To the editor,

I completely disagree with Dr. Walter Block’s column “Unions don’t guarantee fair wages.”

I worked for two different A&P companies. I worked for Waldbaum’s back home in New York and also in Sav-A-Center here in New Orleans. Waldbaum’s had a union. The union there defended the rights of the employees and ensured that proper benefits were given to them. The employees of Waldbaum’s recieve health benefits, retirement packages, and also a fair wage.

However, when I worked in Sav-A-Center, it was completely different. Sav-A-Center does not have a union. Employees work more than 12 hours per day and do not earn overtime. According to Prof. Block’s formula, the cashiers of Sav-A-Center should be earning a wage comparable to that of the difference of the cost of each item they check out. This means that if one cashier’s total for the day was $3,000 and the cost of the products to Sav-A Center equals $2,000, that means there is a profit of $1,000. The cashier earns $8 per hour. According to the formula, $8 per hour is not a fair wage.

It is also normal for cashiers to bring in that amount of money in one day. Furthermore, multi-million dollar companies such as A&P could afford to pay their employees fair wages if the CEOs and board members did not give themselves million dollar bonuses. Maybe then, unions might not be so necessary.

Daniel Lamparter

History junior