Negotiate health benefits

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United Teachers of Lowell president Paul Georges' letter to the editor on Feb. 18 stating that health-insurance benefits should continue to be negotiated with unions hit the nail right on the head!
The federal mortgage companies, the giant banking and credit-card industries, the Wall Street barons, the greedy oil companies, and the Ponzi scheme mutual-fund managers have all greatly contributed to our current fiscal meltdown. On a more local level, the Big Dig in Boston and the Tsongas Arena are examples of a bottomless pit for taxpayers. But, who does The Sun and the Massachusetts Municipal Association choose to rail on? The middle-class city workers (police officers, firefighters, teachers and our underpaid public-works employees).
Throughout the years we have all given up pay raises, had pay freezes, given up longevity, shift differential pay or settled for a reduced raise in exchange for keeping our hard-won health benefits. Negotiating in good faith (mutual giving and taking) is a two-way street. To give city or town managers unilateral dictatorial authority without any union negotiations is absurd. Is this Russia?
As city retirees, our health-insurance benefits are directly affected by any proposed change to union negotiations. Many of our members have paid five or six decades into our current health plan (Blue Cross/Blue Shield) and to replace it with the state's inferior plan is blatantly unfair. Our association strongly backs the United Teachers'

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union stance and thanks Paul Georges for a well-written and factual letter to the editor. We hope all the other local unions will join us in solidarity.
GEORGE E. RYAN,
president
JOHN P. MAHER, vice president
Greater Lowell Retired Police Officers Association