Dear Editor:With all due respect to Roger Smith, a proclamation by Joe Biden praising unions is called "fundraising. I read with incredulity his assertion that due to the stubborn unemployment rate, this country needs more unions. ("American Workers Deserve Respect," The Downey Patriot, 9/22/11) So, public employee unions are bankrupting states and localities left and right, unions in the private sector are bankrupting private companies like GM, jobs are moving overseas because labor has become too expensive in the U.S., and Mr. Smith thinks we need more. Unbelievable! Forget about Scott Walker and what he did to save the state of Wisconsin, let's talk about an issue closer to home. Everyone knows that Ralph's, Vons and Albertsons are the priciest grocery stores in town. While I can appreciate their friendly service and clean stores, I prefer to shop at non-union stores like Food 4 Less and Fresh & Easy because their prices are affordable. Forgive my lack of sympathy for grocery workers having to contribute more to their health and retirement plans, but we, in the private sector, don't get such cushy deals. We even accepted major pay cuts due to the bad economy and said, "Well, at least we still have a job." Mr. Smith's class warfare rhetoric and encouraging a "sea of red spilling in the streets" reeks of a Marxist revolutionary, and it should come as no surprise that the Communist party often walks hand-in-hand with union workers at labor rallies. I can agree that unions once played an important role in providing balance in our capitalistic economic structure, but now that we have laws protecting workers from truly egregious working environments, unions are no longer necessary. Because of this truth, unions are getting desperate, or more specifically, high-paid union leaders are getting desperate, even resorting to thuggish tactics akin to the mob. I stand for the right of every American to negotiate what he/she thinks is fair compensation for their time and effort spent in a job. And the idea of being forced to join a union to get a job, as is the case in states without Right-To-Work laws, is simply un-American. P.S. Did I read correctly that Mayor Luis Marquez, a paid board member of SEAACA, has authorized a door-to-door shakedown of pet owners for pet licenses? Harassing people in their own homes will hardly help him win the hearts and minds of Downey residents. Someone needs to alert the ACLU, but in the meantime, my advice to residents: stop answering your door! -- Alaina Niemann, Downey

********** Published: September 29, 2011 - Volume 10 - Issue 24