Labor's basic principles.

John Joyce's "Labor's Future" (February 10) may be one of the most important articles you have printed in recent years. I have been active in the teachers union (UUP) for more than twenty-five years and was president of the Stony Brook University local for seven years. I think the labor movement has, to some extent, lost its soul; unions are often more interested in improving their public image and increasing their membership (and dues) than in the larger and more difficult issues that Joyce addresses.

Joyce rightly calls for a more democratic workplace, but employers tend to view democratic procedures as too messy and time-consuming. Young workers, enticed by high salaries and confident that they will be forever on the cutting edge, are convinced that they do not need unions. (They are likely to learn the sad truths of obsolescence when they hit the half-century mark.) Union leaders often make far more money than the people they represent, undermining their credibility. Unions must reexamine their basic principles. They need to find ways to promote human dignity and serve as an agent of change in a society that has forgotten its roots.

AARON W. GODFREY

Stony Brook, N.Y.