Letters
'No Friend of Labor'
The article about Lackawanna, N.Y., Mayor John Kuryak (March/ April), which creates a positive picture of him, is misleading at best. Mr. Kuryak may have been a dues-paying member of AFSCME and may have even been a good union member (which I rather doubt).
However, since he became the mayor of Lackawanna, nothing could be further from the truth. We in CSEA/ AFSCME Local 1000 have had nothing but problems with John Kuryak. CSEA currently has 50 outstanding grievances and four improper practices filed with the state Public Employment Relations Board — not to mention the day-to-day problems he continues to ignore. He is no friend of labor, especially not of CSEA.
— Florence Tripi
President, Western Region 6
CSEA/AFSCME Local 1000
Buffalo, N.Y.
Opinion Non Grata An Unwelcome Opinion
As a proud member of Local 1810, employed at Missouri's Moberly Correctional Center, I am angry that you have used a former inmate to further our cause (March/April). I do not endorse prison privatization; it takes our jobs away. However, ex-inmate Alex Friedmann stated, "At first, I favored privatization. My opinion quickly changed." Could this be because the private company enforced the rules and cared about the officers' safety rather than the inmates' comfort?
I hope our union can find other ways/people to further our cause. How about someone actually doing the job of a lowly corrections officer. Let ex-inmate Friedmann work on behalf of prisoners' families, not judge prisons and the law-abiding corrections officers who work in them.
— Chris Leonard
Local 1810 (Council 72)
Hannibal, Mo.
Prisons: A Public Responsibility
Your two features, "Not In Our State" and "Prison Privatization: An Insider's Perspective" (March/April), confirmed the fears and concerns that many criminal justice professionals have had relative to the issue of privatized corrections.
Entry of the private sector into what has traditionally been thought of as a public responsibility is quite controversial. The largest concern is that of using force — both physical and deadly physical force. Whether private employees (e.g., private guards) should be trusted by the state with such authority is a disturbing question. Does a private entity legitimately exercise government power when it deprives a person of life, liberty or property at the behest of government?
In the firm opinion of many thinkers on this issue, it does not.
— James J. Green
Assistant Professor of
Criminal Justice
St. Thomas Aquinas College
Sparkill, N.Y.
Activating the Activists
Thanks for your practical articles reporting goings-on in AFSCME that suggest projects activists can take on. The article on Public Service International's child labor in the surgical-instruments campaign (January/ February 2000) is a concrete way our union can contribute to global anti-sweatshop efforts. Our local here in Iowa includes a hospital, and some of us hope to participate in the campaign.
The article on the "casual" employees at UCLA (January/February) hit close to home. Abuse of the temporary worker designation is rampant and growing here, especially at our city library (covered by Local 183). We have expressed our concerns to management and tried to address the problem at negotiations. Now we are lobbying the Iowa legislature to emulate California and do the right thing. The International has promised support. We will not stop until this exploitation is ended.
No public employee should be on public assistance, and all bargaining unit work should be covered by the contract. Thanks for the inspiration!
— Jeff Strottmann
Vice President at Large
Local 12 (Council 61)
Iowa City, Iowa
Last Schooner to Buckley
Public Employee seems to concentrate on topics in the East, Midwest and Los Angeles. Please know that the covered wagons made it this far west. Washington state does exist!
Your lack of coverage of labor issues in the Pacific Northwest is frustrating. Please think about expanding and discovering us in the labor ranks out here.
If you hurry, I think you can catch the last prairie schooner!
— Patty Holyan
Local 491 (Council 28)
Buckley, Wash.
TO OUR READERS
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Washington, D.C. 20036-5687
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