http://www.newburyportnews.com/opinion/x1406723000/Reasons-to-be-thankful-for-unions-presence
From the Daily News....August 3, 2011
To the editor:
As an American citizen, there are many things for which I am grateful. Sometimes I get caught up in the day-to-day craziness and I forget how good my life is. I lose perspective. Then, lo and behold, something comes along that gives me a big wake-up call. The International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW) Local 103 has done just that. Therefore, I would like to give credit and thanks to the IBEW Local 103 for raising my awareness to just some of my many blessings.
Thank you for the big ugly rat that you periodically place strategically in our beautiful city for all to see. The contrast reminds me how lucky I am to live in a community rich in history, wonderful architecture, culture and natural resources. It's too bad you don't appreciate, respect and love our city the way I do.
Thank you for galvanizing our community in its support of our wonderful community hospital, Anna Jaques, and its doctors, nurses and staff. It is heartwarming to see friends, neighbors, strangers, newcomers and those with differing political views and opinions unite behind Citizens Supporting Anna Jaques Hospital.
Thank you for the excuse to stand out and hold signs again. It's been a while and I had forgotten how much fun it is to have all those cars drive by and beep their horns in support, give me a big smile and an enthusiastic "thumbs up!"
Thank you for the "teachable moments" you have given us as we explain to our children why men who don't live here get paid a lot of money to stand around all day with a banner or hold onto a rat.
Thank you for motivating me to investigate for myself your allegations and insinuations regarding the hospital where my children were born, where they have been stitched up, X-rayed, patched up, poked and tested. The facts I learned from reliable and authoritative sources supported what I already knew from first-hand experience. Anna Jaques is a model community hospital that others strive to emulate.
Thank you for your presence, as it reminds me to thank the leadership of Anna Jaques Hospital ... the board, the management, the doctors ... who had the courage to make a decision that was in the best interest of my community hospital, working to ensure that my donations to capital campaigns were well-spent.
Thank you for moving me to ask about the other subcontractors working on the construction job at Anna Jaques, as I learned they are mostly union shops. The difference between them and you was that their bids were not a couple hundred thousand dollars more than the winning bid. (I'll bet you could have bought a lot more rats with all that money. No wonder you're mad.)
Thank you for giving the residents of Newburyport and surrounding communities the opportunity to teach our children that bullying and intimidation are wrong; to be positive role models for our children, as it is important to walk the talk and rise up against those who would bully and intimidate, to stand up for what is just and fair.
Thank you, IBEW Local 103. You've accomplished a lot. You can go away now.
Suzanne Cap
Newburyport
3 comments:
I agree - I was very impressed when I read this editorial this morning.
Unfortunately, even as it helps us locally, the unions are being helped also.
According to Sal Alinsky's Rules for Radicals, the whole purpose of the union protest is to send a message to other hospitals and similar institutions that if they dare to turn down a union contract, they will suffer the same fate as Newburyport.
Therefore, the louder we protest, the happier the union.
The question is, "When does the union think its message has finally been made!?!"
In a recent editorial written by one of the union heads, there was a little light cast on their mission. Why would a hospital support non-union workers that do not get health care benefits? Isn't it the unions that supported workers' rights to those benefits? Maybe we need to ask more questions instead of protesting the protesters.
Because it's slander. The non-union contractor does provide healthcare insurance to its workers. What it doesn't do is provide 'comprehensive' healthcare.
A sly but crafty means to gain empathy.
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