LETTERS: UNIONS CONTRIBUTE MEMBERS' MONEY

To the editor:

Alan R.P. Journet, in his Aug. 7 letter regarding the comparability of vote buying in Southeast Missouri to political contributions by corporations and corporate trade associations, blithely zooms by the same type of contributions by many labor unions to the Democratic Party and individual Democratic candidates for office. Further, many of these contributions are made against the wishes of some union members.

The fact is, the money the corporations contribute belongs to the corporations. It is part of the profit earned by the corporation providing a product or service. The money the union bosses contribute is not their money. It is the property of the union members who should have the option to contribute or not contribute to any candidate or party. A union member who tries to retrieve his money to contribute to a cause or person of his choice can be made to feel most uncomfortable in his union.

I agree that it is not always a healthy situation when contributions are made in order to bring pressure to bear for either the legislative or executive branch to perform services for the contributor that are not in the nation's best interest. The best evidence of this is the present administration's being a bought and paid for servant of Big Labor. Time after time the Clintonites have twisted laws, rules and regulations to torturous degrees in order to accommodate some wish of the Big Labor bosses.

Please don't think that I am anti-union. I have always been a member of the appropriate union or association whether or not membership was mandatory. I don't think that unions should be barred from contributing money that members voluntarily give for this purpose. I do not believe that the members' money should be used against their will, or that they should be pressured to give to a candidate or cause that they do not support.

JERRY MITCHELL

Jackson