By Dennis R. Pierce
BLET National President
CLEVELAND, April 26 — The horrifying scenes from Boston were difficult to watch last week. Cowards — called terrorists by some — detonated homemade bombs at the finish line of the Boston Marathon, killing three people and injuring hundreds of others. But the bravery of our fellow union workers in Boston provided a silver lining in what was otherwise a horrible tragedy.
Instead of running away from the explosions, unionized police and emergency medical personnel ran into the danger zone and this was heroic. They risked their lives to aid the injured and bring order to a scene of unimaginable horror and chaos. And after the blast scene, it was Massachusetts’ unionized police forces, consisting of Watertown, State, Boston, Metropolitan and several surrounding towns, who hunted down and captured one suspect, while the other was killed during the manhunt.
Their bravery in the face of terrible danger was not lost upon the American public. In recent years and months, unionized government workers have been under constant attack in what we call the War on Workers. Unionized government workers have been characterized as “freeloaders” by ultra-conservative members of the media. Anti-union politicians have passed legislation restricting unions and the rights of their members.
But the bravery of union police officers, firefighters and other first responders in Boston puts these attacks into perspective. The American people know who the true heroes are in Boston. These men and women are heroes and deserve our praise, our thanks, and our never-ending gratitude. They put their lives on the line every day in the course of duty. They epitomize the slogan, Proud to be American and Proud to be Union.