SEIU Local 560: Always Betting the Wrong Way?
Dartmouth has always been a pioneer in providing financial assistance to the the needy in difficult times. Its Haiti Fund has become a model for other colleges and organizations to rapidly raise much needed monies for natural disasters. It has been need-blind for U.S. students for a long time, but recently expanded the program to all students. Dartmouth had also eliminated loans for lower-income families and replaced many loans with scholarships.
And now, realizing that layoffs and budget cuts at the College are hurting many employees, Dartmouth has set up a special hardship fund to provide grants for:
unmet financial needs not addressed through the layoff package and loan programs
The fund has been accepting donations internally and will open to the public in April.
I don’t think any other college, business or organization of any sort has come up with this kind of a grant program for its laid-off personnel. Even though the grant maximum of $2,000 may not be enough to cover too much and the funds might get depleted pretty quickly, it is still an excellent idea – a step forward.
But local SEIU President, Earl Sweet, isn’t happy at all. He is apparently “allowing” his members to take advantage of the program, as if the SEIU is doing the College a favor by participating in the program. He thinks:
I see it as a Band-Aid solution to what the real problem is … You don’t have to be a math genius to figure out that it’s not going to go very far in helping all the laid-off workers.
The idea of the grant program isn’t to help all laid-off workers – that would require a massive sum – but to help as many as possible. Let’s consider the following scenario. Bob, Mike and Joe are laid off by Dartmouth. While Bob and Mike get $2,000 to pay for certain essentials, Joe doesn’t for lack of funds.
Overall, is it not better for the community that at least Bob and Mike were able to meet their needs to some extent? Joe might still be short, but we have helped 2/3.
But, no, socialist Sweet would rather have it that 0/3 are helped. Either that or everybody should be provided with assistance. No other choice is acceptable.
This is the kind of myopic union thinking that brought down Detroit and much of U.S. manufacturing and industry. When will these idiots get their heads out of their asses and rid their eyes of feces?
