Specter selling out

Sen. Arlen Specter ended speculation as to his support for the Employee Free Choice Act ("Specter to Deliver Key Vote Against Unions," March 25). His decision not to support the legislation is a dramatic departure from his previous position (he co-sponsored the bill in 2003 and voted for cloture in 2007). It shows that he is now more concerned with pandering to an increasingly out-of-touch Republican minority and their corporate backers -- who will be very important during his primary campaign -- than on enacting common-sense policies to rebuild our struggling middle class and get our economy back on track for Main Street workers, not just Wall Street financiers.

Much like our economy, the system for forming unions is out of balance. A young mother who works in a nursing home making $10 an hour can lose her job for trying to organize a union so she can have decent health care for her family; meanwhile Wall Street bankers who gambled away our pensions and retirement savings not only get to keep their jobs, but get rewarded with huge bonuses -- paid for by that young mother, and me, and you.

I'd say it's time to take a hard look at our priorities and level the playing field for working people, which is exactly what the Employee Free Choice Act does. I urge everyone to contact Sen. Specter and tell him to put working families first.

 

ERIN GILL
Fineview