When working people come together in political action and successfully fight to elect lawmakers who back working families, they are at least guaranteed someone who will listen to their concerns. But in too many cases corporate money has propelled politicians like Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker, Ohio Gov. John Kasich and Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Corbett to office where they turn a deaf ear to working people.

In this cross-post from Working America’s Main Street blog, Ruth Oditt shows that even the loss of thousands of jobs and the economic devastation of communities isn’t enough to move Corbett to act, let alone listen.

This is a report from the Metropolitan Washington Labor Council by Chris Garlock and Julia Kann.

Hundreds of oil workers from three Philadelphia refineries slated for permanent shutdown early this year came to Capitol Hill yesterday to tell Congress “the closures threaten family-supportive jobs and will lead to persistent shortages of home heating oil and motor vehicle fuels in Pennsylvania and throughout the Northeast.” The workers—members of United Steelworkers—rallied in front of ConocoPhillips Co. and Sunoco Inc. in downtown Washington, D.C., presenting “pink slips” to management at both oil companies.

Gary Beevers, United Steelworkers (USW) international vice president for Oil Bargaining, sends us this report. Beevers has extensive experience negotiating with major oil companies with the Oil, Chemical & Atomic Workers Union (OCAW).

A little after midnight on Good Friday last year, a heat exchanger on a naphtha hydrotreater unit at the Tesoro oil refinery in Anacortes, Wash., catastrophically failed.  The unit exploded, setting off a blast that shook homes five miles away and igniting a fire that could be seen anywhere in Anacortes.  Three oil workers died in the blast; four others died at the hospital from injuries sustained in the accident.