BONUSES FOR SOME; FOR OTHERS THE BONES

Regarding “The Great Race” (by Nora Zamichow, May 1): Let me make sure I have this straight. In order to finish the Santa Monica Freeway repairs ahead of schedule, thereby making a multimillion-dollar bonus, contractor C. C. Myers had to persuade his ironworkers to toil even harder than they were already working (12-hour shifts, seven days a week). To achieve that, he paid a total of 20 men a total of $1,000 and treated them to a catered Italian meal.

So he makes an extra $14 million, and his workers make an extra 50 bucks each. Gee, what a generous guy! It’s a wonder everybody doesn’t want to work for him

GEORGEANNE LA PIERE

Malibu

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In spite of Myers’ multimillion-dollar bonuses for finishing the freeway repairs early, I have neither seen nor heard any mention of “thousands of dollars in bonuses” having been awarded the teams of ironworkers, carpenters, finishers and laborers as their share of the bonus.

Overtime pay couldn’t begin to compensate the workers for the wear and tear and exhaustion of those 66 days.

Shame on Myers and the supervisors of the ironworkers for spreading no more than $1,000 among 20 workers. All of those 400 workers were entitled to and should have gotten real bonuses.

DORIS D. HALL

Los Angeles