Letter: Fight attack on collective bargaining

My son is a paramedic. He saves lives and heals people in emergency situations. He's there when we need him, just like nurses, teachers, police officers, social workers and firefighters. Working people deserve a voice on the job, a say in their conditions of employment. When they get together with their workmates, they have the power of a union, a power to make change and improve society from the shop floor to the floor of the U.S. Senate.

The union gives my son the ability to earn enough money to achieve the American dream. He can afford a house, a car, a dog. He can plan for the future. He can build community at work, stand up to injustice and bargain for safe conditions. The union means so much to many workers. More of us should have the ability to organize and expand the middle class. Instead, politicians and their rich corporate cronies want us to have less. We'll, we've been squeezed enough. It's time to fight back.

Unions are under attack because they are a cornerstone of the middle class, a cornerstone of our democratic society. When our free and independent unions were at their peak in America - working people were better off, had more security, more time and resources to give back to their communities. Call your state representative and state senator. Tell them that workers in Iowa should have security and protection. Unions matter. Collectively bargaining matters. Fight the attack on collective bargaining.

Melinda Altman

Ames

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