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The Western Kentucky Worker | |
Feature Article
September 2007
IAM Kentucky Fall Meeting Attracts International President
Benny Adair, left, welcomes R. Thomas Buffenbarger, IAM international president, to the recent annual fall meeting of the Kentucky State Council of Machinists at Calvert City . Adair is council president. The three-day gathering was headquartered at IAM District Lodge 154, where Adair is directing business representative. The agenda included regular business meetings, a candidate forum and a pair of fund raisers for Guide Dogs of America, a program which provides "guide dogs and instruction in their use, free of charge, to blind and visually impaired men and women from the United States and Canada so that they may continue to pursue their goals with increased mobility and independence." A skeet shoot named for Buffenbarger and a golf scramble netted about $16,500 for the program, Adair said. Other top IAM officials at the meeting included General Secretary-Treasurer Warren Mart, a Kentucky native; General Vice President Rich Michalski, Rick de la Fuenta, an assistant director of legislation and political action; and Robert Martinez, general vice president of the IAM's Southern territory. Buffenbarger and de la Fuente called on Bluegrass State Machinists to support Steve Beshear, the labor-endorsed Democrat, for governor on Nov. 6.Adair is also active in the union movement in Kentucky . He is vice president of the Western Kentucky Area Council, AFL-CIO, which is based in Paducah, near Calvert City . (Photo by BERRY CRAIG)