Union's sick leave demand would drive jobs overseas

Union's sick leave demand would drive jobs overseas
EDITOR:
I read with disgust last Sunday's Vindicator article about the attempt of the Service Employees International Union to force legislation requiring companies with 25 or more employees to grant seven sick days a year. The statement made by the union that & quot;Workers should not have to choose between a paycheck and recovery when they get sick & quot; is a prime example of the union mentality that a paycheck is an entitlement and not dependent upon work actually performed.
What is wrong with making that choice? If you are not at your job doing your assigned tasks, you are not upholding your end of the employee/employer agreement. You are only entitled to pay for work that you do and nothing more. If you are granted sick days by your employer that is considered an employment incentive, something that employer is offering you to sweeten the pot and help prospective employees decided to work for him instead of the company down the street.
The bottom line is that the Democrats and labor unions want workers to get paid for work they have not done. It's completely unfair to employers and gives employers yet another reason to choose locations other than Ohio to locate their plants in.
I can completely understand why companies in the United States are moving their operations overseas when they are faced with illogical, irrational and punitive threats to their ability to earn a profit as evidenced in this proposal. If you truly want to see the rest of our industrial base move offshore, please support the SEIU and their efforts.
RICK ROWLANDS
Hubbard
When is it time for the CEOs of companies to take cuts?
EDITOR:
Isn't it something? Here we have a company in bankruptcy (Delphi) and a judge rules that top managers are entitled to huge bonuses totaling in the millions. I have seen the same thing in the past years with the airline industry, the steel industry and the auto industry, etc.
And it's always the over paid CEOs who whine and moan that the unionized workers have to give concessions to keep the company going. You never hear one of them say "I'll give up 10 million of my 15 million salary."
Take some of the billions that they make off of their Mexican plants and other foreign enterprises and re-invest in America. When I say they, I mean businesses that close up shop in America and move to Mexico, China and elsewhere to take advantage of slave labor.
Big conglomerates who buy up businesses and cut jobs and benefits are a real problem too. For instance, the Carlyle Group that bought Wheatland Tube Co., Sharon Tube Co. and all of their affiliates. They have already flattened Wheatland's Sharon plant, putting a lot of people out of work. If top management thinks that more people have to go, then, adios, they're gone.
What the unions at each one of these plants must do is come together into one bargaining unit. Then the chances of maintaining a decent standard of living and keeping necessary benefits are enhanced. If not, what everyone will hear is "take it or leave it."
BUD McKELVEY
Hermitage, Pa.
Students:
If a gunman is in your school, save yourselves
EDITOR:
While discussing the Virginia Tech shootings with our 17-year-old, I was dismayed to learn of her school's policy if a similar event were to occur at her school. She stated that each classroom should lock the door, pull down the shades, and all students should hide against the wall so they could not be seen from the hall.
As a six-year Army M.P. and as someone who has a bachelors degree in criminal justice, I would like to offer some words of advice. In the unlikely event that an individual decides to commit mass murder, whether it be with a gun, knife, sword, baseball bat, bomb or even passenger plane, I can assure you that three things will not occur.
1. The police will not get there in time to save you.
2. A trusted adult will not be able to save you.
3. God will not be able to save you. (soul excluded)
Whether or not you survive a determined violent attacker depends on your actions and your actions alone. In this life or death situation, each person must choose whether to fight for their life or run for their life. Hiding behind a desk while an attacker reloads his weapon or waiting in the next room until the killer shows up are very poor choices.
To help protect our students, government legislation has made learning institutions gun free zones. Unfortunately, the gunman did not obey the law. (A common behavior exhibited by criminals). By denying law abiding people the right to defend themselves, the laws that were enacted to protect students actually made them more vulnerable to violent crime. Perhaps if Virginia Tech had been a mentally ill free zone, this incident would not have occurred. At least not at the school. It still would have occurred somewhere, though.
The real issue at hand is why are there mentally ill people who are obvious threats to society roaming free? Why are convicted sex offenders, pedophiles, and repeat DUI offenders still in our neighborhoods? Why do drug dealers, users, thieves, and violent criminals, keep returning to our streets? The answer is simple. Certain politicians and organizations believe that it would be a civil rights violation to remove them from society permanently.
However, to protect us from these unpredictable, potentially dangerous, lackluster citizens, these same political forces are calling for increased gun control.
Guns are banned from the Virginia Tech campus. Therefore, the government is responsible for the safety of its students. However, government was still unable to predict or prevent the attacker's irrational behavior.
Students, if you are placed in a situation like Virginia Tech, fight for your life or run for your life. Your government-run local law enforcement agency will be securing a perimeter around the area for at least 30 minutes before they even enter the building and you are on your own until then. It's not personal, it's policy.
ALAN EGGLESTON
Cortland
Safety is factor in Issue 1
EDITOR:
There are many boundaries and subdivisions in Mahoning County; each one has its own agenda and priorities to meet for the citizens of those areas. Unfortunately, crime is everywhere and a problem for the entire community.
Mahoning County is economically challenged, but it has loyal citizens who choose to live here; there is an experienced workforce, a lower cost of living than other communities in Ohio, but we have one of the highest crime rates.
Unless citizens support county government and support Issue 1 to renew the county sales tax, the county cannot provide valuable services, one of which is to provide for the safety and well being of all. The maintenance of the county jail and law enforcement services will suffer, as they always do when funds are cut. There are other valuable services as well that will be cut if the County is low on funds.
It should be up to the citizens to pass this issue. Otherwise, the commissioners will need to enact the tax to provide the services we all need to live in a safe and economically viable community. Let's not let the criminals win and take over our town.
F. GENE McCULLOUGH
Youngstown