
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: TUESDAY, May 29, 1990                   TAG: 9005290218
SECTION: EDITORIAL                    PAGE: A6   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: 
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Short

RIGHT-WING DRIVEL ABOUT HATCH ACT

JAMES Kilpatrick's article on Hatch Act reform May 17 smacks of that same old right-wing drivel with the oh-so-familiar theme: "Say that you care about the workers and are concerned about coercion from supervisors. Tell them you are just looking out for their best interests and they'll forget all about their political repression."

Bull. I suspect it is not compassion for postal employees that motivates this viewpoint but rather the fear of 3 million hard-working men and women eagerly expressing their political views that have been so unjustly denied for so long.

There was a time when the Hatch Act was needed, but that was decades ago, and one should not be restricted from partisan expression simply because of their career choice. And yes, the Democratic Party and postal unions do share some common visions: the vision of an America where all employees are offered a fair standard of living, adequate health benefits and are regarded with dignity; an America where the workers and a company's moral behavior are as important as the bottom line.

Abraham Lincoln said: "You can't keep a man down without staying down with him." So until the political shackles are removed from all America's workers, then none of us are truly free.

\ JEFFREY S. FOUNDS\ Legislative Chairman, Branch 524 National Association of Letter Carriers\ ROANOKE

by CNB