The Militant - August 3, 2009 -- Letters

Vol. 73/No. 29 August 3, 2009

Letters

Attack on transport workers
Over a million transportation workers to date have been required to enroll in the Transportation Worker Identification Credential (TWIC) program of the Transportation Security Administration (TSA). This includes truck drivers and longshore, maritime, and rail workers.

To receive a TWIC card, the applicant must have a photograph and fingerprints taken and undergo a security threat assessment by the TSA. Workers with certain felony convictions cannot get a card or must wait years to obtain one. Also, applicants must sign off on a disclosure form, which states that if they are deemed a threat to national security, their employer may be notified.

Many of my coworkers view the TWIC card as just another government requirement that will not improve safety or security. Others see it as a means by which the government and employers could blacklist workers.

D.C.
Houston, Texas

Is there any difference?
As we wade deeper and deeper into the worst postwar recession, I wonder if there is any difference at all between the two main political parties in the USA? We need a viable socialist alternative program that will appeal to the reserve army of the unemployed.

John King
Tampa, Florida

Barnes on ‘meritocracy’
Thanks so much. Jack Barnes’s essay on the Obama phenomenon and the meritocracy has really helped clarify current U.S. and European political leadership.

S.K.
Gaillard, France

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