Unions fought for all workers’ rights

I am a union member of National Association of Letter Carriers and have been for the last 29 years. We in unions, I would have to say, have lost sight of a lot of what made us the champions of the working people.

But now we all, and I mean all, working people of the country have to wake up before it is too late. What is going on is an attack on all of our rights. And it is not the union’s fault that we are all in the mess that this country is in now. It is the Wall Street execs and the corporate greed.

Have you heard about the Wisconsin governor’s little phone conversation when he thought one of the billionaire Koch brothers was talking to him? If you have, you will have seen that he is deep in this guy’s pocket and he just wants to bust the union.

You ask why I should care since I know a lot of you are hurting without jobs and no benefits. Let me enlighten you on what unions have done for us all.

First, we fought for 8-hour day and 40-hour weeks; your paid holidays and vacations; hospital plans and pensions; no-fault workman’s comp and unemployment benefits. And we stopped child labor to keep kids out of coal mines.

So you see without unions you wouldn’t have any rights that you enjoy today. If we don’t all stand up and stop this attack on our basic rights, the corporate bigwigs will walk all over us.

Think about it. We must be the champions of the people. We need to speak out. We have the numbers and let’s all get together.

David Beebe

Elgin