March 28, 2024

UAW leadership supports public employees

Over the course of a week, I interact with hundreds of people. People working, shopping, relaxing, spending time with their loved ones.

Behind the scenes teachers are working to ensure our children are getting the best education they can get. They lay the path our children are taking. Always enthusiastic about the opportunities that lie ahead. I have a huge appreciation for the teachers and the impact they have on my children. The teachers of our community have the most important job. A job that is just as critical as the best brain surgeon or rocket scientist, fireman or policemen. Our future is in their hands every day. And for some, the day starts at 5 a.m. and ends at 11 p.m.

At any given time, I can see that the Newton PD is on the job. Car accidents, domestic calls, robberies, helping the elderly and spending time in the schools. The Newton Police are putting their lives on the line every day.

The firefighters and EMTs in our county — some volunteer, some, full time — they are there at a moment’s notice. They stay until the jobs done, wet, smelling like smoke and tired.

The corrections employees working conditions are unlike few on the outside would know. Great people are put in contact with some very serious criminals. Locked doors that keep the criminals in and keep the officers in, also.

If everything goes according to plan, if all of the training kicks in, if everyone does their part, they go home at the end of their shift.

State and public employees do their jobs so we can do our jobs. They clean the roads in the winter weather, run state parks, they keep our streets as safe as possible. They repair roads, mow the highways. They build bridges and roads. They teach our children, they are nurses, home health care providers and they work in our courts and librarys.

They spend their pay checks where they live. UAW Local 450 and UAW Local 997 leadership, support our brothers and sisters in all state and local positions. The voice of many with such great responsibilities should not be silenced. All men and women are created equal and independent, from that equal creation, they derive rights inherent and inalienable, among which are the preservation of life, and liberty and the pursuit of happiness.

Curtis Templeman

Newton