 |
The Western Kentucky Worker |
|
Adair, Seay nominated for W.C. Young Award
Additional nominations for the 2010 W.C. Young Award will be accepted at the April meeting.
“Normally, the nominations close after the March meeting and the Executive Board selects the recipient from the nominees,” said Jeff Wiggins, council president. “But we didn't have a quorum for the E-board to meet last month. So will we try again in April.”
Wiggins added, “It's urgent that we have enough people present to vote on the nominees this month because the W.C. Young Dinner is in April.”
The nominees are Benny Adair, Gary Seay and Howard Walker.
“All three are excellent candidates,” Wiggins said.
If the E-board quorum of six officers is met, the panel will gather after the regular meeting and choose the recipient by secret ballot.
Young, who died in 1996, at age 77 was a longtime labor and civil rights leader from Paducah . He received the first W.C. Young Award in 1994.
Adair, who lives near Benton , is the council vice president. He is directing business representative of Machinists District Lodge 154 in Calvert City and president of the Kentucky State Council of Machinists.
Seay, who is retired and lives near Reidland, was business agent for IBEW Local 816 for many years. He was also a council delegate and president of the Kentucky State Building and Construction Trades Council.
Walker, who lives near Paducah , is also retired. He was a longtime member of Plumbers and Steamfitters Local 184 and a state organizer for the United Association of Plumbers and Pipefitters. Walker was also McCracken County sheriff for a dozen years.
In addition Walker, who is battling cancer, was the first person to earn the Kentucky State AFL-CIO's Lewis Hicks Award. The award is for outstanding service to the recipient's union and community.
Last year's Young Award recipient was Frances Willey, treasurer of the Western Kentucky Labor Day Committee Inc. The Young Award is presented at an annual dinner in Paducah . Adair is emcee of the festivities.
Return to Western Kentucky AFL-CIO Area Council Home Page
Seventeen candidates came seeking the council's support at the March meeting. Several were endorsed or recommended for endorsement.
“We may have some more candidates coming in April,” said Jeff Wiggins, council president. “All are invited.”
Candidates spoke in the order they signed in. The candidates and the offices they are seeking included Eric Youngblood, Paducah city commission; Melissa Youngblood, Paducah city school board; Michael Murphy (incumbent), county attorney; Bill Adams (incumbent), McCracken County jailer; Van Newberry, (incumbent), McCracken County judge-executive; Ronnie Freeman, (incumbent) McCracken County commission, First District; Mark Hayden, constable, McCracken County District 1; Andy Shelton, constable, McCracken County, District 2; Scott Wathen, constable, McCracken County, District 3; Mike Lawrence, Democrat, First District State House of Representatives; Glenn Ridings, constable McCracken County, District 2; Tom Lowe, (incumbent) constable, McCracken County District 1; Jon Hayden (incumbent), McCracken County sheriff; Glenda Adair, Marshall County circuit court clerk; Gerald Watkins (incumbent), Paducah city commission; Mike Cheek (incumbent), constable, McCracken County District 3; Tony Veltri (incumbent), constable, McCracken County District 1; Wayne Chambers, Graves County commission District 3.
Return to Western Kentucky AFL-CIO Area Council Home Page
Delegates make their voices heard in a multitude of races
The state AFL-CIO Executive Board has endorsed all candidates council delegates recommended for endorsement except Lt. Gov. Dan Mongiardo for U.S. senate.
The board met in March and voted “no recommendation” in the May 18 Democratic primary contest. Mongiardo and Attorney Gen. Jack Conway are the frontrunners. “A vote of ‘no recommendation' means individual unions are free to back the candidate of their choice,” Wiggins said.
Also, the E-board took no action on the First District House race between incumbent Republican Steven Rudy and his Democratic challenger Mike Lawrence. The council also took no action in the race.
But the state AFL-CIO endorsed the following council-recommended state House candidates – all incumbent Democrats: Fred Nesler, second district; Mike Cherry, fourth district; Melvin Hendley, fifth district; Will Coursey, sixth district; and John Tilley, eighth district.
The delegates unanimously voted to recommend all five incumbents.
Also, the E-Board endorsed Democrat Rex Smith in his bid to unseat State Sen. Bob Leeper, an independent. The council recommended Leeper without a dissenting vote.
In addition, the council also unanimously recommended no endorsement for Third District State Rep. Brent Housman, a Republican. Housman has no opposition in the GOP primary or the general election.
Area councils are permitted to make endorsements in local races. Delegates voted unanimously to endorse 13 incumbent Democrats in Paducah and McCracken County races. They are Jeff Jerrell, county court clerk; Jon Hayden, sheriff; Van Newberry, county judge-executive; Ronnie Freeman, county commissioner District 1; Nancy Bock, property valuation administrator; Michael Murphy, county attorney; Glenda Ransom, circuit court clerk; Bill Adams, jailer; Jerry Beyer, county commissioner District 2; Dan Boaz, commonwealth
attorney; and Richard Abraham, Carol Gault and Gerald Watkins, all Paducah city commission.
The council voted to make no recommendation in the race for McCracken County constable in District 2 and took no action in other contests.
Outside McCracken County , delegates unanimously endorsed the following local officials, all Democratic incumbents: Greg Pruitt, Hickman County judge-executive; Tony Smith, Graves County judge-executive; Philip McClain, Graves County coroner; Barry Kennemore, Graves County clerk; John Cunningham, Graves County attorney; Randy Haley, Graves County jailer and Greg Terry, Carlisle County judge-executive .
Delegates unanimously endorsed Glenda Adair for Marshall County circuit court clerk and Wayne Chambers for Graves County commissioner, District 3, at the February council meeting.
Council President Jeff Wiggins, Recording Secretary Berry Craig, COPE Director Howard “Bubba” Dawes and delegates Hardy Williams and Frances Willey attended a campaign rally for Chambers on March 22 in Mayfield. “Based on the crowd, I'd say Wayne has a very good chance of winning the seat,' Wiggins said. Chambers has two opponents, incumbent Romey Holmes and Eric Thompson, in the May 18 Democratic primary. The winner will face a Republican in the fall.
Return to Western Kentucky AFL-CIO Area Council Home Page
MINUTES OF THE MARCH 4, 2010 COUNCIL MEETING
Compiled by Berry Craig, AFT Local 6010, recording secretary
The monthly Executive Board meeting set for 6 p.m. was cancelled because there was no quorum.
President Jeff Wiggins gaveled the regular meeting to order at 7 p.m.
After the customary Pledge of Allegiance and prayer, delegates voted to suspend the regular order of business to hear 17 candidates for office who came seeking the council's support.
In a special COPE meeting called after the regular meeting adjourned at 8:30 p.m., delegates voted unanimously to recommend 5 incumbent Democrats for the state House of Representatives and Democrat Rex Smith for the State Senate. Delegates also took no action in the First District House race.
Delegates also unanimously endorsed 13 incumbents for reelection in Paducah and McCracken County races and also voted a unanimous “no recommendation” in the race for McCracken County constable, District 2.
In addition, delegates unanimously endorsed seven incumbents for local office in races in Hickman and Graves County .
After the candidates left, President Wiggins returned to the regular order of business. Wiggins reviewed the correspondence and Brandon Duncan,
financial secretary-treasurer, gave the treasurer's report. Delegates voted to
waive the reading of the minutes from the January meeting.
Delegates were reminded of the special flag raising ceremony at 2 p.m. March 27 at the council flagpole. It was announced that the Western Kentucky Labor-Management Committee would meet April 12 at the Three Amigos restaurant in Calvert City to elect officers. The meeting starts at 12:30 p.m.
Delegates also voted to frame the IAM resolution calling on the legislature to permit only U.S. made flags to fly over the Capitol and other state buildings and the bill to fly only U.S.-made flags which the legislature approved. At the same time, the delegates approved the purchase of a shadowbox frame for the flag which flew over the U.S. Capitol. U.S. Rep. Ben Chandler, D-Versailles, donated the flag.
Delegate Hardy Williams asked that the council look into increasing per capita dues to help raise money for the council. Wiggins agreed to form a committee to consider a dues hike.
Wiggins also welcomed Kyle Henderson, business manager of Plumbers and Steamfitters Local 184; and Greg Hobgood, business manager of IBEW Local 816. “I look forward to them rejoining us soon,” Wiggins said.
Wiggins addressed the delegates about continued poor attendance at council meetings. “We had a whole house full of politicians but we can't fill this hall,” he said. “I'm not happy with that. I'm not happy with non-attendance.”
Joe Holland, a senior staff representative for the national AFL-CIO, also addressed the delegates about the AFL-CIO's “Turn Around America Good Jobs Now!” program.
The COPE meeting adjourned at 9:30 p.m.
I read this email and it sounds like a lot of Republican bull to me. For example, page 29, line 4 -16, where it says your health care is rationed, do you notice that it says it "is" rationed, not "will be" rationed? Well, it's being rationed now, by the insurance companies. They are the ones who currently hold the power to say what treatments you can get and what you can't. Oh, excuse me, they don't tell you what treatments you can or can't have, they just tell you what they will and won't pay for.
Page 50, section 152 where it talks about non-US citizens, what's wrong with that? My own son-in-law, Louis, isn't a U.S. citizen, so should he have to go to France to get medical care?
Page 102 Lines 12-18 where it says that people who are eligible for Medicaid will automatically be enrolled. What's wrong with that? Two of your own grandchildren are on Medicaid. I want them covered, don't you? They make it sound like people don't want Medicaid. I don't know of anyone who is eligible not wanting it.
Page 95 where it says that gov. officials will have access to personal records including financial. They already know all that. We all have to file income tax returns so the government has known what every working person earns for as long as there have been income taxes.
I'm not going to pick through every item here, because I think you get the point. It's a scare tactic to get citizens to be against health care reform. The big insurance companies, along with Republicans are trying to defeat this bill because it will mean that insurance companies will no longer be able to play by the old rules of collecting your premiums, but not paying out when it's time to pay out. They just drop your coverage. Remember when Daddy lost his cancer policy because he got cancer? They sure didn't mind taking his money as long as he didn't have cancer, but as soon as he got it, they dropped him. Obama's plan will stop this practice. Also, it will not allow insurance companies to refuse coverage to people with pre-existing conditions.
If you go to www.whitehouse.gov. you can watch President Obama explain the plan. Remember, his own mother died of cancer and he watched her as she fought with her insurance company. The last thing someone with a bad disease needs is the extra stress of fighting to get your bills paid. Personally, I think it's a good start. I don't think it's a perfect plan, but it's a lot better than what we have now, because what we have now is the capitalistic system at its worst, greedy insurance companies who really don't care about the people they insure, they just care about collecting all those premiums and figuring out ways that they can get out of paying claims. I've had to fight with my own insurance companies. Ask Elisa. She files claims all the time for the people who come to her for counseling. She has had to learn their dirty little tricks for getting out of paying. So, the insurance companies aren't just screwing with the patients, they screw with the health care providers too.
And one last thing, and then I'll get off my high horse. People have been throwing around terms like "socialized medicine" as if that's just the worst thing since gas chambers. Frankly, if it weren't for the Socialist Party back in Roosevelt's time, we wouldn't have the federal highway system, social security, public schools, or telephone lines. That's what socialism is about. Taking things that we all need and depend on, away from greedy capitalists who will exploit us so they can fatten their wallets. Health care is one of those things that all of us need. Why should we leave it to the greedy insurance executives to regulate themselves? Haven't they already proven that they value money above human life? There are a lot of people who have departed this life who could have lived if the insurance companies would have allowed them to get the care they needed. If you want to really see how bad our current system is, go rent the movie, "Sicko", and you will be sickened by the sad state of affairs our country is in when it comes to health care.
Your lovely and brilliant daughter,
L. C. Faulkner
What does the Health Care Reform Bill Do?
By MIKE HALL
AFL-CIO
AFL-CIO President Rich Trumka says that at its core, the health care reform bill
means long-term health security—and that's the most important thing for your future, and your children and their children.
Among other benefits, the health care reform bill bans coverage denials or higher rates due to pre-existing conditions and outlaws the practice of insurers dropping coverage when someone files a claim or is diagnosed with a condition requiring expensive treatment. It covers an additional 32 million people, or 95 percent of the population.
The bill ends gender discrimination in setting insurance rates and establishes a procedure to review insurance premium increases and take action against unreasonable rate hikes.
It also makes improvements in the original Senate-passed version, such as not placing the cost of the bill on the backs of working families.
• It eliminates 85 percent of the tax on benefits that would have penalized working families.
• It substitutes in its place a progressive tax on the wealthy that requires Medicare contributions be paid on unearned income for the first time.
• It increases subsidies to purchase health insurance for low- and moderate-income people.
On the benefits tax, Trumka says:
We continue to think the excise tax is the wrong way to contain costs, but the changes included in the corrections bill cut the tax back deeply, so that it now eliminates 85 percent of the tax for all working families—both nonunion and union—whose health benefits cost more due to factors beyond their control.
The bill also cuts brand-name drug prices for Medicare beneficiaries by 50 percent in 2011 and closes the Medicare prescription drug “donut hole” completely by 2020. Stella Johnson, a retired school teacher and member of the Alliance for Retired Americans, is one of 3 million seniors who each year falls in the donut hole.
At a press conference with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi last week, Johnson said her prescriptions become even more costly when she is forced to pay full price as a result of the donut hole: “It is very hard for me to make ends meet. I have to choose between taking the medicines I need and paying my monthly bills. Because my prescriptions cost so much, I fall behind on some of my bills. When I get hit with late penalties, things get even worse.
The health care bill will help seniors like me who struggle every day to afford the prescriptions they must have”.
Trumka says the bill is a “solid foundation” and the union movement will “continue our efforts to improve our health care system.”
We need to do more to bring employers into the system. We need to do more to bring down costs—and one of the best ways to do that is with a public health insurance option. And it will be critical to build on the reforms in the bill designed to change the way health care is delivered, so that we reward value rather than volume.
Return to Western Kentucky AFL-CIO Area Council Home Page
 |
 |
Flag-raising ceremony attracts a crowd About 30 people attended the special American flag-raising ceremony at the council's triple flagpoles Saturday afternoon. The ceremony marked the first anniversary of a bill approved by the General Assembly that requires that all U.S. and state flags that fly over the Capitol in Frankfort and over all other state buildings be American made. U.S. Rep. Ben Chandler, D-Versailles, presented a U.S. flag to the council. State Rep. Will Coursey, D-Sharpe, gave the council a Kentucky flag. The Stars and Stripes flew over the U.S. Capitol and the state flag was raised over the Kentucky Capitol. The flag legislation was in response to a resolution from the International Association of Machinists that was written by Council Vice President Benny Adair, who is also directing business representative of IAM District Lodge 154 in Calvert City and president of the state Council of Machinists. Adair was emcee of the ceremony in which Cody Duncan, a drummer in the Heath High School band, and Berry Craig IV, a trumpeter in the Mayfield High School band, played the National Anthem while members of the Calvert City American Legion post raised the U.S. flag and fired a rifle salute. In addition, a color guard from the North Marshall Middle School Junior ROTC participated. Lee Scarbrough, also of the Mayfield High band, sang “My Old Kentucky Home” and read the flag bill and resolution. Duncan is the son of Brandon Duncan, council financial secretary and Craig is the son of Berry Craig III, the council recording secretary. Scarbrough's father is John Scarbrough, who is a member of IBEW Local 816. State Reps. Steven Rudy, R-West Paducah, Fred Nesler, D-Mayfield, Mike Cherry, D-Princeton, and Will Coursey, D-Sharpe, spoke, as did Princeton Mayor Gale Cherry, Rep. Cherry's wife. In addition, Adair read congratulatory letters from Chandler and Lt. Gov. Daniel Mongiardo. The special U.S. and Kentucky flags were taken down and presented to Council President Jeff Wiggins for display inside the council hall. Other flags replaced them on the flagpole. |
Legionnaires, above, march into position to fire a rifle salute. |
Legion members prepare to raise the flag. |
Part of the crowd watches while Benny Adair speaks. |
Benny Adair speaking at the flag ceremony. |
Jeff Wiggins accepts the flag. |
North Marshall ROTC students served as the Color Guard. |
Want to talk union on TV? Berry Craig is looking for guests for “The Union Label” his talk show on Cable Channel 2. He can be reached by phone at 543-3270 or by email at bcraig8960@newwavecomm.net |
Return to Western Kentucky AFL-CIO Area Council Home Page
Signed Copies of Berry Craig's book, True Tales of Old-Time Kentucky Politics: Bombast, Bourbon and Burgoo are still available from the Western Kentucky Labor Day Committee Inc., which puts on Paducah's annual Labor Day program. The books are $19.99 and all proceeds go to the Labor Day Committee. Books are available by mail – at no extra charge for postage. Checks should be made out to the Western Kentucky Labor Day Committee Inc. and sent to Frances Willey, 622 Charleston Ave., Lone Oak, Ky. 42001. Books may be ordered by contacting Craig by email at bcraig8960@newwavecomm.net . |
Got news or photos you want to share with your union brothers and sisters? Want to speak your mind on an issue? Send what you have to Berry Craig, newsletter editor, at bcraig8960@newwavecomm.net |