"Don't blame workers for bosses' mistakes"

From a January 6 letter to The State newspaper in Columbia, South Carolina (one of those Southern states with a big foreign automaker):

Don't blame workers for bosses' mistakes

When the captain runsthe ship aground, who is to blame? And when the ship begins to sink,shouldn't the captain have to throw a few suitcases of his cash overthe side before he starts throwing the crew overboard? Congress wasquick to bail out millionaires on Wall Street, yet can't seem to getbehind American workers.

What has separated America from othercountries has been a strong middle class. What NAFTA and other tradeagreements were supposed to do was lift workers from those countriesup, not drag us down to low-wage jobs, with no health care coverage orstable retirement plans. When wages are good, society prospers.

Ifwages need to be cut in order for the American auto industry to getback on its feet, then I am all for it. And since CEO pay has grownnearly 300 to 1 over the average worker for the last 20 years, I saylet's start cutting at the top.

The decline of the auto industryin this country can be attributed largely to lack of contemporarystyling and fuel-economy standards below the Japanese. This is a resultof lack of vision, poor management and irresponsible shareholders -- notoverpaid autoworkers.

RAY WEISS