The following are excerpts of a letter-to-the editor that appeared in the Lancaster (Pa.) New Era on Sept. 4, 2000. It was written by Donald Felty of Lititz, Pa., and titled “Not All Members of Unions Will Vote Democratic.”
“The place where I work is a closed union shop, represented by the United Steelworkers of America, of which I am a member. On the union bulletin board are several papers bashing Texas Gov. George W. Bush. One claims that Bush’s plan to let people invest a small portion of their Social Security funds in the stock market will result in dire consequences. Another paper claims that Bush is against the minimum wage, against better education, how bad off working families in Texas are, and how Texas dropped from 29th to 48th in state rankings of the best state in which to raise a child.
…So, where were all these poor, working families when Bush won his second term? Did these great masses of poor, working Texans lose their cars and were too weak from near starvation to walk to the polls to vote against Gov. Bush? According to this union propaganda, Bush should have lost big on his second run.
The fact is that this union crap is nothing but Democrat-union lies and distortions. There is not one thing posted about Al Gore’s criminal fundraising activities of 1996, or about his extremist environmental beliefs. This scene is repeated in every union shop in the country.
Union leaders at the national and international levels are in bed with, and in lockstep with, the Democratic Party. The unions project and want other people to believe that all union members are lapdog Democrats. Nothing could be further from the truth. I know many people where I work that will vote for Gov. Bush in November.
Right now, the overpaid union bigwigs use a portion of members’ dues for political purposes, which are to help Democrats. They do this without asking members’ permission. Republicans want to pass a law, which would force unions to get permission from each member, and the unions are desperately afraid of such a law. Union Democrat bigwigs, obviously, don’t think that too many members will give them permission to keep this thieving racket going. They are right. Democrats have been waging war on our individual rights for decades, and many, if not most, union members would not give permission.
Our individual rights and our heritage of freedom made America great. Democrats are putting these freedoms at risk. The most important word in the title “United Steelworkers of America” is America. I, and other freedom-loving union members, want to keep America free. We will vote for George W. Bush.”