This is in regard to the cartoon that appeared in the Sept. 18-19 BDN, referring to state employees as ants. I could make this short and sweet and make the statement that just because we have been stepped on, smashed and ground into the ground like ants, we do not need to be called or referred to as ants.

I will resist going into what the state employees have given up as it has been addressed many times and most recently last week in an article.

I do want to let you, the taxpayers, know that we state employees are taxpayers also. You tend to forget that. We have proven that we want the state to balance the budget. You should be elated that you have the unions out there working for you.

I have been on the MSEA contract bargaining team for the last two contracts. The 1989-92 contract was broken by the state. Why? Because our governor either lied to all of us or he mismanaged our funds. You figure it out. Both are deplorable.

The bargaining team was called back to the table in January 1992 to re-negotiate our health benefits. The union found their few million dollars. It took us only a few days but it took one whole month to get it through to them. We ended up tabling it until June. …

Again in June of 1992, MSEA offered the state a status quo contract for the next year. …

To keep us busy, they gave us countless insignificant things to work out for them that did not amount to a hill of beans because they went into the round file. In the long run we went status quo, but it cost us a lot of tax money.

We have been treated like ants and now the NEWS seems to think we are ants, but I will tell you one thing, we know where our next meal is coming from and it is not going to be hot dogs. Nancy D. Drake Bangor