Bernard Pollack, AFL-CIO field coordinator, sends us this report on the campaign to elect a working family-friendly governor in Kentucky.
"Union members and their families will decide who is the next governor of Kentucky," Kentucky AFL-CIO President Bill Londrigan told more than 230 union members Tuesday as they packed Machinists Lodge 154 hall to rally in support of gubernatorial candidate Steve Beshear and lieutenant governor candidate Dan Mongiardo.
"With 350,000 union members, householders, retirees and Working America members in the state of Kentucky, the labor movement will be one-quarter of all votes cast on Election Day," he said.
Bashear and Mongiardo won raucous applause by grabbing pens and signing a pledge to support the Employee Free Choice Act and to publicly support collective bargaining and workers' freedom to form unions in Kentucky.
With the candidates and IAM International Secretary-Treasurer Warren Mart at his side, Londrigan told the union activists that to win this election they need to:
• Pass out leaflets comparing the records of Bashear and his opponent, Gov. Ernie Fletcher at every shift change, at every worksite, in every part of the state.
• Mobilize hundreds to join the State Labor 2007 Kick-Off Walk in Louisville Sept. 22 and to canvass neighborhoods throughout the state every Saturday thereafter.
• Fill phone banks with volunteers day and night.
Beshear reiterated his support of working family key issues: affordable health care for all, the right to retire with dignity and protecting good, middle-class jobs. Recognizing how important union support is in his strategy to win, he told the crowd, "While there are lots of ways you can help me win, the most important thing you can do is what you do best: the labor movement’s member-to-member program."
Watch the video right now and hear Steve Beshear tell union activists the importance of the labor walks, phone banking, worksite leafleting and local union mail programs.
http://www.youtube.com/...
The passionate crowd represented a diverse cross-section of the Kentucky labor movement including members of AFGE, AFSCME, Building Trades, Carpenters, CWA, IAFF, IAM, IBEW, IRON, LIUNA, JCTA, UA, UAW, UFCW, USW, UMWA and more.