Below we post a selection of recent letters sent by workers in the US.
To whom it may concern,
What is going on? Do you have to be homeless without a dime in your pocket to qualify for Medicaid? I’ve found plenty of programs for children (thank God); my two boys are covered. My husband, children and I were dropped by Medicaid due to my husband’s “huge income” (caseworker’s exact words) of $2,400+ a month. This is ridiculous. These programs for children should be there. Don’t children need their parents? At this rate mine aren’t going to have any. There has to be something out there that’s right for us. Please help!
T
9 January 2002
The following letter was written in response to an article on the WSWS about residents in two Australian communities joining a class-action suit against Pasminco, the world’s largest zinc producer [“Hundreds of residents register for class action against lead smelter pollution in Australia”]
To whom it may concern:
We need help here to fight the same zinc company, Pasminco zinc, that is also making us very sick. We have been fighting them for 23 years now with the same problems. They too have made friends with the EPA [Environmental Protection Agency] so they will look the other way. Cancer is rampant here, learning disabilities and leukemia, etc. Please we need your help. Maybe you can get these lawyers to contact me as soon as possible. I swear this is the same exact stuff going on in my home town. Our trees are dying, animals. They are buying up land here around them and letting people who work for them lease the homes.
These people are liars and crooks. They even have the local newspaper in their back pockets, for one of the men on the industrial board runs the newspaper. The head of the industrial board worked at the zinc plant. [Dr. David] Rice, who is in Australia, was the one who ran ours here for years; he got EPA to look the other way. His wife was a senator here in Tennessee. Papers on air, water and soil data are supposedly missing. We are still trying to track all this data. Any and all help from you will be appreciated.
Thank you,
NL
Clarksville, Tennessee
9 January 2002
Some members of Local 2162 are ready to speak out against the local and international union. We have many stories to tell. We pay union dues and are treated so unfair in the work place. Some of our leadership have had the audacity to tell us they don’t care if we seek outside representation. They feel they can treat us any way and nothing can be done about it.
We want to join other UAW members that are speaking out against the local and international union.
We are happy to read the articles from other locals regarding the corruption within the union. It is obvious it comes from the top. Some stories are unbelievable.
Please contact me. Sincerely,
Local 2162 member
Reno, Nevada
10 January 2002