Letters
‘Don’t Fire the Workers; Fix the System’
I have read that Gov. Jeb Bush wants to cut Florida state employees’ jobs because they are supposedly not competent and because he thinks privatization will save the day. I’d like to know what private company requires one employee to handle finances for more than 3,000 clients a year; know federal and state policies; deal with stressful clients on a daily basis, trying to give them hope because life has knocked them down.
State employees like me have to play the roles of accountant/bookkeeper, counselor, investigator and social
worker. The roles change with each new person you see. I’m one of these employees (in the public assistance office), and I work with others every day: single-parent, one-income households making less than $25,000 a year, with no prospect of a decent raise — even though they’ve given over 10 years of dedicated service.
State workers play a dual role: taxpayers as well as employees. That makes them take pride in their work: Their money pays their salary. And it’s not the employees who need to be fired; it’s the system that needs to be fixed.
Is this welfare reform? I thought that was for the clients to become self-sufficient, not for the state employees to become welfare recipients.
— Salandra Benton-Hanna,
Local 3040 (Council 79),
Titusville, Fla.
Advocating for ‘Sharps’ Safety
I have been a registered nurse for the past 25 years. Three years ago, I was stuck by a needle at work. Even though everything turned out fine, there was of course anxiety, and for one year I had to be tested for HIV and the hepatitis C virus. The experience taught me that needlestick prevention must be a top safety concern in the workplace.
The latest statistics show that health care workers suffer between 600,000 and 800,000 "sharp" injuries per year in the United States. How many have not been as fortunate as I was? All nurses, technicians and health care workers who come in contact with needles in their job need to be aware of how to prevent needlestick injuries and to have the safest equipment available.
This concern should be brought to the bargaining table during local negotiations. We all need to be advocates for increasing needlestick safety in the workplace for our union members. Those interested might examine the relationship our unit has developed with Kaiser Permanente here in California.
— Mary Ann Martin, RN,
United Nurses Associations of California/
Union of Health Care Professionals/Local 1199,
Harbor City, Calif.
Give All Political Views
I was perturbed by the November/December cover showing busts of Gore and Bush. Where were the other can-didates? I am a believer in the Green Party, and I did some work locally for Ralph Nader for President. In your Voters Guide and other campaign coverage, why weren’t his issues represented?
By ignoring minority parties, you are telling members that only two political parties count. How wrong! Labor unions are in the minority, so how can you possibly ignore minority views? Unions ought to have all views represented.
AFSCME is corporate oriented. For example, it opposed NAFTA but supported Clinton who was for NAFTA. This corporate direction has hurt labor unions.
— Genevieve Kortes,
Local 313 (Council 28),
Vancouver, Wash.
Supreme Politics
The Supreme Court, a judicial institution, became a political institution when it defined the loser of the recent Presidential election. The court’s action was inappropriate because the functions of judge and politician are incompatible: The judge resolves conflicts; the politician allocates resources. To mix the two is like mating a donkey and a horse to produce a mule — which is always sterile.
In the Florida votes case, the court did not examine any evidence — not even one ballot — to test the validity or reliability of procedures used by various counties in evaluating "voter intent." Instead, it produced an unsigned writ that sidestepped the basic issue of voter and states rights. The court lacked the courage to pass the decision to the qualified decision makers: the politicians.
Like the mule, in other words, the court demonstrated barrenness in serving as the so-called impartial guardian of our social and moral values. If it continues to exercise political functions, our democracy will be slowly but surely eroded.
—Hirobumi Uno, Ph.D.,
Retiree Chapter 152,
Honolulu
‘If There Had Been a Union...’
So glad to read in the January/February issue that AFSCME is making an effort to organize Head Start workers. One of our Head Start programs here in Washington state got a new director a few years ago and began to slowly replace nearly all the employees. Many had years of experience.
Some of them were outright fired; others were given such a difficult time that they had to leave. One hired a lawyer but was unable to win: The contracts were renewed yearly, so the director had the option not to renew them. If there had been a union, maybe some of these workers would have been treated fairly.
— Joan B. Rabb
Retiree Chapter 10
Sedro Woolley, Wash.
