County Board Endorsement

By stating (“Vision and Courage,” editorial, Jan. 27) that your decision to endorse Los Angeles City Councilwoman Gloria Molina was based mainly on the fact that state Sen. Art Torres (D-Los Angeles) has the support of most of organized labor, you succumbed to hackneyed cliches and unfairness.

First the facts: All four of the top candidates came to the Los Angeles County Federation of Labor, AFL-CIO, for labor’s endorsement. Torres was endorsed not only by the county employees you apparently fear, but by almost every labor organization within our federation. Torres was endorsed not because he would be a captive of organized labor, but because he has a distinguished career in public service and is dedicated to serving all segments of the community.

You stated that Torres might not be able to “say no” to the unions. This is the kind of shabby timeworn reasoning that contributes to a vicious anti-labor atmosphere in this country. You cling to this attitude of union-baiting despite years of attack upon labor from the highest levels of government.

Would The Times ever think to indict Molina for taking money from developers and the Lockheed Corp., arguing that she “may not be able to say no” to the ravenous greed of the capitalist class when they come to feed at the county trough? Of course you wouldn’t. That would be inciting “class warfare” and resentment.

Labor has been battered from pillar to post during the years of Republican rule at the presidential level. After years of leveraged buyouts, bank fraud, cynical use of the bankruptcy laws and sheer corporate incompetence, you would think that The Times would call for some balance in labor relations and politics. Such a position would really require the “vision and courage” you mentioned in your editorial. That is asking too much perhaps.

WILLIAM R. ROBERTSON

Executive Secretary-Treasurer

Federation of Labor, AFL-CIO

Los Angeles County