Is it common practice for Congressional staff to throw away letters from constituents hoping to have their voices heard? That's what some of Sen. Arlen Specter's staff threatened to do to thousands of Pennsylvanians who support the freedom to form unions and bargain.
Specter, you'll recall, withdrew his support from the Employee Free Choice Act, choosing instead to parrot right-wing talking points. So constituents have organized and sent him letters, postcards, and demonstrated outside various and sundry of his offices. None of this is unusual. It's what constituents do so that their voices are heard.
However, his staff, who are paid to interact with such folks, don't wanna listen:
Heh. Only until the next election...Specter's staff grew increasingly aggressive at every event, Pennsylvania union members report. At Specter's Wilkes-Barre office, where union members and allies delivered thousands of letters and petitions, USW member Tim Waters reports that they were told by a staffer, "as soon as you leave your letters will go straight in the trash."
Hello? These are Pennsylvania residents whom the senator represents. This is the way you treat your constituents?
I'll just caution that this story appears to be based on the word of one union organizer. While I know of no reason to doubt the story, it is a rather convenient one politically. Specter's been none too good a supporter of unions over the years, and particularly lately. PA is a state with lots of union members and past union members.
ReplyDeleteStill, this does sound more like how our rulers really handle constituent concerns.