Unions necessary to ensure fair treatment
To the editor:
In response to the Sunday letters regarding boycotting casinos that have Culinary union representation:
Union representation is necessary for workers to earn a decent wage and to be treated fairly by casino owners. I am from a union-friendly state. I was always represented by the union. I had a 40-hour work week, paid holidays and cost-of-living increases in my wages. I now have a pension that allows me to live a fairly decent middle-class lifestyle.
The complaint from the letter writers was that no working person wants to pay a union boss a high salary. What about the working person letting casino owners such as Steve Wynn and Sheldon Adelson become billionaires while the casino worker receives a salary a little above the minimum hourly wage?
I will continue to support those casinos that are represented by the Culinary union and will boycott Station Casinos if they prohibit union representation.
Jan Vaughn
Las Vegas
Ticket factory
To the editor:
Recently, on my way to work, I witnessed a Las Vegas constable pull a car over for a traffic violation out of the many of us who were doing 8 mph over the speed limit on U.S. Highway 95. We now also have Clark County School District Police off campus and American Indian tribal police literally off the reservation serving up traffic tickets.
Recently, we have witnessed the relatively new tactic of multi-jurisdictional police gangs using radar positioned on top of highway overpasses, then instructing dozens of officers waiting on the adjoining onramp whom to ticket.
This is basically a ticket factory. These tactics and the expansion of jurisdictional police powers are further proof that traffic tickets are now just another way to squeeze ever more money from the general populace. This has little to do with public safety. The freeway is the safest way to travel by any analysis.
How about more enforcement of red-light runners, left-lane blockers and aggressive drivers? These are statistically proven safety issues and should be the focus of traffic enforcement.
Brian Covey
Las Vegas
Insurance costs
To the editor:
Americans need to understand responsibility.
Insurance wasn’t designed to pay all of your claims without cost-sharing expenses. Imagine being able to purchase insurance that allows you to grocery shop. Everybody would be eating “surf and turf” daily.
It’s unrealistic to believe we should expect our government to provide our every need. Whatever happened to pride and independence?
Co-pays, deductibles and co-insurance were designed to regulate premium costs. Insurance carriers enable us to see our doctors affordably. Just review your next “explanation of benefits” and see how your insurance company discounts your charges. This is one of the major issues America looks past when discussing the “big, bad insurance carriers.” They pay reasonable and customary fees. This also ensures doctors are getting paid and will have access to a larger number of patients.
Medicare continues to reduce reimbursements, and doctors are saying, “Enough.” They cannot continue to practice free medicine.
Can you afford to work without compensation? That’s not a selfish act, it’s survival.
Patrick Casale
Las Vegas
