Dear Source,
Who ever said there was no humor in the Virgin Islands government? Certainly not anyone who received, heard of, or read about the Happy New Year letter sent to union leaders Daryl George of the International Association of Firefighters, Frederick Joseph of the United Steelworkers of America, and Ralph Mandrew of the V.I. Workers Union, by Karen Andrews, chief labor negotiator for the V.I. government.
"I wish you all the very best for a healthy and prosperous 2003. Regrettably, we are forced to temporarily suspend all contract negotiations, pending a reassessment of the government's finances," was the cheery message from the V.I. government to those representing a goodly number of its employees.
Whatever one's views of the labor contract negotiations at issue, one must admire the counterpoise between the expression of warmth and best wishes, in that letter's opening sentence, and the expression of regret in the sentence following. Kind of like, "Have a good day, forget about that raise."
Karen Andrews and her boss should take notice. Jay Leno or David Letterman would pay big bucks for a comedy writer who could come up with snappy two-liners like the one in that letter.
John D. Thompson
Fairfax, Virginia
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