EDITOR:
Recent events of strikes from the labour movement give us cause for concern. In P.E.I. and now in Ontario, the plumbers, pipefitters, and welders were forced to strike for better wages and benefits. During those bitter cold days, the NDP P.E.I. members came to the support of Local 721, bringing them cookies, coffee, and even cash, then walking beside them with our flag and waving for support.
The mainline of reasoning has become geared to the capitalist theory that big business and economic growth is the only goal, and that the one per cent must continue to receive all the benefits with 99 per cent dividing the rest, and also that workers should get real and understand how it works today. The young must sink into heavy debt to have a university or college education and again to own their first home, and to grow old with no pension plan. The truth is that this generation is living the world their parents created. In the 1970's, my generation had the benefits of government student loans, and houses that were affordable. Our wages were decent, and benefits were not given but fought for by unions. Our world was created by our parents who lived through depression and war brought on by capitalism run amok. The bottom line is, as social democrats, the NDP supports the unions and we deserve the support and respect in turn of unions and voters.
Lynne Thiele,
Stratford