Jul 12, 2015 2 min read

While I may agree with some of the conclusions in your Tuesday editorial regarding the budget stalemate in Harrisburg, I disagree with your assumption that liquor privatization is good for all Pennsylvanians.

If the system of state stores were to be privatized, it would result in the loss of about 4,700 good, family-sustaining jobs. The loss of jobs wouldn’t be limited only to unionized employees. The fact is, the Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board has a variety of employment classifications that are not represented by organized labor, such as managers, safety and clerical employees. While job training assistance would be made available to those losing their lifelong careers, the reality is, even after that training, the very best a middle-aged clerical worker, clerk or managerial employee can hope for is to secure two or even three part-time, minimum-wage positions.

I can remember when the steel and mining industries were booming. But, instead, the Liquor

Control Board employees, at that time, opted to go to work for far less pay, and fewer benefits, for the long-range security of jobs they could enjoy until they were able to retire.

The question is: Why are so many of us so quick to condemn someone for having the foresight to want a good, family-sustaining career? Is it because we’ve become so jaded by our lot in life that we can’t be proud and happy for those in public-sector employment? Is it because we’re resigned to the fact that, because wages and nenefits are so stagnant in the private sector, that we wish the same hardships on everyone?

Barry L. Andrews

Washington

Andrews is the president of the Washington-Greene Central Labor Council.