Donnie,

I just wanted to let you know how much I enjoyed your article, “A smile for equal time.” It hit the nail on the head as the old saying goes. The news reporter’s don’t have a clue to the fight of working class America. They would probably never print an article so positive toward working class America. I know when we were organizing here in Cleveland NC at the Freightliner Plant; the negativity towards unions shocked me. I came here from Virginia in 1989 where my dad retired from the UMWA with 33 years. I saw first hand as a child the benefits of belonging to a strong Union. When we were organizing people just didn’t want to hear it at first. This led me to call it, “The cotton mill mentality.” People saw there parents and grandparents give their lives to the cotton mills, some as much as fifty years of their lives, then retire with nothing. When they did retire the kids and grandkids had to help take care of them because most of them suffered from Brown Lung, from breathing cotton dust for so many years. I couldn’t understand how people who saw their parent’s struggles didn’t want to make a change for the better for themselves. Bottom line is that we prevailed and now have a union here in Cleveland. We have our struggles within, but inside the plant things are better, safer, and makes for a much better workplace. I am proud to have helped to organize the UAW here in Cleveland and am very proud to belong to the greatest Union in this country. Thanks for all you have done and continue to do for working class America.

Kevin D Barnett
UAW Local 3520