Pulte protest wasn’t about unions — it was about justice

To the editor:

Your Monday editorial, "Worker death camp in the desert" claims that Interfaith Worker Justice is a "union front group." Nothing could be further from the truth. Consider the following:

--IWJ's 32-member board of directors includes 24 religious leaders and just four union leaders. These religious leaders include representatives of most of the major national denominations.

--Just 12 percent of IWJ's funding comes from labor unions (the bulk comes from religious congregations, denominations and orders, foundations and concerned individuals). Contrary to the implication in your editorial, the December 2006 partnership between IWJ and the AFL-CIO allows workers' centers affiliated with IWJ to join local labor councils around the United States but does not involve any financial support.

--IWJ supports justice for workers through several advocacy and service programs, including a national network of 19 workers' centers that help workers enforce their rights whether or not they belong to unions and advocacy for worker-friendly public policies, such as a higher minimum wage.

As an independent organization of people of faith motivated first and foremost by concern for the least fortunate among us, we believe that labor unions are an important partner in supporting justice for workers. The laws that supposedly protect workers' rights are weak, and the U.S. Department of Labor is underfunded and understaffed.

As a result, we are called by our faith to shine the light of public accountability on the practices of Pulte Homes and its subcontractors. We believe that justice in this situation would be best served by Pulte adopting an ethical contracting policy that guarantees workers the right to organize unions so that they can enforce their rights and have a voice in their workplaces.

Unfortunately, I am not surprised that Pulte Homes has resorted to attacking IWJ rather than responding to our concerns. To date, the company has refused a number of requests for a meeting to discuss the issues we highlight in our report. We would welcome the chance to discuss these concerns and see whether we can develop an approach that balances the company's interests with the rights of its workers.

The Rev. Phil Tom

LOUISVILLE, KY.

The Rev. Bennie E. Whitten Jr.

CHICAGO

THE WRITERS SERVE ON THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS OF INTERFAITH WORKER JUSTICE.

Good judge

To the editor:

After reading all the comments by attorneys who denigrated Chief District Judge Kathy Hardcastle and the comments of those who held her in esteem, I have come to the following conclusion: She is one who stands tall in a city where law and order doesn't seem to be a priority ("Amid controversies, judge gets low rating," Tuesday Review-Journal).

How easy it is to put someone down in an evaluation when the accuser cannot be made to back up the statements with proof. "Rude," "conceited," "She has the charm of a crocodile." These accusations, hurled in anonymity, sound like sour grapes from attorneys who perhaps lost their cases.

To me, the comments by District Judge Stewart Bell hold much more credibility. First, we know from whence they came, a judge who has himself served as both Clark County district attorney and District Court judge. Second, these comments come from one who has received a 91 percent retention rating. Judge Bell says "Kathy takes her responsibility seriously and tries hard to make the courts the best that they can be." Can Clark County taxpayers ask for anything more?

Judge Hardcastle stood strong for the law and for the proper handling of matters of the court even though she knew that it could damage her image. Give me a judge any day who stands for truth and justice, who doesn't bow to subjective pressure, who wants the law to be followed as it was written.

Isn't that what all judges are supposed to do? May she continue to serve Clark County for years to come.

Monica Caffarella

HENDERSON

Saving the middle class

To the editor:

Your Tuesday editorial, "From each according to his ability ..." mischaracterizes Sen. Barack Obama as a "socialist" while disparaging the majority of hard-working citizens in Nevada and across America.

The infrastructure of America is dependent on a solid middle class. Social Security depends on the taxes raised from the sweat of the middle class, not from the taxes of rich corporate magnates. How many hard-working Nevadans have helped to make people such as Steve Wynn and Sheldon Adelson richer? How many of these same hard-working people are now facing foreclosure?

The editorial implies that the only hard-working people in the United States are those who are wealthy, many of whom are corporate magnates who have contributed to the erosion of the middle class by relocating jobs overseas and lobbying against health care reform.

People who were once living a solidly middle-class lifestyle have slipped or are on the verge of slipping into the lower class because their jobs have been sent overseas and they are struggling to meet the daily cost of living.

What is America going to do when there is no more middle class to keep it balanced? What is America going to do when there are just two classes of citizens: the rich and the poor?

Andrea Kato

LAS VEGAS