FedEx fights fixing unfairness

Imagine going to the Iditarod. There are 48 entrants, and every musher is gritting it out against time and Mother Nature using only their savvy, sled team and a few supplies. Except one guy. He's got a GPS and fresh dogs at every checkpoint.

Is this fair? It is if you're FedEx.

FedEx has recently undertaken a lobbying and media campaign to prevent Congress from enacting legislation to bring its drivers under the laws that govern all other delivery drivers in America.

Congress is trying to fix this inconsistency, but FedEx is falsely claiming the change would cause it irreparable harm.

The proposed law, which would amend the Railway Labor Act, would only ensure that employees in the same jobs are covered by the same laws. It's that simple.

This issue is important to Alaskans. UPS employs nearly 1,000 people in the state and is a major source of state revenue. In terms of landed cargo weight, UPS is the largest airline in Alaska, generating huge landing fees in Anchorage.

Alaska's businesspeople and elected officials understand the importance of equal treatment under the law. This is a principle the proposed law upholds, and every Alaskan should support it. It is time to end the special treatment for FedEx.

-- Scott J. DePaepe

UPS Alaska Division manager

Anchorage

A longer version of this commentary appears on our Web site, adn.com/guestcolumns/webextra/.

Poppies a pleasure to behold

Hallelujah! to the people who initiated the planting of the poppies in the meridian on Tudor Road across from the Anchorage School District bus garage. What a glorious sight for bleary-eyed commuters. The pink has to give a lift to the day of everyone who passes in the a.m., and to ease stress at the end of the day.

Thank you, whoever you are.

-- Esther Cox

Anchorage

NYC 9/11 attack wasn't the only one

I am writing in regard to the 9/11 remembrance in Friday's paper ("We remember," Sept. 11). I am pleased that the Daily News has contributed to remembering the tragedies that occurred.

However, as I looked over the paper, I didn't see any respect paid to those who lost their lives and those who suffered in the Pentagon or the flight that went down in Pennsylvania.

As a combat veteran and someone who almost lost their mother that day at the Pentagon, I am severely disappointed that the ADN has forgotten these sites of tragedy that stood for just as much as the World Trade Center towers in New York City.

Sept. 11 is not "NYC World Trade Center towers"; it was an attack on America and her government -- which included the Pentagon and the plane that was suspected to target the White House that went down in Pennsylvania. Thank you for remembering, but please in forward years remember ALL of those who suffered that day.

-- Angi Perales

Valdez

Upgrade sewage treatment

Anchorage is sometimes a good leader in Alaska regarding environmental practices. Now it is time to catch up with the rest of the country with regard to sewage discharges into Cook Inlet. Anchorage is one of the few cities the EPA allows to treat wastewater (i.e., sewage from all sources, including houses) only to a primary standard. Most facilities nationwide have long upgraded to secondary or tertiary standards. Primary treatment is insufficient to rid the water of contaminants.

If you care about the fish, the belugas, clean water and the Inlet, start pushing for the modern treatment of the sewage that other cities use.

-- Kelly Newman

Fairbanks