San Francisco Chronicle - (Sunday)
Some good news for San Francisco: Tourism rebounding
With all the talk about the possible doom loop and entrenched drug trade in the city, it was nice to hear that tourism is mostly coming back, even despite the drop in visitors from China.
It seems tourists are generally happy with their experience, based on the story on The Chronicle front page (Visits by Chinese lag as tourism rebounds, July 15).
This shows that despite the problems plaguing the city, it still has the cache that visitors appreciate.
Hopefully, it will give city leaders extra encouragement to solve the issues that are making some areas of the city go downhill.
Marc Schoenfeld, Oakland
Senseless strike
I’m writing in response to the Associated Press piece (UPS to train nonunion employees as talks stall with union for 340,000 workers and deadline nears, SFChronicle.com, July 14), which quotes the Teamsters as stating the following about their negotiations with UPS:
“UPS is making clear it doesn’t view its workforce as a priority.”
As a former union-represented
UPS employee for 36 years, I know the Teamsters threatening a strike makes no sense.
UPS gives both part- and full-time employees the same health and medical benefits, pension contributions and nocost health care insurance.
Further, part-timers alone earn at least $16.20 an hour and
an average $20 per hour after 30 days while still getting the kind of tuition reimbursement that helped me further my education.
While all Teamsters deserve a great deal, they need to be protected against a strike.
With both sides returning to the table next week, it’s time to
get this deal done.
Darren Moore, former HR Director, UPS North California District
DeSantis’ Holocaust
Gov. Ron DeSantis has ordered Florida teachers to tell their students that slaves were given tools they “could use for their personal benefit.” Boy, I feel better about my history already.
How about your take on the Holocaust, Ron?
You could have your teachers suggest that Holocaust victims were introduced to the delights of train travel, that they were given a distinguishing mark they could point to in case anyone confused them with someone else, that they did not have to worry about what to wear or eat every day, and that the striped clothing made them look thinner.
John Ahlbach, Pacifica
It’s global warming
The scientific community likely erred strategically when it rebranded global warming as climate change.
If everyone were focused today on global warming, skeptics would have a hard time denying the obvious as global temperatures rise and heat waves abound.
In contrast, climate reflects long-term trends, and people who refuse to believe the science can claim that short-term variations in the weather do not prove a change in climate.