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Letter to the editor Journal Gazette
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As a city department head, I have worked very closely with union members since 1993. We have encountered floods, ice and snow emergencies. Our union members always work as a team. They each know their job and they get the job done. They do this with an emphasis on quality and public safety. Again and again they have protected our neighborhoods and businesses in a crisis.
To accomplish this, they are subject to being called out in the middle of the night in frigid weather. They do this without complaint. They work 12-hour shifts. Sometimes longer. Sure, they get paid, but they endure so much more than the public realizes. Our union members are all too familiar with throwing 50-pound sandbags for hours on end to erect temporary dikes to protect homes from flooding. When their shift is up, our union members return to the flood control center satisfied that they have made a difference for their community. They take pride in the work they do. This is important to union members. They make these sacrifices for us.
Their espirit de corps depends upon their mutual and supporting belief in quality and in serving the community. You don’t get this from a workforce composed of employees who “found a job” as a political appointee based merely on their acquaintance with some politician.
I am opposed to any efforts to take collective bargaining rights away from our dedicated city employees. The public should join me in opposing any attempts to remove these rights from our unions.
KIMBERLY A. STIER New Haven
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