There are reasons unions are needed
I remember back in the ’60s, I was working part time at a local nonunion industrial plant. One day close to the end of our shift the supervisor came around informing the employees that they would have to work two hours overtime.
One lady informed the boss that she couldn’t as she had to be home when the school bus dropped off her second-grade school children, as there was no one there to care for them. The supervisor sternly told her OK, go ahead and check out, but don’t bother coming in tomorrow.
Now what can she do? If she leaves she loses her income that she needs to support her children, if she stays her two children will be home alone for two hours, unsupervised, and if one of them got hurt accidentally their mother would be arrested and accused of child neglect.
I don’t know what her choice was, but it was like being between the rock and the hard place. This is an example why we need unions, it’s not just the money or benefits, it’s job security, workplace safety and a decent work environment. It wasn’t a few years later the employees voted a union in. I wonder why?
The movement behind the right-to-work law is the same organization that wants to privatize our Social Security and the U.S. Postal Service. (The Chamber of Commerce and its Wall Street associates).
— Arthur Burke Jr.
Terre Haute
Why so hard to get a tow here?
While visiting my daughter in Paris, I decided to spend an evening in Terre Haute playing Buzztime Trivia (formerly the National Trivia Network) at Buffalo Wild Wings. I have friends around the country with whom I play every Tuesday evening. Last night I learned a valuable lesson: Keep the cables in the car even if you drive a Prius.
It was 9 p.m. Illinois time; 10 p.m. Indiana time — not what I’d call late even if I had to get up for work — when I called for roadside assistance. So why is it that every single tow company turned us down, even when we called the second time and said that instead of towing me back to Paris all I wanted was a jump? (By then I had polled the other patrons in the restaurant and no one else had jumper cables, either.) What did these people expect me to do — sleep in my car? I’m 61 years old, I have arthritis and it’s January.
I would truly like to thank Leigh at GEICO who pursued the matter for over an hour and a half, Ryan of Precision Collision in Paris who came to my rescue somewhere toward midnight (don’t ask me which time zone that was in), and the staff at Buffalo Wild Wings for their patience and support.
I’ll probably go back to play trivia when I’m in town, but I’ll remind my car not to break down unless it’s on the day shift. Thanks for your hospitality, “gentlemen.”
— Rochelle Weber
Volo, Ill.
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