Presidential strikeout: Former union contract negotiator says Biden made things worse | Opinion

Biden missteps

I negotiated union contracts for a Fortune 500 company for 25 years. I have done the calculus of creating a fair deal for workers while safeguarding organizational sustainability. I know the pressures and emotions of the bargaining table.

The Chicago Tribune editorial “Why President Biden should not have joined the UAW picket line” (Sept. 29, 7A) listed many of the same reasons I would have. Presidents have practiced neutrality in labor disputes. No sitting president has ever walked a picket line.

One important point was missing, however. By putting his thumb on the scale and endorsing the union’s 40% wage increase, Biden put both bargaining teams in impossible positions.

If the union negotiators don’t get 40%, they will be “losers” to the rank and file and find it difficult to get ratification of the final deal, whatever it contains. If the companies cannot give 40%, they will be labeled “robber barons” who don’t care about their working folks.

Biden’s reckless actions and remarks could lead to a protracted strike with the sides unable to reach a mutually agreeable deal. No skin off his nose, though; he doesn’t have to pay the freight.

- Graham Marcott, Fairway

Church repeat

When I was young, the church I was raised in forbade interracial couples to marry. For years these couples were denounced and rejected by the church. Then it changed, and interracial marriage is totally acceptable. I never heard the church apologize for the years of pain it cast on innocent couples.

Now it is not race but couples of the same sexual orientation wanting to marry who are shamed and rejected by the same church. I wonder whether 40 years from now that will change. I wonder whether the church will apologize for the shame and pain it is causing today.

History repeats itself. Will we ever learn?

- Thomas Krause, Kansas City

A losing bet

The Chiefs-Jets game demonstrated a problem with sports betting. Chiefs fans with no money on the game celebrated the team’s amazing victory Sunday night.

However, fans who bet on the Chiefs must have been frustrated by quarterback Patrick Mahomes’ decision to assure victory rather than take the minute risk of losing by scoring a touchdown that would have covered the point spread. (Oct. 2, KansasCity.com, “Patrick Mahomes’ slide was a wise move late in Chiefs’ win, but bettors were unhappy”)

If the game had been played at Arrowhead, I would not have been surprised if some fans had booed him for downing the ball inside the 2-yard line in the closing seconds. Being around fans who care more about winning a bet (point spread, over/under, etc.) than seeing their team win is a real downer for me.

- Stuart A. Lewis, Prairie Village

China syndrome

Regarding Joel Mathis’ opinion on Kansas attorney general Kris Kobach and claiming he is yelling Chicken Little (and, by the way, I did not vote for that man), maybe you would rather have him not be proactive to protect Kansas properties from being purchased by foreigners? (Sept. 28, 12A, “Kobach’s China scare tactics sound like more of the same”)

Are you suggesting we wait and hide our heads in the sand and be reactive until the Chinese have purchased the land or be proactive to prevent that from happening.

I would rather be proactive and be part of the solution instead of sitting back and taking pot shots at someone trying to be visionary or complaining about how to solve the problem after it happens.

Left-wing opinion piece.

- David L. Starks, Olathe

This story was originally published October 4, 2023 at 5:09 AM.