It's handy to have a lawyer as governor

So that's Governor Cayetano's plan for our economic recovery. He's going to sue us into prosperity: a billion plus from the cigarette industry, maybe a few million from the big environmental polluters.

Hey, once a lawyer, always a lawyer.

Bernard A. Keane

Taxpayers are forced to pay union members

As an ordinary citizen and a believer in the Constitution, it is my civic duty to reply to William J. King's Nov. 20 letter, "Unions simply protect the rights of workers."

A fundamental right of any citizen is to be able to work wherever he pleases, at a job of his choosing, at a wage that is acceptable to him. Yet a union member is prohibited from soliciting a job on his own. He is told what job he can work on by his union boss, who can also move him from his current job to another without his consent.

Unions simply protect the rights of unions, and this action is generally at the expense of another group of citizens who are less well organized. Twenty-two states have passed right to work laws to protect their non-union citizens.

I doubt that anyone would disagree with King's statement that some workers do not make enough. The problem is, what can be done about it. Wages are determined by the difference in the cost of the goods and services we produce, and what we can sell them for. This places a heavy burden on both the employee and employer, and neither can succeed without the other.

The only exception to this rule, and it should not be an exception, is public employees. Their pay comes from a faceless mass of taxpayers, who are presented with a bill and have little choice but to pay. However, even faceless taxpayers eventually tire of working overtime to support, in many instances, a group of unproductive workers.

Bob Parker

Souki did good thing by relinquishing post

Finally, Joe Souki did a decent thing. He stepped down from the position of speaker when the House needed good leadership.

Calvin Say will be a good replacement, because he will be fair and not shut anyone up. He will not stop anyone in his own party or on the other side from expressing opposing views.

This change in House leadership may be one of the changes sought by the public. More reforms are needed.

Steve Uyehara
Kalaheo

Building's architecture should be made the norm

Local Motion should be recognized and congratulated for its great new Hawaiian Style store on Kalakaua Avenue. It would be great to have the classic Hawaiian look of sloping roofs, porches and open verandas become the norm.

Let's replace the mishmash that too often clutters the architecture landscape with our own distinctive Hawaiian look. Nice going, Local Motion.

Fred Hemmings

Natatorium will be underused by residents

So Mayor Harris is ready to restore the Waikiki Natatorium. Only yesterday he told us that he wants to make Waikiki more Hawaiian, more Polynesian! Ask Oahu residents how much they will use the pool, if ever. Very few used it before it was closed. I predict very few will use it tomorrow.

Barbara Hanson

Consuming turkeys spoils spirit of holiday

We live in strange times. We subsidize farmers to grow tobacco, then tax and sue the tobacco industry to recover medical costs. We subsidize the meat industry, then suffer the costs of associated medical care and lost productivity. Now we prepare to give thanks for our good life by taking away the life of an innocent animal.

Thanksgiving is about liberty, happiness and life. But the 330 million turkeys raised each year for our holiday dinner table experience none of these:

They are crammed into large sheds filled with toxic fumes from their excrement.

Their beaks and toes are clipped to reduce damage from stress-induced aggression.

After 16 weeks of hell, they are hung by their legs on a conveyer belt and beheaded by an electric saw while fully conscious.

Thanksgiving is about good health. But turkey flesh is laced with cholesterol, saturated fats, hormones, antibiotics, and deadly salmonella and campylobacter.

Thanksgiving is about sharing. But feeding grain to turkeys denies life-saving foodstuffs to millions of starving people.

Thanksgiving is about a bountiful harvest, but raising grain for turkeys depletes topsoil and groundwater that are essential to a good harvest.

On this special occasion, let us reflect on the true meaning of Thanksgiving. Let us replace the wretched, sick carcass of an innocent animal on our holiday dinner table with a wholesome, delicious, guilt-free spread from our bountiful harvest of grains, vegetables and fruits.

Let us replace misery, disease and death with happiness, health and life!

Cathy Goeggel

Young laundry strike deserves more coverage

How come the newspapers stopped coverage of the Young Laundry strike shortly after it began five weeks ago? The owner, Michael Drace, has stated that the strike is over, but the fact is that the workers are still on the picket line and not at work.

Four years ago these dedicated workers agreed to a wage freeze, giving up their pension plan and severance pay in the spirit of cooperation and to help Drace, the new owner, make a go of it. There appeared to be some basic understanding that these benefits could be negotiated. Yet a few months after the 1994 contract, Drace laid off some employees.

Most of these striking workers are family people. They want decent pay for their hard work. Many of them now, after years and years of faithful service, are still making only $6.50 an hour. Now Drace wants them to accept pay cuts, give up their sick leave and give up medical coverage for their kids. That's why they're on strike.

Is Drace going to get away with this just because the victims of his sweatshop are poor, hard-working Filipino women? Where's your moral outrage ?

This shouldn't happen in a Third World country. Shame on Michael Drace! Shame on Young's Laundry and on Jared Jossem, their union-busting attorney.

Jim Storm

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