] The labor union for striking workers at the Oyster Creek ] nuclear power plant met with representatives for Sens. ] Jon Corzine and Frank Lautenberg at the union ] headquarters here Thursday. ] ] The talks mostly centered on the union's version of ] events that led to a massive fish kill at the plant last ] year. The two-hour session came as the union begins its ] fourth week of a strike at the nation's oldest nuclear ] power plant. ] ] At the meeting, two union leaders and six power plant ] workers said on Sept. 23, 2002, that they warned ] management not to turn off pumps that cool water ] discharged from the plant into Oyster Creek. ] "We brought it up several times," said Bill Strako, a ] control room operator. "We said, 'You know, if you do ] that, you're going to violate the thermal limits.'" ] "Does it tie into the strike?" Stroup said. "Yes, it ] does in a way. Our members are the safety net for this ] plant. Now we're walking up and down Route 9 in picket ] lines. And they're bringing in people who will do ] anything they're told." The plant workers are still striking. Its been about a month now. The outside of the plant has taken on the look of a shanty town. Tents, fires in steel drums, and at least a hundred ragged looking picketers stationed at the plant's three main entrances.. The length of rt9 that runs along the plant is sporting signs every hundred feet or so, "Don't Trust AmeriGen's Lies!", "Who is running the plant?", "Striking for saftey, not money!", etc.. Between the strikers and the heavy national guard presence, its makes for one damn surreal scene.. There has been almost no press coverage.. This is one of the few articles I have found, and I've been looking. The AC Press seems to be the only paper in the area even taking note that there is a strike going on. Of course, all the other papers in the area are Gannet. Still, I find it very strange that the workers of the oldest (and most accident prone) nuclear power plant in the United States or America are striking because they don't feel the plant is safe, and none of our local news papers give enough of a shit to cover it! Oh the comedy of errors! Plant errors killing fish.. Working striking over saftey.. National guard soldiers accidentally shooting themselves.. At a plant with a rusted and cracked drywell that's over ten years past its design lifetime. I gotta get the hell outta this town^H^H^H^Hcounty^H^H^H^H^H^Hstate. |