ELKINS, W.Va. — Organized labor in West Virginia will stage a number of rallies around the state in the coming days. The events are called “Working Family Rallies” and are aimed at generating interest in a number of issues organized labor believes are crucial with the current makeup of the legislature.
“We’re just trying to get people out to talk about working family issues,” said Pat Jack, President of AFSCME Local 3219 and organizer of the event Sunday in Elkins. “We’re tired of the politicians and legislative leadership in Charleston worrying about themselves and not worrying about working families in West Virginia.”
Organized labor has taken a big role in the current election, targeting the Republican majorities in the House and Senate and railing against some of their work over the last two legislative sessions. Labor unions were most angered by the passage of a Right to Work law and the elimination of the requirement for a prevailing wage on some state contracts.
“You have right to work, prevailing wage, workplace safety, and you’ve got Bill Cole bringing in Scott Walker,” said Jack.
Walker campaigned in the state Friday alongside Cole. The Wisconsin Governor and former GOP Presidential hopeful has drawn the ire of unions nationwide for his efforts in Wisconsin. Jack said Walker worked to eliminate civil service protection for Wisconsin state employees which deeply concerned him if that was Cole’s plan for West Virginia.
“I remember talking to my grandfather every election year and sometimes after the election he had a job and sometimes he didn’t when he worked as a mechanic at the state road equipment division,” said Jack. “West Virginia is about 48th or 49th in medium family income and the first thing this legislature does is go in and cut wages for working West Virginians. It’s kind of concerning to me.”
Jack hoped to have several hundred at the Sunday afternoon rally in Elkins at 1:30 p.m. at Orchard Hall. There were no speakers scheduled, but Jack said any and all politicians have been invited. He hoped Democrat gubernatorial nominee Jim Justice would show up.
Other rallies include Saturday, October 29,at the A.D. Lewis Community Center in Huntington at 11 a.m. Saturday Nov. 5 at 12 p.m. at the Second Avenue Community Center in Charleston, and Sunday Nov. 6 at 2 p.m. in Morgantown. The location of the Morgantown rally is yet to be announced.