If the Workers at DHL Had Accepted Union Representation

Any candidate for public office should, endeavourWe trust the bank in this case, themselves a
to respond to each and every one of the emails,recipient of bail-out money, will move to correct
comments and letters that they receive in athis situation post haste.
thorough as well as in a timely manner. Due toBy far, the largest single subject of the
the nature and subject matter of some ofcommunications that come in to a campaign
requests one is not always able to do so.office in the middle of a recession concern
One should also endeavour to demonstrate anemployment, or the lack thereof.
ability to perform the most important function ofOne series of letters from a labor group suggests
an elected representative, and that is to serve.that if the workers at DHL in Wilmington, Ohio
Service to all constituents is a vital part of bothhad accepted union representation they would
running for office and is the essential purpose forhave received two and one-half years severance
being in office.pay, as did the GM workers, rather than the six
For example, the case of a disabled person onmonth severance package they received. It is
Social Security who agreed to have his benefitsalso suggested that State of Ohio negotiators,
paid on a debit card. A local bank advertised thatthose who were ostensibly negotiating on behalf
if he banked with them the use of the debit cardof workers knew at the time of the union
was free. So he withdrew money once a weekelections that DHL was curtailing its Wilmington
to buy groceries, and once a month to pay hisoperation, and actively campaigned to defeat
utility bills and rent, six times in all each month.union representation at the Wilmington Airborne
After six months the bank wrote him that hesite.
was overdrawn and would be charged $8 a dayIf so, this is a matter for the Department of
until the matter was settled. The first call fromJustice to unravel.
the bank was received after the account hadMembers of the business community in the DHL
been overdrawn for 10 days. This individual keptaffected area have written asking why, Lee
very good records and had not spent more thanFisher, one of the principal negotiators, knowing
he had deposited.that the loss of 8,000 jobs would have dire
He was told he owed the bank about $170 dollarsconsequences for businesses in the area did not
up to that date and an additional $8 a day untilnegotiate some form of assistance for businesses
the overdraft paid. Bewildered he went to theaffected by the rather abrupt closing of DHL's
bank where he was informed that the free useWilmington operation?
of the debit card was only for the first use eachOther letters concern such topics as the energy
month, and after the first use there was a $3situation, oil, the rising costs of education,
charge for every transaction.foreclosures, mortgage fraud, the wars, and jobs,
How this had come about? Although this matter isjobs, jobs.
still being investigated, it appears that a number ofTo all those to who continue to write their elected
banks convinced the Social Security Administrationofficials and candidates for office, insist that your
that it would be cheaper to load social securityinquiries are dealt with to the best of the ability of
payments onto debit cards rather than thethe official or candidate to investigate the matters
traditional check in the mail, deposit and checkyou raise and respond to you with real answers
clearing system.to your questions.
However, at no time did the banks inform the"Everyday Expect a Miracle' by Butch Peelle. It is
Social Security Administration that they intendednot just the story of one person's journey from
to charge social security recipients a fee each anda dirt farm to prominence, but it is the enduring
every time, save the first time they used theand endearing story of a people who will not be
card each month. There are ten's of millions ofdefeated, it is the story of the American people.
social security recipients using the debit cardTogether we can make a difference.
system.