In my neighborhood, I had an opportunity to speak with workers from Verizon and Con Ed, as well as folks who applied to help out with the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) due to the effect of Hurricane Sandy. They told me how, in this capitalist system, those helping in the clean-up were treated as poorly as those they were sent to help.

Verizon had laid off so many workers that the remaining ones were left to carry the load of the overtime from Sandy. Somehow, the overtime money didn’t compensate for the absence of the workers who did the job so well at our side.

Con Ed workers were promised overtime. Then they got an e-mail saying those who worked in Staten Island did so “voluntarily.” These workers said thousands more homes had been devastated than the media reported, mostly in impoverished areas.

One friend who was trained to be a FEMA employee said, “The qualifications required were a clean criminal background and citizenship. I was to report to a training site in Philadelphia. I had to take classes for two days, paid $125 for each day and 50 cents for traveling expenses. My friends and I went together.

“There were at least 1,000 people wanting to be employed. On the third day, a Parr agent (working on behalf of FEMA) told us many were being denied. I received a letter a week later stating, ‘ The Chief Security Officer has found you unfit for employment as a contractor employee with FEMA. This decision is based on adverse information contained in your credit bureau report.’

Never before in my life had I been told I was found unfit to help individuals. Every week, I run a soup kitchen and clothing donations from my church. I have never had a complaint. If the government hadn’t closed its eyes in 2007 and allowed Wall Street to ravage the hard-working community, maybe I would be found fit to be a contractor for FEMA. Is FEMA fit to work for me or anyone struggling with disaster?”

In the communist-led Soviet Union and China, unemployment was zero; rebuilding flooded areas, constructing dams and wiping out diseases like syphilis and schistosomiasis were priorities, making useful jobs for millions.

Red Worker