Dear Editor:
Mr. Stuart Allen, yes, few Americans today suffer from hunger,
and many devastating diseases have been eliminated from our
populace.
Dear Editor:
Mr. Stuart Allen, yes, few Americans today suffer from hunger, and many devastating diseases have been eliminated from our populace. And yes, many of us are as you put it, “awash in a torrent of goods.” You also correctly point out that “all of this we have achieved by standing upon our own two feet and creating plenty with the work of our own hands and our own brains.”
What you fail to recognize however, is that the hands and brains in large part were provided by everyday, good ol’ American workers who also like it here, and also think this nation is worth preserving. So much so, that many have organized themselves to more effectively establish and maintain a higher quality of life for all Americans.
The right to organize is not “an absurd joke” as you say; rather it is law as established by the Wagner Act of 1935, and later reaffirmed by the Republican-sponsored Taft-Hartley Act of 1947. This act also preserves a worker’s right to choose not to become a union member.
While it is certainly true that unions support the social programs you conservatives so despise, we also fight for fair wages, health care benefits, and safe working conditions that would ultimately eliminate the need for such programs.
I don’t know what your employment situation is Mr. Allen, but I’m guessing that you have been able to earn a respectable living and provide your family with decent housing, financial security, and proper medical care. For this you should be thanking your local union member, for we have set the standard for all American workers whether they are salaried or paid by the hour, union or non-union, and we are not about to stand by and watch that standard be chipped away.
Steve Andrade, Gilroy
Submitted Tuesday, Sept. 23 to ed****@****ic.com
