SECTION: METRO; Pg. 6

LENGTH: 223 words

HEADLINE: Paper has bought into anti-worker bias

BODY:
I write for all organized working people in our region. The Times-Picayune has unfortunately bought into old-fashioned anti-worker bias by applauding the Jefferson Parish president's veto of the recently enacted prevailing wage ordinance. Why not give the legislative process a chance?

Why jump aboard the labor-bashing bandwagon without your own research?

The federal government has administered prevailing wage regulations for decades through Republican and Democratic administrations.

Jefferson Parish today benefits from this national program.

This blind approach to progressive legislation mirrors what this paper has done in response to past increases in the federal minimum wage. You have also viciously attacked the New Orleans living wage and labor peace initiatives.

As President-elect Bush has said, it's time for healing. Let's think before we attack. Let's look for the positive before creating the negative. Organized labor is building a new base in our state. We do so with an eye to the betterment of the lives of working families. We too pay taxes and vote. We demand the chance to be heard first before being bushwhacked by big business and little business wannabes.
 
Robert F. Hammond III
 
Business manager
 
International Brotherhood
 
of Electrical Workers
 
Local 130
 
Metairie

LOAD-DATE: December 22, 2000