I appreciated the Editor's Column on small credit unions [July 20 issue]. Fact is, small credit unions shouldn't be saved just because they are small. On the other hand, the sense of cooperation and fair play is nearly gone from the language of larger credit unions.

I worked for a large credit union in Portland, Ore., with roughly $250 million in assets. Part of the weekly strategy of senior management was to assess the financial conditions of other credit unions and establish personal relationships with the CEOs and senior staff, not for the purpose of helping them with any issues they might have, but rather, to strategically place themselves front and center for potential mergers. The credit union I worked for had undergone several mergers, morphing into a large credit union. Of course, they always positioned themselves to be the surviving credit union. It was also interesting that their new membership was next to none, but yet they grew tremendously year after year. The reason and purpose had nothing to do with strengthening the movement, or should I say "industry."

More and more senior management types use the term industry to define credit unions, which is reminiscent of the term industry for banking. Of course, banks are not cooperative, so it goes without saying that there is a path that many larger credit unions are on, and it has nothing to do with the history and mission of credit unions.