Shameful ad

The full-page political ad (BDN, Sept. 30) featuring an angry “Rosa, Laundry Worker,” proclaiming, “The Union Intimidated Me” along with the scariest photo of Tom Allen ever dredged up is shameful.

I have been self-employed most of my working life and have never been a member of a union. But I support the right of the working people, especially those working for large corporations for low wages and few or no benefits, to form unions to improve their lives.

I suspect that intimidation, threats and firings are more likely to come from the employer than union organizers. The world’s largest retailer, Wal-Mart, maintains squads of union busters ready to move into any store at the least sign of trouble. The top executives of these corporations pay themselves millions of dollars a year, but are unwilling to share profits with the people on the floor.

The bill the ad refers to, and Allen supports, would automatically establish a union as soon as a majority of the workers sign a membership card. The problem in the past is that corporations have been able to postpone elections almost indefinitely and in the meantime push out objectionable employees. Shame on them for smearing Tom Allen because he stands up for working people.

Gene Bryant

Palermo