The union makes us strong

America attained greatness on the shoulders of middle-class workers. When they demanded fairness, our economy flourished. They bought houses, cars and other products that kept our farms, factories and small businesses humming. This was the result of treating workers fairly. Today, as America's megacorporations consolidate economic power, small businesses are being eaten alive and our jobs are being shipped overseas. Communities are being decimated by job losses. This outsourcing is also destroying unions and impoverishing the workers they represent here in America. Indeed, we must support efforts to make our trade policies fairer for Americans, but that won't be enough. Collective bargaining sets standards for all employers to follow. Thus, nonunion workers also benefit from the collective bargaining of unions. In fact, when our economy is flourishing, small business owners benefit too. We should all be concerned. And, we should all help stop the efforts of Lansing politicians from undermining the rights of all Michigan workers to join unions and collectively bargain. —Randy Iuliano, Portage 

> Email Metro Times readers