The Western Kentucky Worker

Official newsletter of the Western Kentucky Area Council, AFL-CIO

Prepared by Berry Craig, KEA-NEA and AFT- Kentucky

Volume 7, Number 2, February 2006

Former Sheriff Howard Walker is in race for state senate

Howard Walker will receive a warm welcome the next time he drops by the Area Council hall, according to Jeff Wiggins, council president.

"We hope to see him at the February meeting," Wiggins added. "We've now got our candidate."

Walker, who spent a dozen years as McCracken County sheriff, filed for the Second District state senate seat in the May Democratic primary. Walker chairs the county Democratic Executive Committee and is an organizer for the Kentucky Pipetrades. His home union is Plumbers and Pipefitters Local 184 in Paducah .

Walker wants the seat held by Sen. Bob Leeper of Paducah . Leeper was elected as a Democrat, switched to the Republicans and is now an independent.

"Leeper's labor voting record went to zero when he became a Republican." Wiggins said.

"It has come back up, but not by much, since he declared himself an independent."

A trio of Republicans filed for the May GOP primary. They are Jerry Shemwell and Neil Archer, both of Paducah , and Marilyn Folken-Frisbey of Gilbertsville. "None of them would be our friends in Frankfort ," Wiggins said.

Hubbard, a former congressman, came courting council support in September after he announced his candidacy. "His overall labor voting record in the House was 61 percent," Wiggins said. "Of course, that's a lot better than Leeper's now."

Before Walker announced his candidacy, Hubbard had said he would attend the February council meeting. "We hope he still comes," Wiggins said. "All candidates are welcome."

Walker was sheriff from 1982 to 1994 when he did not seek reelection. He is the favorite to get the council's recommendation for endorsement, Wiggins said. "The state AFL-CIO would then make the actual endorsement," he added.

The Second District includes Ballard, McCracken and Marshall counties. The winners of the Democratic and Republican- primaries will face Leeper in the fall general election.

Return to Western Kentucky AFL-CIO Area Council Home Page

Half-dozen candidates come calling for union support

Six local candidates sought union support at the January council meeting.

Half of them spoke against Gov. Ernie Fletcher's right-to-work proposal, which the Paducah city commission endorsed in December.

A right-to-work law would be would be a terrible mistake," said Gerald Watkins, a city commission candidate.

Tom Barlow, also from Paducah , said that union labor helped bring "good jobs, good wages, good schools and good roads to our end of the state. We can't let right-to-work get a toehold in our state."

Van Newberry, who is running for McCracken County judge-executive, said he is against a right-to-work law. Judge-Executive Danny Orazine, who is seeking reelection, refused to follow the city commission's endorsement of Fletcher's bill and put the fiscal court behind right-to-work.

"In my opinion, the reason right-to-work is being pushed locally is because our [Greater Paducah Economic Development Council]... director, Mr. [Wayne] Sterling , worked in South Carolina and Virginia, both of them right-to-work states," Newberry said. "He has been here a couple of years and I don't think he's brought in that many jobs.

"I guess you start looking for scapegoats when you are making $180,000 or $200,000 a year and not producing. I wouldn't support right-to-work if I were judge-executive."

The other candidates who spoke to a nearly packed union hall were Jerry Beyer, who is running for the county commission from Lone Oak District 2, Jon Hayden who wants to be sheriff, and Rick Johnson, who is campaigning for a seat on the state Supreme Court.

Johnson, a court of appeals judge, said he comes from a union family. "I was born with the union label," he said. "'I appreciate so much what labor did for my family and how labor has supported me."

Johnson's race is non-partisan. An attorney from Symsonia, Johnson said he was "very proud to have represented almost every union here tonight. I had opportunities to represent the other side, but I decided I was not going to be a hired gun. I followed my heart and my philosophy and represented unions. I am someone who understands your issues."

Hayden is running for sheriff in the May Democratic primary. A drug investigator in the sheriff's office, he said he wanted to put "professionalism" back in the sheriff's department.

Howard Walker, an organizer for the Kentucky Pipetrades and former sheriff, introduced Hayden. "Howard Walker hired me in 1993," Hayden said. "Progressively, since Howard left, the sheriffs department has gotten worse. I want to make things better. I want to make the sheriffs department like it was before - a professional organization everybody can be proud of."

Beyer, a former McCracken County coroner, is also running in the May Democratic primary. "We need changes in county government," he said. "Citizens need to be protected more, and we need to pay our deputies more."

Beyer promised to help fight illegal drugs in the county. He also said he was opposed to metro government.

Newberry, a .former county engineer, is also running in the May Democratic primary. He belongs to AFSCME Local 947. Newberry is also skeptical of metro government.

Barlow, a candidate in the May Democratic primary, wants his old job back. He was elected to Congress from the First District in 1992 but lost in 1994 to Republican Ed Whitfield, who has been in Congress since.

Watkins is a Democrat, although city commission races are non-partisan. "This is the most out-of-touch commission I have seen in my entire life," the college professor said.

"The trifecta that is running it --the mayor [Bill Paxton], [Commissioner George] Sirk and [Commissioner] Buzz Smith -- meet, make their decisions and when they come before the commission it's a done deal. The other two commissioners, Robert Coleman, who is a great city commissioner, and David Guess are completely out of the loop."

Watkins spoke against the commission resolution of support for a state right-to-work law when it was passed. Paxton, Smith and Sirk supported it. Coleman voted no; Guess was absent.

Watkins said he opposes metro government.

Watkins also said he hopes another pro-labor commission candidate will emerge. "That way, if we get elected, we can team up with Commissioner Coleman to support the working men and women of the city of Paducah . We have got to change this commission."

If more than eight candidates file for the city commission, they must run in the May primary. The top four vote getters in the November general election take office.

Return to Western Kentucky AFL-CIO Area Council Home Page

Council addresses E-board membership question

International union mergers have put the council in violation of its constitution, which prohibits more than two members of the same union to serve on the executive board.

But delegates resolved unanimously not to remove any officers before the next election,

which will be in 2007. Four of the 10 executive board members are Steelworkers.

"People were raising questions about this," said Jeff Wiggins, council president. "I wanted to bring it up and be open and forthright about it. Do we really want any one international to have more than two people on the executive board?" The resolution approved by the delegates states that "all officers and trustees will remain in office until the next regular election or until someone comes in and wishes to serve from a different union."

Return to Western Kentucky AFL-CIO Area Council Home Page

Wiggins wants an apology from Ernie Fletcher

Jeff Wiggins says Gov. Ernie Fletcher needs a geography lesson. "He said he didn't believe that the 1,800 working men and women who came to Frankfort to oppose his right-to-work law and prevailing wage bill were from Kentucky ," said Wiggins, council president. "I'm from Paducah , which is in Kentucky ."

Fletcher charged that Kentucky unions "shipped in" protestors "from out of state," the Louisville Courier-Journal reported. The governor added, "You can ship people in for anything. Those are not our constituents." Wiggins said Fletcher's charges were absurd.

Wiggins is a Steelworker. "I saw Steelworkers from Paducah, Benton, Owensboro, Pikeville, Hazard and Ashland," he said. "A busload of Operating Engineers came from Paducah.

I know a lot of them personally. I went to school with them. There was also a busload of laborers from Paducah ." Wiggins said he also spotted Gary Seay, president of IBEW Local 816 from Paducah . "I saw Carpenters and millwrights, too."

Wiggins suggested Fletcher get out of Frankfort "travel around Kentucky and get to know who is from his state and who isn't."

The labor rally was held at the State Capitol before Fletcher's budget speech. "I called and left a message asking for a letter of apology from Gov. Fletcher for saying I was from out-of­state," Wiggins said.

Return to Western Kentucky AFL-CIO Area Council Home Page

Right-to-work hurts everybody in the end -- bosses, too

By BERRY CRAIG, AFT-Kentucky/KEA-NEA

What is right almost always has a practical side. So it is with union opposition to so-called right-to-work laws.

Supporters of right-to-work laws make two basic arguments:

• Right-to-work laws bring "democracy" to the workplace by giving workers a choice of whether to join a union.
• Right-to-work laws create "good paying jobs" in communities.

Both arguments are false. Right-to-work laws are not democratic. They don't boost economies either. Unions are democratic and economy boosters.

Unions are not forced on workers. Workers vote unions in through free and fair elections.

Workers also can vote unions out.

Right-to-work laws undermine unions by prohibiting what are called "union security" agreements between the union and the employer. Under a union security agreement, all non­management workers belong to the union. Or they pay the union a service fee or an amount equivalent to union dues.

The union supports the workers. The workers support the union. Thus, right-to-work laws encourage freeloading. Under a right-to-work law, workers at a jobsite with a union contract can enjoy union-negotiated and union-won wages and benefits without joining the union or paying a service fee or dues. At the same time, unions also must represent these non-union employees when they have trouble with the boss.

Right-to-work supporters want workers to ask themselves, "Why should I join the union when I can get union wages, benefits and representation for free?" Hence, right-to-work laws encourage union members to quit the union and keep non-union workers from signing up with a union. Obviously, the smaller a union, the less bargaining power the union can muster. Thus, the real purpose of right to work laws isn't "workplace democracy." It is to weaken large unions and destroy small unions.

Freeloading isn't democratic either. Freeloading is based on selfishness and greed, like

the right-to-work concept itself. Indeed, right-to-work laws aren't designed to produce good paying jobs. They are geared to drive down worker wages and put more money in the boss's wallet.

Paychecks in right-to-work states are a lot skimpier than in non-right-to-work states.

Everywhere, union wages are higher than non-union wages.

Absent unions, wages, of course, go down. That's why unions call right-to-work the "right­to-work-for-less."

If right-to-work laws were "democratic" and good for workers, why is it that business and industry groups - not workers -- push them? Employer organizations like the Chamber of Commerce, the National Association of Manufacturers and its Bluegrass State affiliate, the Associated Industries of Kentucky, are the promoters of right-to-work laws.

Right-to-work laws are legal under the Taft-Hartley Act, which an anti-union, Republican­majority Congress passed over President Harry Truman's veto in 1947. The measure was aimed at rolling back gains organized labor made under Truman and President Franklin D. Roosevelt, both Democrats.

The bill's sponsors were Sen. Robert Taft, R-Ohio, and Rep. Fred Hartley, R-N.J. Both were ultra-conservatives who hated unions.

Joining right-wing Yankee Republicans in passing Taft-Hartley were conservative white Southern Democrats. They were as anti-labor as they were pro-segregation. Not coincidentally, every former Confederate state is a right-to-work state. "The labor-hater and the labor-baiter is virtually always a twin-headed creature spewing anti-Negro epithets from one mouth and anti­labor propaganda from the other mouth," Dr. Martin Luther King observed.

In the end, the greed of the right-to-workers will cost them plenty. Here's why.

The more money people earn, the more money they have to spend - and will spend. Remember the old Kentucky State AFL-CIO "Union Wages Buy More" license plates? They were true. America has the largest consumer economy in the world. There aren't enough rich people ­ not by a long shot - to buy the bulk of consumer goods American business and industry produces. By far, most purchasers of consumer goods are workers.

What happens when working people can't afford to buy consumer goods? Read some history. Employers engaged in union busting and a race to the bottom on worker wages in the 1920s. The result was the Great Depression of the 1930s, America 's worst economic crisis.

Return to Western Kentucky AFL-CIO Area Council Home Page

Got news? Email it to Berry Craig at bcraig8960@charter.net or Jeff Wiggins at JLWiggins2@Juno.com.

Return to Western Kentucky AFL-CIO Area Council Home Page