"President EJ Dilonardo’s impassioned statements about concessions to the City Council on Monday night, during which Dilonardo said: “I tell you, the line has been drawn, and we have not drawn it. I stake our reputation, our honor and our lives on defending that line. I promise you, we will never give in, and we will never give up.”

That's the quote from the firefighters' union president last night. You can read Register Star staff writer Jeff Kolkey's story here.

I've written this before, and it appears it ought to be said again: We are scared people living through the most disruptive changes to our country and our lives since the years leading up to World War II. It is not fun times. And the worst part of it is watching as all the things you thought you were "promised" or "owed" or "had a right to" disappear like beach sand through your toes.

Nobody is going to have to take this in the shorts, so to speak, harder than the public unions. Private company non-union employees have been watching their "promises" disappear for years with no end in sight. Private company union employees said goodbye to their "rights" over the past year.

Next up has to be the public union employees. Not because they are bad people. Not because they haven't worked their butts off. Not because they don't deserve more. But because there is no revenue stream to pay for them.

Dilonardo's impassioned speech is good for "his guys" on trucks and in the union. It makes for great theater and newspaper headlines. He's doing his job -- fight for the benefits and pay of the union members. But, he's definitely not on the right stage. There are far too many Rock River Valley folks who are under- or un-employed. They just don't "get it" when union presidents sound off like that.

We need the city and the unions at the same table, talking the same language, reaching a compromise that is painful to both sides and gets the jobs done. ever is a very, very long time.

Linda Grist Cunningham is executive editor of the Rockford Register Star and Rockford Woman. She has made statements like Dilonardo's in the past and knows just how counterproductive they are.