Las Vegas Sun

March 29, 2024

LETTER TO THE EDITOR:

Unions have history of helping workers

Regarding J. Patrick Coolican’s Tuesday column, “Teacher resurrecting the past to give our students a future”:

Kudos to the Las Vegas Sun for this timely profile of history teacher Jeffrey Hinton. Mr. Hinton exemplifies the ingenuity and dedication of an engaging professor by giving kids a reason to disconnect from their electronic devices and reconnect with their not-so-distant past.

Let the 100th anniversary of the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory tragedy serve as a stark reminder of the working conditions in this country a mere century ago. The foundation of unionism is utilitarian — to ensure job safety, adequate compensation and a fair work week for all American laborers.

It is because of the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire that guaranteed minimum-wage jobs exist today. Let us heed the lessons of history and consider the folly of decimating a century’s worth of gains for a few dollars on a biennial balance sheet.

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