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Vol. 73/No. 4      February 2, 2009

 
Letters
 
Auto layoffs in Spain
The January 12 article on the auto bailout makes a passing reference to production cutbacks in Spain. This barely scratches the surface. The Spanish auto industry directly and indirectly employs about 9 percent of the workforce. As of early January, some 70,000 workers have been laid off either permanently or temporarily or have had their hours cut.

Ford, Seat, and Nissan have already announced layoffs totaling over 10,000 workers for 2009, and Renault will shut down entirely for three months, idling another 10,000. Nearly 25,000 workers in related industries such as component manufacturing have been laid off already.

Arnold Weissberg
Madrid, Spain

Error on prison population
The “Greetings to workers behind bars!” editorial in the January 12 issue says that “nearly 2.3 million men and women—one out of every 99 residents of the United States—sit behind bars.” If that were the case, the number behind bars would have to be over 3 million, because the U.S. population is over 300 million.

I believe that instead of “residents,” perhaps the figure relates to the number of “adults” in the United States.

Michael Pennock
Alexandria, Minnesota

In reply—You are correct, it is one out of 99 adults that is in U.S. prisons. Thanks for pointing out the error.
—Editor

The letters column is an open forum for all viewpoints on subjects of interest to working people. Please keep your letters brief. Where necessary they will be abridged. Please indicate if you prefer that your initials be used rather than your full name.

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