Letter: Union-busting states rank at bottom for median incomes

I have to take issue with the letter from Michael Scrimsher about unions not having a vital role anymore (TCH, March 2).

I was a union man for most of my 45-plus years working. I made a good wage and enjoyed lots of benefits. My retirement is from the union. My very good health insurance is from my union-sponsored health trust. I wonder how many nonunion companies, in this state, provide as good a benefit package as I received from my company.

Mr. Scrimsher was especially excited about Wisconsin becoming a right-to-work state. What he didn't say is that the Republican governor ran on a bust-the-union platform. His Republican buddies in the House and Senate helped push the legislation through. Not a good day for workers in Wisconsin.

One reason might be that 11 of the bottom 16 states, as far as median income goes, are right-to-work states. It’s curious that all of the right-to-work states have Republican governors and most of the state machinery is Republican controlled. Union-busting big businesses, in those states, have to be very pleased with the results.

Most businesses aren’t philanthropic by nature, so without union representation, I suspect their standard of living is heading down, down, down.

This story was originally published March 20, 2016 at 12:21 AM with the headline "Letter: Union-busting states rank at bottom for median incomes."