Letter: The ultimate insider

To the Editor:

I read with interest Lauren Underwood’s full-page ad in this paper last week. She brags about her endorsements. I counted 53, not counting the individuals who paid for the ad.

Underwood is the ultimate insider. If you like what is happening today, you ought to vote for Underwood. She obviously has pleased the unions. I counted 13 of them. I’m going to comment on why the unions endorse her.

My career was in the HR field. Both my bachelor’s and master’s degrees were in industrial relations. I negotiated labor contracts. When contract negotiations is played as a fair game, the employer has good people to do the work at a price they can still make money. If a miscalculation was made or circumstances in the business change and the employer declares bankruptcy, contractual terms can be renegotiated.

Not so in the public sector in Illinois. Democratic representatives who should be representing the interest of all citizens of the state have struck a deal with the unions that make the contractual provisions inviolate under all circumstances. That means certain union employees will continue to get their negotiated package whether or not other citizens lose their home, become food insecure or go bankrupt themselves.

So far, this extreme result has been avoided due to excessive borrowing at a high interest cost due to the state’s poor credit rating. Taxes will have to be increased to pay for these union contracts.

Some other endorsements that Underwood lists look to me like organizations that want to do away with fossil fuels before suitable alternative replacements are available. We are threatened by inflation, power failures and food shortages all in the name of climate change by the leftists. Constitutional rights are routinely violated for any reason they can imagine. Some of these reasons turn out to be false but serve the agenda of the extreme left who have taken over the D party. I haven’t even mentioned the high crime rates.

Underwood makes our choice clear. She is the ultimate insider. I will vote for Scott Gryder and the other Republican candidates who represent my interests.

Rod Beary

Oswego