Letter to the editor: Support PLAs, and support a living wage

As a longtime resident of Cloquet, I would like to encourage the city council to retain the project labor agreements. I wonder if the men who think union dues are such a burden know how many of the things they take for granted — overtime pay, the 40-hour week, paid vacations and so on — were the result of union action in the past and that, at one time, men died for the opportunity to unionize.

Ronald Reagan tapped into the same pool of ill-informed Americans that Trump did. Celebrity, to this group, is the only qualification that counts. Reagan’s popularity allowed his handlers to push through legislation which made it possible to break the big labor unions.

The breakup of the unions was directly related to the rightward shift of the Democratic Party which so incenses the progressive wing now. Unfortunately, our system of government runs on money, and without the support of those big unions, they are forced to get that money elsewhere. Of course, this money is tied to their policies.

It is true that there were shortcomings with the big unions, just as there is with the PLAs. However, paying a living wage is not a burden, it’s an obligation. If everyone recognized that, there would be no need for a union. Jeff Bezos is sitting on his billions while he fights unionization in his company. Bezos, and many like him, would gladly accept slave labor if he could get it.

Since we can’t seem to get a grip on reforming our corrupt system of government, the very least thing we can do is to support organized labor whenever we can, even if it involves a little pain.

If having only one contractor drives the price up, then what is needed is effective negotiations. If the contractor is willing to pay his employees a living wage, then he should also have enough public spirit to not attempt to gouge a windfall profit out of his government.

Kenneth Johnson,

Cloquet