United Mine Workers picnic in Boone County draws union leaders and political candidates
Source: Eyewitness News
Date: September 3, 2024
RACINE, W.Va. (WCHS) — The United Mine Workers of America held its annual picnic in Boone County on Monday. This was the 86th edition of the Labor Day gathering at John Slack Memorial Park.
The event brought out union leaders and political candidates stumping on the campaign trail.
With the upcoming election, labor unions are expected to have a prominent affect, and events like these are a way for union members to get to know candidates.
Brian Lacy, International District 17 Vice President of the UMWA, said this event is an important tradition.
“I think it’s very important to just keep labor in the forefront and not let people forget that the protections that they have today whether they’re union worker or non union worker came from the labor movement,” Lacy said.
The union goes through an endorsement process. They interview candidates to determine if they support labor and finding solutions to the issues workers face.
“We want them to be for safety on the job, for people to have rights and be able to have a safe workplace where they can come home everyday back to their family,” Lacy said.
Lacy said they also have to support well paying jobs, good healthcare, good pension benefits after retirement and people’s right to organize.
“We’ve seen efforts to undermine a lot of these hard fought battles that organized labor has and I think we need to be very mindful going forward,” U.S. Senate candidate Glenn Elliott said.
Unions have been taking larger roles in politics, because their goal is to create a balance between employers and organized labor.
Union members said engaging in politics is more important than ever now, because they say income inequality is exploding, with corporate profits at a 70 year high.
“You have to be mindful of the proud history that organized labor has in the state, of the blood and the sweat and the tears that members of organized labor have basically shed fighting for rights that sometimes we take for granted,” Elliott said.
Elliott said unions invented the middle class. Now, the union membership is down to roughly 10% of the population. He said he wants to see more people come together because it creates a stronger force, especially during an election year.
