Letter

[Why am I having such trouble posting this? The system has a weird problem with the phrase "union member" - don't ask me why.]

Here's what I wrote to the leading Democratic candidates yesterday.

Dear Candidate,

I would appreciate hearing your position on changing our country's anti-worker "employ at will" laws. I am a hard-working, middle-class American who was recently dismissed from a job through no fault of my own. This was not a layoff or plant closing; it was personal retaliation. My former employer found it easier to fire me (and several others) than to try and solve the company's problems. They can tell their clients - and themselves - that they've made changes and the future will be different. Firing me will not magically restore the millions of dollars wasted by inefficiency, lost to cost overruns, or rebuild the client's faith in the company.

The employ-at-will statues all but encourage this sort of unethical conduct. I did nothing wrong, unless working hard and asking questions is wrong. Yet I have no legal recourse.

I was not a victim of any legally-defined discrimination and not covered by a collective bargaining contract. I'm just an average middle-aged guy whose manager didn't like him. Now I'm collecting unemployment and trying to restart my career.

I hope you and your fellow Democrats will try to strengthen worker protection laws. We are the backbone of this country, not the lobbyists and corporations who have written these labor laws.

Thank you for your attention. I wish you the best of luck in the upcoming election.

If you agree with even a small part of this, please do the same and contact someone. We can't expect change if we don't attempt to make a change.


This is likely to be the last entry in Job Hunting Idiocy. I grow weary of complaining about my situation. Starting with my next entry, I'll try to be more entertaining and less soap-box. Thanks all for reading.