Let's go for a walk on Sept. 4

By JEFF WIGGINS
Area Council President

Put on comfortable shoes and drop by the Area Council hall on Sept. 4.

We're having a labor-to-labor walk, and you're invited.

It you don't know where we are, the address is 1202 S. 4 th Street. If you need directions, call me at (270) 933-0085 or email me at wkyaflcio@bellsouth.net .

The walk will go from 5 to 7 p.m. After we fan out across the city, we'll meet back at the hall and talk.

The labor-to-labor walk, where union volunteers go door to door telling our union brothers and sisters about our union-endorsed candidates, was one of the most effective parts of our Labor 2007 program.

Meanwhile, excitement for Labor 2008 is building. I can feel it as I travel around our end of the state as Zone One coordinator for Labor 2008. I'm getting great help from outstanding union leaders like Kyle Henderson of Plumbers Local 184 and Greg Hobgood of IBEW Local 816, both in Paducah, James Stahr of Steelworkers Local 775 in Wickliffe and Frankie Hardin of Steelworkers Local 14746 in Madisonville.

They've been passing out leaflets to members of their locals. Why is that so important? Well, statistics show that when we put literature in the hands of our members, they vote for union-endorsed candidates about 80 percent of the time.

When you get the literature, don't keep it to yourself. Share it with your family and friends. Why not spread the word even more by taking a little time to write a letter to the editor of your local paper?

Use what's in the literature, or contact me if you need more information. You can even email letters to the editor of many papers.

If you think you need some help, we have a volunteer – an ex-reporter – who will be glad to assist you with your letters. I'll be glad to contact him for you.

Don't worry about length. The ex-reporter says the most effective letters to the editor are short and fact-filled.

For example, we know Mitch McConnell is one of the most anti-union members of the U.S. Senate. Prove it with numbers -- McConnell has a lifetime pro-labor voting record of only 11 percent, according to the Committee on Political Education of the national AFL-CIO. Not many senators have COPE scores that low.

When you criticize McConnell, don't forget to say positive things about Bruce Lunsford, our candidate. Totally negative letters – like negative campaigning, McConnell's specialty -- turn a lot of people off.

McConnell is turning a lot of Kentuckians off. Lunsford has better than a fighting chance to beat him, although the so-called political experts say Barack Obama, our candidate for president, can't win Kentucky. Maybe not, but I'm hearing all over Zone One that support for him is growing.

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Machinist Donnie Beverly expected to be named new trustee

Donnie Beverly, a member of Calvert City IAM Local 1969, will likely replace George Wiggins as a council trustee.

Wiggins, the father of Jeff Wiggins, council president, recently died. President Wiggins recommended Donnie Beverly at the August council meeting and asked for other nominations.

None were offered.

The council Executive Board is expected to vote Beverly in when it meets before the September council meeting.     

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Hubbard expects the state GOP to fling mud against him

Former Congressman Carroll Hubbard expects a dirty campaign against him despite his opponent's claim that he won't sling mud.

Hubbard, a Mayfield Democrat, is seeking to unseat state Sen. Ken Winters, R-Murray. Winters “has said he won't run a negative campaign,” said Hubbard, who held Winters' seat before he was elected to the U.S. House. “…Then privately, after the meetings, he tells people It'll be the Republican Party up in Frankfort that's going to do the negative.”

Hubbard, an attorney, also thanked the delegates for recommending his endorsement to the state AFL-CIO. He was endorsed.

“I am always grateful to you the Western Kentucky AFL-CIO Area Council,” Hubbard said. “Labor has been so kind to me. Labor has been so important to me in my races before.”

Winters is running for a second term. He defeated Mayfield attorney Dennis Null in 2004.

 “Right before election day, Null was hit with a series of very negative mailings,” Wiggins said. “They were lies. One of the mailings accused Dennis of representing child pornographers.”

Null said Winters told him he wasn't responsible for the mailings. “That's called ‘plausible deniability,” Wiggins said. “You let other people do your dirty work and claim you didn't know anything about it. “

Wiggins said Winters is one of the most anti-union state senators. “He is in the same boat with David Williams,” Wiggins added. “Ken Winters needs to go. David Williams needs to go. We need Carroll Hubbard up there.”

Wiggins said unions also need to help send Mike Lawrence to Frankfort. Lawrence, another labor-endorsed Democrat, is running against State Rep. Steven Rudy. Both are from West Paducah.

 “If you can stand the heat at Fancy Farm you can stand anything,” Lawrence joked with delegates at the August meeting. The McCracken County clerk, Lawrence spoke at the annual Fancy Farm political picnic for the first time.

Don't look for less than labor-friendly politicians on the speaker's stand at the Labor Day picnic.

“We did things a little differently this year,” said Wiggins, who is also president of the Western Kentucky Labor Day Committee. “Labor Day is our day. We only invited candidates to speak at the picnic who stand up for us.

“We'll invite others when they start supporting working people, too.”

By “others,” Wiggins included Paducah Mayor Bill Paxton, Sens. Jim Bunning and Mitch McConnell and U.S. Rep. Ed Whitfield. All but Bunning are running for reelection.

“They and all other politicians are free to be in our parade, he said. Bunning, McConnell and Whitfield are Republicans. City elections are non-partisan. “But Mayor Paxton might as well run as a Republican,” Wiggins said. “He's anti-union, too.”

 The Labor Day Committee is a private, non-profit organization that puts on the city's annual Labor Day program. “We don't get any money from the city or from government at any level,” Wiggins said. “I think that gives us the right to invite anybody we want to.”

The program features a parade up Broadway that starts at 9:30 a.m. It will be followed by a picnic, political speaking and musical entertainment by the Darren Warren Band, all at Carson Park. The speaking starts around noon, followed by the music. The parade will be led by longtime local labor leader Bill Hack, the grand marshal. “We'll have barbecue and flea market vendors in the park,” Wiggins said. “But there is no admission charge for anything.”

Pre-Fancy Farm Picnic Labor Luncheon Photos

The West Kentucky Building and Construction Trades Council, AFL-CIO, hosted its Pre-Fancy Farm Picnic Labor Luncheon Aug. 1 at the Mid-America Expo Center in Reidland. Speakers included Gov. Steve Beshear, left, Lt. Gov. Dan Mongiardo, House Speaker Jody Richards, Democratic U.S. senate candidate Bruce Lunsford, Labor Secretary J.R. Gray, former Gov. Paul Patton and several other Democratic officials and office seekers. Larry Sanderson of the Plumbers union was master of ceremonies. “It really got everybody fired up for Fancy Farm,” said Jeff Wiggins, council president. “We congratulate the building trades for another fine luncheon.” We look forward to attending the 2009 luncheon, too. (See below for more photos from the luncheon.)

(Photos by BERRY CRAIG, copyright 2008)

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