Beshear says his cabinet will include a union secretary of labor

Steve Beshear vows that when he becomes governor, he won't just restore the labor cabinet.

"The secretary of labor will be a card-carrying union member," he also pledged to the Paducah Labor Day picnic crowd at the city's Carson Park.

Beshear, who marched in Paducah's annual Labor Day parade with members of Plumbers and Steamfitters Local 184, is the state AFL-CIO endorsed candidate. His opponent, Ernie Fletcher, the Republican incumbent, was invited to the parade and picnic. The governor did not attend.

Beshear is "not like that other candidate for governor that never comes to a Labor Day parade or picnic," said Larry Sanderson, a Plumbers union official. He introduced Beshear and other candidates and officeholders who spoke at the picnic in Carson Park.

Bluegrass State unions say Fletcher is one of the most anti-labor governors in Kentucky history. They cite his efforts to get the 2006 General Assembly to pass a right-to-work law and to repeal the state prevailing wage law on public construction projects. Fletcher was unable to accomplish either goal.        

The governor "…has no respect for the right of people to have collective bargaining," said Bill Londrigan, state AFL-CIOpresident, who gave a speech at the picnic.

Beshear recalled that while he was lieutenant governor under Gov. Martha Layne Collins in 1983-1987, "… we were the first administration to take the department of labor and turn it into a cabinet position."

Beshear said Fletcher, who is seeking a second term, "demoted it back down to a department." The Democrat promised, "When Steve Beshear becomes governor, the labor cabinet will become the labor cabinet again."

Beshear opposes right-to-work, which unions call "right-to-work-for-less." He favors the prevailing wage. "It is time to have a governor -- and with Steve Beshear you will have a governor -- that will make sure that no right-to-work-for-less law will ever pass while [he is in office]…You need a governor -- and with Steve Beshear you will have one -- that'll make sure that you continue to make good wages by making sure that those prevailing wage laws are protected and will not be changed" during his tenure.

Beshear added, "Unions, it is time -- it is long past time -- that we begin creating the kind of good paying jobs with good benefits that Kentuckians deserve… For too long now, we have been going outside this state and giving tax incentives away to who-knows-who -- anybody we can convince to move in here and promise to create jobs -- and you know what happens? 

"They move in here and, more times than not, in about five years they are gone to Mexico or South America or someplace. They've taken their jobs with them, and we are left holding the bag. Folks, it is time to start paying attention to our own people for a change, to our own businesses for a change. Let's create good jobs here in Kentucky that pay good wages in Kentucky."

Beshear was one of several office holders or candidates, most of them Democrats, who were in the parade or who came to the picnic. Besides Beshear, speakers at the park included another labor-endorsed Democrat, Bruce Hendrickson, who is running for secretary of state.

His opponent, Secretary of State Trey Grayson, a Republican, also spoke. So did Melinda Wheeler, the GOP candidate for state treasurer. The state AFL-CIO is backing her opponent, Democrat Todd Hollenbach.

After the politicians spoke, Jeff Wiggins, Western Kentucky Labor Day Committee Inc.

president, recognized Wayne Chambers, the parade grand marshal, with a commemorative plaque.

The private, non-profit, all-volunteer Labor Day committee, which is mostly made up of union members and retirees, annually sponsors a three-day Labor Day weekend program in Paducah. Highlights include a parade, picnic, political speaking, live bands and a flea market.

Chambers, who also addressed the crowd, was the last vice president of Steelworkers Local 665, the union at Mayfield's big Continental General Tire plant, which has closed.

Wiggins also presented plaques to sponsors of winning floats in the parade. "This was one of the longest parades we've had since I've been involved in this, and that's been 18 years," said Frances Willey, Labor Day Committee secretary-treasurer.

The committee works year round, Willey said. Members seek donations from individuals, unions and businesses to pay for the program, which is free to the public. The committee receives no government funds.

Paducah has been home to Labor Day parades for more than a century. The city's first holiday procession was in 1893 and was sponsored by the old Paducah Central Labor Union, the ancestor of the Paducah-based Western Kentucky Area Council, AFL-CIO. Wiggins is also council president.

The union-sponsored parades stopped after World War II, for reasons not clear. A group of Paducah and area union leaders organized the Western Kentucky Labor Day Committee and resurrected the parades in 1975.

For a while, the Paducah Labor Day parade was the official Kentucky State AFL-CIO Labor Day celebration.

Londrigan has been a frequent visitor to the Paducah Labor Day parade and picnic. In his remarks, he also said Fletcher "has been gambling with this commonwealth and with the interests of working men and women," an allusion to the governor's strong opposition to casino gambling.

"Let me tell you one sure bet you can make," Sanderson said. "You can vote for Steve Beshear and Daniel Mongiardo [the labor-backed Democratic candidate for lieutenant governor] and you will have a winner come November."   

Londrigan, who sported a Beshear-Mongiardo campaign button, agreed. "The choices are clear, folks," he said. "Sitting behind me is someone that stands with working families, that supports your right to have a union, that'll work for health care. His name is Steve Beshear."

Londrigan said anti-unionism is strong across the country, not just in the Fletcher administration. "…Our adversaries are ready to jump at any chance to beat down working men and women and organized labor," he said. "…That is why it is so important for everybody here to look at the candidates that we have before us…and take stock of those that stand with working men and women on the issues that determine whether we have good wages, whether we have health care benefits and a good education for our children."

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