“Socialists or Capitalists?”

I’ve been a188金宝搏是正规吗subscriber for more than 50 years. As Bobby Halton said in “Socialists or Capitalists?” (Editor’s Opinion, October 2010), there’s no hard-line correlation between a person’s occupation, union membership, and a person’s politics. Back in 1966, the Santa Clara City (CA) Fire Department union [I have long forgotten the International Association of Fire Fighters (IAFF) local number] asked me to be its bargaining agent. Bargaining in those days was done with the full City Council in open session, and the Council members were reiterating the usual misperceptions about what firefighters do between fires.

The Local had been represented by someone from the Santa Clara County Central Labor Council, but the IAFF local wasn’t happy with the representation received, especially since the negotiator usually wound up agreeing with the misperceptions voiced by the Council members. So the union asked me, because they knew me as a supportive fire buff and a professional within the county. I’d never done anything like that before, but it was a challenge I felt I could meet.

Briefly, by explaining what firefighters do between fires and how what they do saves jobs, businesses, and lives within the community, I got the firefighters the biggest raises they’d ever seen.