$14-Million Pay Is Worth Discussion

Bruce Willis imperiously dismisses the issue of his own $14-million salary (“None of your business . . . not important . . . not relevant to the entertainment value”) but does not hesitate to take a broad swipe at unions with implications of coercion and inflated pay scales (“Bruce and Joel’s Q&A; Adventure,” May 19). Anyone who seriously espoused the same defenses on labor’s behalf would be hooted down with howls of derision, and rightly so. I appreciate his aversion to the media, but he is an investment, a laborer and a commodity like everyone else, and hence subject to questioning with regard to his worth. I find his claim to sublimity deeply offensive.

Yes, I am a union member. No, I don’t have hairy knuckles or Mafia connections. I do have a college degree, millions of dollars’ worth of training, and responsibility for hundreds of lives every day (I am an airline pilot). As such, I, too, have been blithely accused of being grossly overpaid, even at a time when I was making less than either of my two secretary roommates. My contemporaries tend to be highly literate, personally dedicated, and believe it or not, keenly mindful of fairness when negotiating salaries. Our industry, too, is highly competitive, but unlike Mr. Willis, none of us considers our position so exalted as to be exempt from discussion.

He may conceivably be right; not being in the film business, I couldn’t say. However, union-bashing is a cheap, unreasoned trick and an evasion on his part besides. C’mon, Bruce. If you’re really worth $14 million, just stand up for yourself and say it. In the meantime, please be advised that Jimmy Hoffa isn’t running things anymore. And maybe you should tend bar again for a while before you look down your nose at the poor slobs with the greasy fingernails.

SARAH COCHRANE

Huntington Beach