Published: June 01, 2009 08:42 pm      

Letters to the editor - Tuesday, June 2, 2009

Don’t paint killing with broad brush

Let me begin by saying that I have only read the Tribune/AP account of Dr. George Tiller’s murder. I usually only read the paper on Sundays, so didn’t watch any television or have any news-based radio on yesterday. So, I have only the AP account to go on.

I realize you generally prefer comment on local issues. But due to the nature of Dr. Tiller’s earthly pursuits, the story of his death touches all of us. I can only imagine the spin being put on his killing by the mainstream press.

AP already linked it to “a string of shootings and bombings over two decades.” To me, that sounds as if shootings of abortion providers and bombings of clinics that provide such services were frequent. I have not done the research, but I think the frequency is way overrated.

On the other hand, no killing of an abortion provider by any means, or damaging of the facilities of any providers of those services, is justified, and it certainly does not square with biblical teaching.

Yes, what they do is so diametrically opposed to the teachings of the holy Scriptures, but in that truth there is no justification to be found for the also-opposed-to-Scripture actions of the murderers and vandals involved in this “string” of incidents, no matter how short or thin the string.

Please do not involve yourself in the broad-brushing tactics so often used by journalists when it comes to assumptions about or even outright statements by suspects rounded up in the case.

Rick Glover, Kokomo

Union members still being intimidated

There is a lot of talk about the Employee Free Choice Act right now around the country. However, I want to share some facts with you.

Kate Bronfenbrenner, the director of labor education at Cornell University’s School of Industrial and Labor Relations, recently released a report that found it is standard practice for employers to threaten, harass and retaliate against their employees that want to form a union.

The most striking revelation in this study from my point of view found that in 2007, 52 percent of workers who succeeded in forming a union still did not have a contract after one year.

This report also revealed that from January 1999 to December 2003, 34 percent of employers discharged workers during the NLRB election process. These statistics would not be acceptable in any other situation.

Would we accept 34 percent of voters in our political elections losing their jobs because they did not vote the same way as their bosses? I think not, and I think American labor laws are broken.

The Employee Free Choice Act would address the problems highlighted in Ms. Bronfenbrenner’s report and would finally restore the rights for workers that are promised by the National Labor Relations Act.

I am asking everyone to look deeper into this issue. Workers should have the right to choose to join a union free from intimidation and without fear of losing their jobs. After we examine this new study, we see that is not the case.

We’ve let the top 1 percent run this country for almost a decade and things are not going well. It’s time we all have a say on our communities, our economy and our workplaces. Pass the Employee Free Choice Act.

H. Jon Faust, Peru