Following are some sample letters to the Editor - for your inspiration. Many thanks to the contributers!
LETTER #1 - 2009
Editor
Our Tri-Valley boasts so many varied religious institutions and organizations espousing the non-violent resolution of playground, domestic and political conflicts, that I’m surprised by the fact that so few of these groups participate in the monthly peace vigil in Pleasanton. Thousands attended Memorial Day rites and Independence Day celebrations. Yet only 15 to 20 take the time to walk or drive on the second Wednesday of each month to the History Museum on Main Street for the 7:00 PM vigil. We respectfully listen to the names, ages, home state of those service people whose lives were taken in the preceding month, meditate individually on their sacrifice, on the tragedy of shattered bodies and brains of both military and civilians, and wonder why we continue to support violence. A moment of silence; the playing of taps; and an opportunity to share personal thoughts follows.
We don’t pretend to know how to resolve conflicts with terrorists by non-violent means, but we believe that when a massive groundswell of peace vigils occurs in every Main Street of our nation, our leaders will be forced to work toward peaceful resolution.
Citizens of a democracy have an obligation to participate in the dialogue that produces public policy. Join us August 12th and share an important experience with your children and neighbors.
Sally Brown
LETTER #2 - 2010
Dear Editor:
What should be done to fix our nation's health care system? Well, there are many things that should be done, but I doubt if anything will work unless we first end our occupation of Iraq and Afghanistan. We must bring our troops home alive and now.
That may seem like an invalid and unconnected line of reasoning to some people, but I believe that a nation that doesn't care about its citizens being killed and maimed in foreign lands will not care enough to fix its health care system at home.
We have become a selfish, uncaring, immoral country. We are the “me” generation, interested only in what's good for “me” and not what's good for others. To fix our health care system, we must begin to care about every American citizen. We must stop killing our military citizens in foreign wars, and we must stop killing our citizens at home in economic and political wars. We must think. We must learn the difference between good and evil, and we must choose to be good.
Fred Norman
LETTER #3 - 2010 - PRINTED IN THE PLEASANTON WEEKLY 4/2/2010
Dear Editor,
We are in one of the worst recessions in our nation’s history. Many people have lost their jobs, their health insurance, even their homes. The people of Pleasanton haven’t been immune to this and many of our resident s and businesses are suffering. Our city and schools district budgets have been cut, teachers have lost their jobs, and city spending has been curtailed.
But with all the terrible stories of this recession, some rise to level of near disbelief. I recently met with a group of hospitality and service workers from Castlewood Country Club and their union representatives from Unite Here Local 2850. They had been in contract negotiations with the management of the Country Club for since September 2009. Recognizing that the Club has been having difficulty like other businesses, the workers agreed to a wage freeze and to contribute $225 per month to their family health insurance. For many years, the workers had agreed to accept lower wages in exchange for health insurance. Past management of Castlewood should be congratulated for offering health insurance to their employees in an era where it is indeed rare for workers such as these to have benefits. But as reported in this paper, the club management decided recently that negotiations were not going well, made a draconian final offer that would require employees to pay the full $739 per month for family health insurance, and then locked them out and brought in replacement workers. For workers who make on average $12.53 per hour – or roughly $2,100 a month (before taxes) for a full time employee – this is prohibitive. The Country Club may indeed be suffering revenue declines during this economy, but they have also refused to share the details of their finances with the union. They cite competitive salaries and benefits in other local businesses as justification for the offer. The workers have been locked out for over a month with no end in sight. Most of us have it pretty good in Pleasanton, but many of these workers are Pleasanton residents and cannot survive on what is being offered.
Members of the Pleasanton City Council have called on the management of Castlewood Country Club to end the lockout and re-enter negotiations in good faith with the union and the workers, but to no avail. Whatever your opinion on unions, we all owe humane working conditions and the benefits most of us now enjoy to union struggles of the past. In my opinion, it appears that management is trying to break the union. If you agree that this lockout should end, please call Castlewood Board President Jim Clouser at 925-837-8969 and tell him so. My request has been met with hostility and disregard.
As my friend and supporter of the Castlewood workers Fred Norman said “the workers starve and golf continues.” Maybe if enough of us call they will listen.
