Please explain the basis of this column! Without it, it is senseless ink wasted by the Times.

I get it, you don’t like unions.

I didn’t address corruption because there is corruption in nearly all walks of life. Corruption, where it is found, should be eliminated. There is corruption in business, government, churches, and more. Just because there is corruption in an industry, you don’t deny people their rights to participate or to fix it so it does work for them.

I do appreciate the discussion. Thanks for taking the time to share your opinion.

Paul Gorski

Opting out of the union was your choice, and that is fine. You were in a union and you chose your own destiny, you got out. Some folks like unions, some not. While it is true unions don’t pay some of the same business taxes other businesses pay. It is also true some for-profit businesses pay little or no taxes. Those are both problems with out tax code, not the institutions or their members or their employees.

Many businesses have dress codes, codes of conduct, and some even mandate your participation in activities outside the business. Many employees endure these restrictions too. I worked for one company that automatically deducted a contribution to the United Way from our paychecks. We could increase the deduction, but we couldn’t remove it altogether. I left the company eventually, and the company is no longer in business.

We don’t even have open elections for state and national offices, why would you expect the same for businesses? If we start talking open elections, let’s start talking equal ballot access for third parties and independents. Then that spirit may spread to other businesses and organizations.

My point again is not to convert you to a union supporter. I simply ask that you not advocate for the abolition of unions. Take away the right to unionize, then you start down the dark path of restricting other rights.

Take care,

Paul Gorski

Also, while some of those companies you mentioned don’t use union labor for assembly now, some have used union labor for assembly in the past, and some may use union-made components for the cars assembled in their plants now. In addition, those companies have been forced to pay more reasonable wages because of the competition from organized labor.

I’m not asking you to walk a union picket line, I’m simply asking you to respect the right for unions to exist and compete fairly in the labor market.

Average citizens like me are screwed, the politicians do whats best for their careers, the unions do whats best for them, and the taxpayer????? Oh well, he or she is screwed.