In a show of solidarity, the Chair of the Ohio Peace Council, Werner Lange, joined UAW Local 674 members on strike against GM at the GM Cincinnati Parts Distribution Center in West Chester, Ohio, on September 30. “We face a common enemy – corporate greed – which drives the policy of both General Motors and Norfolk Southern to the detriment of workers and communities”, stated Lange, “Justice demands a fair contract for autoworkers and the preservation of the Cincinnati Southern Railway as a community asset for Cincinnati citizens.”
A bitter battle to save the only publicly-owned interstate railway in the nation is underway in Cincinnati. In a classic David v. Goliath setting, citizens face off against the local power elite backed by the notorious corporate giant Norfolk Southern railroad.
With the derailment of its mega train loaded with toxic material, Norfolk Southern utterly destroyed East Palestine earlier this year, and converted what was once a vibrant small Ohio town into a vast environmental crime scene, which it remains to this day and will into the foreseeable future. This multi-billion dollar corporation has done next to nothing to effectively alleviate the suffering of its victims, who remain trapped in a toxic cage known as East Palestine. Many, likely most, desperately wish to move out, but are caught in a Catch-22 dilemma of being damned if they move (loss of property value) and damned if they do not (loss of health, perhaps life).
Rather than use its enormous financial resources to make things right in the town it destroyed, Norfolk Southern has made an offer to purchase the Cincinnati Southern Railway for $1.6 billion, and the CSR Board has foolishly accepted it. However, state law requires approval of this deal (hatched illegally in secret meetings) by Cincinnati voters, and the matter appears as Issue 22 on the November ballot. To fool voters into giving away this precious people’s asset, Norfolk Southern has launched a $1 million propaganda campaign flooding homes and airwaves with slick deceptive ads. Along with projected pie-in-the sky benefits from a sale, the mayor recently declared Cincinnati risks dying altogether is if the sale is rejected.
Opposition to the sale is rooted in a widespread healthy distrust of City Hall, Norfolk Southern and the CSB Board. A variety of community-based groups (Derail the Sale; Save Our Rail; Citizens for a Transparent Railroad Sale; Ohio Peace Council; Railroad Workers United) have emerged to passionately oppose the sale, which boils down to a referendum on the value of socialism over capitalism. The spector of East Palestine also looms over Issue 22. Knowing what Norfolk Southern has done to destroy that poor community, how can anyone morally justify rewarding this reckless outfit with possession of our community-owned railway? Every Yes vote for Issue 22 constitutes a stab in the back of victimized East Palestine residents. A No vote expresses our solidarity with East Palestine and rejection of Norfolk Southern’s malicious actions.
