Mary Ruth Metcalf – 1/1/06

This page was last updated on January 3, 2006.

Don’t blame the unions; Mary Ruth Metcalf; Beaver County Times; January 1, 2006.

Below is a detailed critique of the subject letter.

“I read the letter from Paul Dici from Dec. 15 (‘Put the blame on unions’), and it truly filled me with anger.

“Of course, I do not know the B&W employees the writer speaks of, but I know many many B&W retirees. My husband is one of them.

“He worked in Koppel for B&W for 25 years. He worked when he wasn’t feeling well because we needed the money.

“All the men he worked with endured terrific heat in the summer and cold, drafty conditions in the winter. He was exposed to many asbestos products during this time.

“They worked many four-day work weeks and struggled through strikes with no benefits or unemployment. Because he is an honest man and valued his job, he never brought anything from work but a tired and dirty body and an empty lunch bucket. He worked on a machine for incentive and worked hard. Yes, he knew someone who took something - wooden pallets that were to be burned. That man was fired.

“I prefer to think people are honest and willing to give a full day’s work for the opportunity to have a well-paying job with benefits. Don’t paint everyone with the same tar brush.

“Although the men took many concessions, pay cuts, less vacation time, fewer paid holidays and less insurance coverage, the mills still closed.

“Don’t blame the unions for the stagnant economy. There is a lot more that causes the mills to close.”

[RWC] What stagnant economy? While the local and state economies aren’t exactly booming, the national economy is and has been for at least a couple of years. For example, unemployment is at 5.0%; that’s below the average for the 1970s, 1980s, and 1990s. The blame for the lackluster local and state economies lies with us.

“Our government built new factories overseas as recovery and aid to certain countries. This put this country’s mills toward being obsolete.

“Did our government ever come to the aid of the steel mills? Positively not. It saved all its money to bail out the airlines.”

[RWC] Where does Ms. Metcalf get her information? To the best of my knowledge, the U.S. government hasn’t funded foreign development that would compete with U.S. businesses. The immediate post-World War II period may be an exception, though I’m not sure.

Regarding the question, “Did our government ever come to the aid of the steel mills?”, her answer was flat wrong. The latest example was in 2002 when President Bush imposed duties on imported steel. For the record, I didn’t support that move for a couple of reasons. First, it’s not government’s business. Second, in forcing domestic steel consumers (auto manufacturers, appliance manufacturers, et cetera) to pay more for steel than their foreign competitors, import duties put domestic steel consumers at a competitive disadvantage. These actions always have ripples throughout an economy.

“Although he and I totally disagree on this matter, that is fine. This happens in the United States, and I, for one, wouldn’t have it any other way.”