LETTER: ‘Free’ stuff undermines the labor movement

Wages. Hours. Working conditions. The tenets of unionism. I have spent more than 50 years as a union member and more than a decade as a union officer for one of America’s largest unions. Health care is a negotiated item as part of the wage package. Any universal health care proposal undermines the collective bargaining of the union and its members.

For example, if the feds allow a 50 percent health care package, do you envision union companies refunding that savings to employees?

Free college is also an attack on the skill training of union apprenticeship programs. These programs are often offered at no cost to students and are state-of-the-art. Most accept zero government money.

Wages. Hours. Working conditions. Unions are not social clubs. They are businesses. Free health care and free college undermine organized labor and its history of supporting working people. Remember, the first step in socialism is to eliminate the unions. Don’t be fooled.