My wife and I, now senior citizens, managed union members during our work lives and also belonged to unions at times. My wife knows how tough AFSCME can be. We both want to applaud its willingness to help save jobs by adjusting workers’ wages (“ AFSCME agrees to concessions: Workers sacrifice pay to maintain city services ,” June 4). I wonder why Essentia cannot do that for its employees who are threatened with job losses.
I read about the police union in Minneapolis and its desire to defend the officers fired following George Floyd’s death. When you appear to slowly suffocate someone and it is shown on international media, I don’t know what defense you could dream up. When you show citizens shouting at the police, but three other officers stand by, the evidence seems pretty clear. I can’t help wonder had it been four black men with a white man on the ground. I think the four would have been taken away in handcuffs and immediately charged.
Like everything else in life, there are good people and bad people, good unions and those not so good.
Jerry Carroll
Duluth
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