I just report, not necessarily agree.

This is from a conversation with someone at a township committee meeting. These are her words (transcribed from tape).

One of the things that people fail to understand about unions is their intrinsic value to the American workforce. Once upon a time teachers and firemen and policemen were paid a pittance for their invaluable service. It took the unions to come in and get them a decent, living salary. Without the unions, the public wasn't willing to give these people a quarter of what their worth, and we still have a long way to go. Take teachers, for example. The starting salary of a teacher is $42,000 and change. They have one of the most demanding and honorable jobs there is: they are shaping a generation of thinkers, workers, and taxpayers. How can they be worth less than a doctor or a lawyer? They have more impact on a larger amount of people and they are making what a manager at McDonald's makes. ... We can do better than that.

... This is the biggest problem with the automakers bailout. Everyone is blaming the unions for the downturn of the manufacturers. It's simply not the case. ... The unions provide well-paying, stable jobs for hard-working, middle-class workers who then turn around and stimulate the economy by buying houses, cars, food, goods, and services in their local communities. If those auto jobs go away, so do millions of other folks who provide for those workers. It's not just the suppliers for the automakers. We simply can't afford to let that happen.

... If we allow Americans to continue to malign the unions for this crisis, we are undermining ourselves. We cannot let American companies continue to ship jobs overseas and to keep low-paying jobs in America. We need to fight for our workers. If we let the unions take the fall for this crisis, we will be left as a second-rate country that does not provide for our citizens. We cannot continue to let the wealth only be held at the top. ... Blaming unions is not only erroneous in this situation, but it is deadly. We cannot let the workers who produce goods and services for the American consumers take the hit in their pocketbooks when CEOs and other chairmen get golden parachutes for bad management. It is NOT the greedy American autoworker or the unions. It's the greedy management.

I think it is shameful that we are blaming unions for the death of the auto industry. Where are the workers' bailouts when they are left unemployed, lose their homes and health care coverage, as well as their pensions? The financial industry is different. Those workers bilked people out of their savings and put them in homes that they could not afford. The UAW workers produce excellent-quality vehicles that keep millions of Americans happy and safe every year. Surely they are worth more than the CEOs who will benefit if the automakers go bankrupt. ... Furthermore, I am appalled that the American public cares so little about several generations of workers who gave their blood, sweat, and tears for the sake of your vanity with outstanding cars and American ingenuity. Shame on you taxpayers for not caring more about dealership down the street and . Those are invaluable members of our community who pay taxes and help keep our taxes lower. Shame on you, name of my town, for not caring more about the outstanding benefits unions bring to all of us. They provide excellent, skilled workers who are worth every penny the union organizers help get for them. No more slave labor. No more stigma of being a "day laborer." Right to our congressman and tell him that the automakers need the bailout now, for the sake of the union workers who will lose their jobs and stop being productive members of our community. Billions for the financial industry is worthless! We need real American jobs now ... don't let the unions take the blame. It could be your job next! Without unions we'd all be making $1 a day and working 14 hour days, seven days a week. Say yes to union jobs! Say yes to unions! Yes unions! Yes unions!