Letter: What gives?

Editor, Daily News:

I have worked in industries using union employees for some 40 years. I worked in one union for 36 years. In that same union I was a salaried official for 12 years.

I only mention this so my union brethren will know my background.

I have always believed that the purpose of unionism was to ensure that workers received more compensation than employers are willing to give — employers like those who presently employ people who are not here legally.

The recent support by unions of the Senate immigration bill baffles me. The American worker, who the unions claim to support, is being shut out because employers are hiring people whom they pay a substandard wage with no benefits. This is the unmasking of the false claim by unions, that they are for higher wages for the working man.

Cheap labor is the antithesis of unionism. So, to my union brothers I ask this: What is motivating the union leadership? Could it be that they are more interested in the Democrat Party than promoting a better wage for American workers?

Tom Macchia , Naples