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Kentucky: Hot Spot for Working Families in 2007 Elections |
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The political spotlight is going to shine brightly on Kentucky this fall. The Bluegrass State is just one of a handful of states in this off-year election where voters will go the polls. (Click here for a look at other state elections.)
Working family voters in Kentucky are mobilizing to toss out a governor who has attacked wages and workers’ rights and dragged his feet on mine safety legislation. They are working to put Steve Beshear (D), who says he will protect and improve pro-worker laws, into the governor’s mansion.
Helping mobilize the Labor 2007 union vote in central Kentucky is Tim Smith, president of UAW Local 2370, who has worked at Mahle’s components plant, in Franklin, Ky., for 20 years. As a union officer, Smith has been involved in contract talks, grievances and other in-plant duties, but this is his first foray into the political arena. Says the Labor 2007 coordinator for central Kentucky:
Every where I go, from Millwrights, to Pipefitters, to Sheet Metal, I see people pulling together to show Ernie Fletcher that he is not going to make this a right-to-work state. It’s not good for labor and it’s not good for the whole state. We’re going to step up to the plate.
Last year, working families rallied against two of Fletcher’s pet projects, “right to work” for less legislation and repeal of the state’s prevailing wage law. Their actions spurred the legislature to kill the moves. In states with so-called “right to work” laws, the average pay for workers is 15 percent less than in states where workers have rights to bargain contracts (including wages and benefits).
Prevailing wage law requires contractors on state-funded construction projects to pay workers the prevailing wage in the region. Prevailing wage laws ensure contractors on state projects don’t exploit workers by paying low wages to win state contracts.
United Steelworkers (USWA) member Jeff Wiggins, who was a volunteer activist in the 2006 election, is now organizing Labor 2007’s drive in western Kentucky. He says that the economic workplace issues can trump some of the deeply held social beliefs of some union members. Smith calls them his 3G members—God, guns and gays.
What we are doing is defining our issues, getting our issues and message out into the hands of our members. When they hear from their local union that we are trying to protect jobs and put people’s interest ahead of corporate interests they listen. When they were trying to push their agenda of right-to-work and prevailing wage repeal, I had one of my 3G members come up to me and say, “Hey, they’re trying to take away my way of life.”
In Ashland, USWA Local 7047 member Mike Donta is working with local unions and union members across the northern edge of Kentucky. The 28-year veteran at Calgon Carbon Corp. says Fletcher has not only failed union members but all Kentucky voters.
We are not seeing the progress like we should. He’s looked out for his corporate friends but when it comes to good jobs, wages…helping everybody out and moving Kentucky forward, well he hasn’t.
How are unions going to work to get out the vote? At the June kick off meeting with some 85 union activists, Beshear summed it up:
The single best you can help me win is to do what you do best—talk with your members on the phone, at the worksite, using local union mail and at the door.
Click on the video above to see a message from Kentucky State AFL-CIO President Bill Londrigan and other union leaders about the importance of the governor’s race.
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Paid for by AFL-CIO Committee on Political Education Treasury Fund.
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To all my Sisters and Brothers of the Blue Grass State, please be wary of the “Blue Dogs” . They will eagerly lap up your votes and bite you in the A– when they gain your trust. Labor needs “True Blue” Labor Advocates not Republican Lite “Blue Dogs.”
Party doesn’t mean a thing. To many times politicans say one thing and vote another, and that includes Democrats just a much as Republicans. Remember–Think Union. Support Union. Vote Union. If someone asks for your help, or your vote, or your money, make sure they are Pro-Labor. Meanwhile, let’s work to create a real Labor Party beholden to no one and nothing except ourselves.
I’m all for working families. As long as they’re 100% LEGAL working families. I’m also all for unions. As long as they ONLY support those LEGAL working families. Illegals have NO RIGHTS in the USA. They don’t even have the RIGHT to BE here! And I won’t support ANY union that supports home invaders/aka illegals.