Labor Gets Ernie's Attention Tonight

[groovedaddy]

Labor Rally in Frankfort draws enthusiastic crowd…maybe a little to enthusiastic for Ernie Fletcher.
Republican Ernie Fletcher “runs the gauntlet” amid hundreds of booing labor union members and supporters. As Fletcher entered the Senate Chamber, the crowd chanted “We’ll be back, you rat!”
Fletcher had been scheduled to address the crowd at 6:30, but was a no show. Not very surprising given the reception he got while going through the Capital Rotunda. I don’t think this crowd would have heard Fletcher out if he tried to speak. I’m glad they could hear us in the chamber while Fletcher delivered his budget.
Associated Press
Union members speak out against right to work legislation






FRANKFORT, Ky. Union leaders say they will step up and fight Governor Fletcher's proposal to open union-represented workplaces to non-union workers.
Members of the A-F-L-C-I-O say Fletcher's bill to make Kentucky a "right to work" state would erode wages, benefits and workplace safety.
Richard Trumka, the secretary-treasurer of the A-F-L, says right to work states have more people without health insurance and higher poverty rates.
Trumka says any right to work law (in his words) "won't do anything to guarantee anyone a job and they won't do anything to improve Kentucky's economic climate."
The governor says making workers join unions has hindered the state's ability to bring new businesses to Kentucky. Fletcher wants to abolish "prevailing wage" law in Kentucky that requires the state and local governments to pay union scale for public construction projects.
http://www.wkyt.com/Global/story.asp?S=4374763
From the Courier Journal
But Fletcher had to wade through hundreds of angry union members on his walk from the Governor's Office to the House chamber before the speech. And while he spoke, the chants of "No, no, no" of the protesters outside could be heard inside the chamber.
Right to work and prevailing wage bills have failed to pass a Democrat-controlled House for many years, and House Democratic leaders said despite the governor's strategy, they face long odds.
"I think those two issues will have trouble passing both chambers," House Speaker Jody Richards, D-Bowling Green, said afterward. "I think those are very divisive issues, especially at a time when the governor wants us to work together."
http://www.courier-journal.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060117/NEWS01/60117028

From the Herald Leader
Still, the controversial proposals regarding organized labor dominated talk at the Capitol tonight.
In fact, the governor’s strong support for both have attracted the ire of labor organizations, the largest of which sent a national leader to Frankfort today to denounce Fletcher.
http://www.kentucky.com/mld/kentucky/13648077.htm

By ROGER ALFORD / Associated Press
Despite protests by union workers and a lack of support from Democratic legislators, Gov. Ernie Fletcher made reducing hourly wages for blue-collar tradesmen employed on public construction projects a key component of his proposed budget for the next two years.
http://www.whas11.com/sharedcontent/APStories/stories/D8F6R1Q09.html

Fletcher was booed loudly by hundreds of protesting union workers as he walked with his wife toward the House chamber to deliver his budget address. Inside the House chamber, the hundreds of protesters who filled the state Capitol halls were audible during Fletcher's speech.
Fletcher also was booed last week during his State of the Commonwealth speech, when he said he supported repealing the state's prevailing wage law and a "right to work" plan that would open union shops to nonunion workers. More than 500 blue-collar workers came to the Capitol on Tuesday night, filling the Rotunda and spilling onto the grounds outside, to oppose both measures.
Fletcher said the "right to work" plan was not included in the budget, though he said passage of separate legislation would generate an additional $20 million in General Fund revenue that could be spent on education. He said it also would create 22,000 additional jobs over the next two years.
"I understand that this may be a difficult issue for some of you, but we cannot live in the past," Fletcher said.