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February 13, 2009

Letter: Time for all to sacrifice

To the editor:

A contract is a contract is a contract. Or is it?

Union contracts for years have been sealed in stone once they are negotiated and signed. It didn't matter what happened to the younger members if things slowed down and there were layoffs. Last in, first out — period.

It is time for union members to revisit this kind of thinking in these historically hard financial times. With unemployment reaching the highest level in many years, it is time for the senior union members to make sacrifices to try and save their younger members' jobs.

Today when someone is laid off from their job, the prospect of finding another is slim to none. Senior union members must step up to the plate, renegotiate contracts and save your younger members from possibly losing their homes, retirement savings and dignity.

This should also apply to non-union workers, school administrators and business executives. It is time for all Americans to tighten their belts and make sacrifices so that we will all survive this economic downturn.

Warren Gray

Hamilton

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