaving puke trails along the causeways. And one day down at Berth 5, due my refusal, I was in a verbal confrontation with a bunch of returning inebriated sailors that were having a hard time navigate that bridge to their tanker, but I had my Rigid and drove the bastards away! At this point in time, maybe it was time to break some knuckles as it was getting dangerous and a plot to get rid of the Bigot was still fresh in our minds - I am talking a growing call for a physical assault. Some thought it best we find a way to trip the Bigot on the ice, and he never wore a hardhat as was required, maybe let him freeze to death underneath a burner deck of the “Incinerators” - no great loss! Yes, we were getting angry and more and more talk of taking it onto our own hands - you don’t mess with a rigid! We were getting desperate and the “Management” was not listening to the sounds of a disaster on the horizon! From “bigotry” to premeditated pollution to drunks getting behind the helm of those fully laden tankers - it all adds up to one thing “destruction”.

So one day we devised a plan of attack, as we were not about to give up - and looking for a way to get outside help involved - as that appeared to be the only thing that would give Uncle Al a “blackeye” and then the shat would hit the fan and then maybe action taken upon our concerns. We thought, with respect to the Mr. Bigot purposely polluting the air and the new PV supervisor going along with it because it saved “Topping Unit” fuel deliveries, why not call the local DEC environment cop and have him get involved. What puzzled us, from the town of Valdez and against the snow-covered backdrop, it was very easy to see the pollution with a trained eye but never once did Alyeska fall under any investigative suspicion with a proposed “fine” - like nobody from the local oversight dispatch was watching. So we waited for Mr. Bigot to come on shift and when the “Thermal Oxidizers” had been configured into “manual” and disgusting unburned hydrocarbons were once again making my kids sick, we called the cops and filed a complaint. And received a quick response. Now the “John Zink Thermal Oxidizers” were referred to as the “Incinerators”. So I get a call from McArthur that the local DEC cop is schedule to show up and I was to meet him down at the Dayville Road Security Gate and provide him an escort. Now Dan the cop shows up and it appeared he was being bothered having to go out of his way away from his cushion job in town, not by what we had complained about but the fact he had to show up with his badge and maybe do some work for a change. Like already mentioned, he was a no-show around the “Terminal” and this place was operated by “permits” in his preview. Look, it was another episode in “don’t draw he heat”. So we started up the hill to the “Ox” and one could easily see that Mr. Bigot was having a great day raising havoc with the controls and really polluting the environment. But before we could get to the control room, before we had arrived at the parking lot, the DEC cop says he thought we were talking about the “Incinerator” used to burn oily rags, not the “Oxidizers”. And before you know it, we are retreating back to the Security Gate as this “permitted device” was out of this DEC cop’s jurisdiction and that he would turn it over to someone in Anchorage. That said, we never once heard any follow-up of the complaint. So the bigotry continued, the pollution continued because it was saving Alyeska in fuel costs and with increased throughout and tanker traffic, we were spending a whole lot of time as taxi drivers for crews heading to town and coming back cock-eyed drunk. See, when we started to refuse to be “taxi” drivers, we were told that it was an issue of safety, that the tanker crews could not walk the “gangways” and thus the reason the I&E was called to assist. OK, they were stumbling drunks and could fall overboard while walking that gangway, especially if needing to take a piss - not my problem! That is when we realized that the Alyeska local management along with the Filth Floor Bragaw executive management did not give a rat’s ass upon our concerns.

What to do next? That is when our only hope to rid the VMT of a “mindset” behavior destructive in both bigotry, pollution and drunk tanker crews, it meant we had to “Unionize”. All else had failed and we realized what it meant to “Go Union”. Look, the job paid well with great benefits and the time off allowed for family time and outside activities away from the maddening crowds - so why ruin a good thing? That was the problem, it was a good gig - so it was challenging to say the least in respect our own wellbeing was it best to remain on the quiet side, let bygones be bygones? Not this guy and I was soon labeled by Alyeska’s HR “SPY” network as a “Vocal Union Supporter”. And when we decided to get help with organized labor, we also realized that Alyeska with backup from the “Big Oil” players would attack our desires head-on. And that is when we became victims of our own dedication upon demonstrable concerns, as the “Shoot the Messenger” was and remained the George Nelson way of life. A carry-over that would kill our efforts to right a wrong. Regardless, it was the right thing to do, the “Union”! Yes, it was the Danny Greene coming out in me, as I was an “Irishman”, the “Fighting Irish” my heritage.

With that, instead of addressing the problems at hand that promoted an interest in “organized labor representation”, the Alyeska management spent time and effort breaking up the so-called troublemakers and many “snitches” made a comfortable living with this “mindset” and guess what? Joe Hazelwood became famous because when you have a “Shoot the Messenger” approval from the Filth Floor of Bragaw, the bigotry and prejudice and pollution is what their “Best of the Best” is all about, in an “Image” fake the reality of underlying problems - big problems. Like the Bigotry, the binge drinking by the tanker crews was so well known! For myself, I could no longer stand working for a “Bigot” company, a polluting company a company that thought it cute that a tanker captain could get away with drinking on the job and a DEC patrol that was grounded. And if you ever visited the Control Room of the “Oxidizers” when Mr. Bigot was the CRO and turned the corner to see that “NO NIGGERS ALLOWED” a Warning of a “mental mindset” sick, in the 80s, because it was allowed we were all guilty of this even though we tried to eliminate it - this is what the Filth Floor of Bragaw was all about. And here is one for the comic books. How about the kid of a Valdez manager wearing a KKK costume at the Alyeska sanctioned Halloween Party in Valdez? Oh, it was cute and harmless kids will be kids?

In the end, our only hope was to have a “Union” represent us wherein our complaints, our concerns would have teeth in some semblance of a resolution. See, had we been successful in that “Union”, it would have easily consumed the operations also - and that Mr. Bigot S would have been immediately “terminated”. Gone would be his Bigotry and his pollution - how Simple Simon a solution.  With a “Union”, within 24-hours of signing over our right to be “represented”, that Mr. Bigot and his cohorts in crime “terminated” and “drunk tanker” crews thrown in jail. It meant WAR and Alyeska responded with everything in its legal arsenal - including spying on the rebel rousers - to STOP the Union drive. The plan of attack was to STOP the drive dead in its tracks in Valdez, as if this “Union” went successful for a small faction - the Instrument & Electrical technicians - it would be but a matter of time that “concerted activity to be represented” would spread like “wildfire”, up the pipeline and even taking over the Prudhoe Bay oil fields. The battle was on! And for the “Bigotry” that won…because fighting the “Union” was above all other matters including Alyeska’s “Homegrown” version of “segregation of despair, prejudice in bias and recognized white man discrimination”…Alyeska;

Here comes the story of the Hurricane
Where they try to turn a man into a mouse
Couldn't help but make me feel ashamed to live in a land
Where justice is a game

That's the story of the Hurricane(B. Dylan the Hurricane)

~ To Be Continued ~