Union of Little Help to Calif. Farmworkers

The United Farm Workers union has done little for farmworkers, and the events taking place at Gallo of Sonoma’s wine operation bear this out (“Gallo Workers Seek to Cut Ties to UFW,” March 11).

Farmworkers all over the state are treated better and paid more than those in the rest of the world, not just the U.S.

Most of this is because farmers and farmworkers are indispensable to each other. Out of the hundreds of thousands of farmworkers in California, the fact that the UFW is down to fewer than 6,000 members speaks for itself.

Richard Jennings

Bakersfield

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Risk Is Playing Role

in Rising Gas Prices

I searched “State Gas Prices Soaring Faster Than Cost of Oil” (March 7) in vain for the word that explains the reported larger gasoline profits -- risk.

Nor did I find any mention of the source of that risk: the now-imminent war with Iraq. I find this odd as talk of war has been in all the papers -- even yours.

Profits are related not only to costs but to the risks of those costs changing. Increases in both gasoline prices and profits are telling us that the market predicts the now-imminent war with Iraq would result in significant damage to that nation’s oil production facilities, thus crimping supplies for some time.

Dick Eagleson

Gardena

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Remember when gas was just 89.9 cents a gallon on Dec. 24, 2001?

Because I keep my receipts for business purposes, I was able to document that gasoline was less than 90 cents a gallon just 15 months ago. So, tell me again, why does it now cost more than $2 a gallon?

Imagine if other items could double their prices every year or so, or go up and down as the price of gasoline does.

Tim Page

North Hills