Monday, September 7, 1998

Status of labor

This year, we celebrate Labor Day and honor working families in an atmosphere of great progress and great challenge. For the first time in two decades, wages of American workers are creeping back up. Our economy is up, consumer confidence is up, while unemployment, inflation and interest rates are down.

Since last Labor Day, the labor movement has made remarkable progress. We recruited hundreds of thousands of new members and beat back efforts to downgrade working people by corporate giants like United Parcel Service, General Motors and Bell Atlantic.

But, while corporate executives are taking home scandalous pay packages and employers enjoy record profits, workers are taking home flattened paychecks, losing their healthcare and pension coverage and seeing their first-rate, full-time jobs turned into part-time, cut-rate positions. While a precious few Americans are enjoying more of the good things in life, the great majority are working more hours for less pay and missing out on even the little things - birthdays, graduations, a day at home with the family.

This Labor Day, we challenge American business and American government to honor the right of workers to join unions. We ask our allies in religion, civil rights, women's rights and academia to join us in exposing employers who violate those rights. And we rededicate ourselves to bringing the dignity, rights and respect that come only with a union contract to every worker who desires them.

JOHN SWEENEY

President, AFL-CIO

CityLink bargain

I have been a post-polio paraplegic for over 40 years. I've gone without a lot of things through the years because of my disability.

So it's a real blessing to see the city, county and state governments through the years enforce handicap laws so we have a more meaningful life.

But we as handicapped citizens have a responsibility also. We should not abuse the privileges of what is given to use.

I take the CityLink Handivan and have been very satisfied with its services through the years. If it were not for CityLink, I would not be enjoying the quality of life I've got.

Besides, where else can you get so much for a dollar?

S.J. HUDSON

AbileneTravesty of justice

The taxpayers of Texas must be made aware of the travesty being played out against them by the Texas Department of Criminal Justice and its major benefactor, the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles.

The Abilene Reporter-News Aug. 26 editorial, "Moderate tax hike needed for juvenile facility," is like burning down the barn to get rid of the rats. Why not bypass this first step with these youngsters and elevate them into the ever-expanding billion-dollar enterprise known as the Texas Department of Criminal Justice? That's what we've been doing for the last 50 years; why change things now?

By doing this we could bring them back eventually, since parole has become nonexistent, full of hatred and bitterness for authority.

The TDCJ is currently at approximately 140,000-plus and counting. You will be led to believe this is because of the "tremendous increase in parole violators being returned to prison," says Wayne Scott, director of the TDCJ. According to the Criminal Justice Policy Council, "Seventy percent of those admitted to prison in the past year are there for technical violations of their parole or probation - not for committing new crimes."

There are approximately 113 prison units in Texas, a shrine to this state's failure in the criminal justice venture. Everything you read says crime is down, yet Texas needs more prison space.

Hopefully, by now you are asking the question, "Why?"

BILLY WAYNE BROWN

Abilene