So-called right-to-work advocates show their true colors
September 3, 2013 6:06PM
The Highland Park City Council is kick-starting a discussion of how to treat marijuana growing and dispensing facilities under the city’s zoning code. | File photo
Updated: September 4, 2013 2:22AM
A Sunday op-ed column by the “nonpartisan” Illinois Policy Institute pushed anti-union “right-to-work” laws. But Wikipedia describes the IPI as “conservative.” Its own mission statement stokes “fear of government interference,” an anti-regulation Tea Party buzz phrase. And on the IPI’s own home page, three of its top five news links are dedicated to union-bashing.
In 1970, nearly 30 percent of non-government U.S. workers enjoyed union protection. Today, it’s below 7 percent. One big reason has been “right to work” laws — pushed by corporate-funded “nonpartisan” front groups like IPI.
Anthony J. Sterbenc,
Barrington
The pendulum is swinging toward legalizing marijuana, for medical use, or for recreational use.
I don’t think marijuana use should be a crime, but I am anti-smoke pollution. I hope the same restrictions limiting where cigarette smokers can legally pollute non-smokers’ lungs will also apply to weed smokers.
Marie Anderson, La Grange
Now that Labor Day has come and gone, as we celebrated the working men and women of this country, let’s not forget about the teachers, administrators and especially children who labored in unbearably hot Chicago Public Schools last week, because of Mayor Emanuel’s unilateral edict that schools start earlier — one week before Labor Day.
This past week saw near-record temperatures with a heat index reaching above 100 degrees. Most public schools do not have full air conditioning, so “back to school” has been more about keeping children hydrated and body temperatures stable, than it has been about academics. And parents remain skeptical of an earlier start date when even the University of Chicago Lab School, where the mayor sends his own children, doesn’t start until after Labor Day.
If Mayor Emanuel refuses to listen to the voices of parents, students, teachers and community members, how about listening to Mother Nature? This week, she was speaking directly to him.
Amy Zimmerman, CPS parent and child advocate
The decision to prosecute the atrocity committed by Nidal Hasan as “workplace violence” instead of “terrorism” does on the surface seem like political correctness run amok, but Steve Huntley didn’t fairly represent the Army’s reasons for the decision in his column headlined “Call Ft. Hood attack an act of terror.”
Bringing a charge of terrorism would have been impossible under the Uniform Code of Military Justice, which would have thrown the matter into the civilian courts. Although that might have worked out the same, given Hasan’s reluctance to defend himself, the outcome would have been less certain and the prosecution more complicated. Moreover, although all sympathy is due the surviving victims of the attack, it’s not clear that they would qualify for The Purple Heart, a medal awarded for “wounds received in action against an enemy,” under any circumstances.
Thomas W. Evans, Mundelein
