Beshear: State convention 'gives clear voice to the folks at the heart of the labor movement'

EDITOR'S NOTE: This is the fourth in a series of stories on the just-concluded 35th biennial Kentucky State AFL-CIO convention.

By BERRY CRAIG

Alliance for Retired Americans 

A beaming Gov. Andy Beshear bounded onto the stage at the recent Kentucky State AFL-CIO convention at the Embassy Suites hotel in Lexington and introduced himself as "the proud pro-union governor of the Commonwealth of Kentucky."

Not surprisingly, the delegates and union supporters in a large meeting room collectively stood, loudly cheered and applauded.

The crowd again roared in approval when Beshear, reelected last month, declared, "we beat an anti-union attorney general."

Republican AG Daniel Cameron ran as a Trump-endorsed MAGA culture warrior. Beshear campaigned on his leadership in guiding the state through the COVID pandemic and through catastrophic tornado and flood emergencies at opposite ends of the state. He also pointed to a booming economy on his watch.

In remarks before the governor spoke, Rocky Adkins, Beshear's senior advisor, didn't name-check Cameron. But he warned against candidates who spout "foolishness," "noise" and "chatter" that don't add dollars to working peoples' pocketbooks.

Adkins praised state union leaders "because you came to the frontlines, because you encouraged your membership [and] because you put the money ...where we needed it to get out our message." 

Adkins enjoyed consistent union support during his 32 years in the state House of Representatives, much of his tenure in Democratic leadership. He said he was "proud to work for a governor who stands strong beside organized labor every day and he's not afraid to say, 'I support organized labor and I will stand with them shoulder to shoulder.'"

Beshear said he personally knew "almost every single person in this room" and he praised the state AFL-CIO for helping him win a second term by contributing money and volunteers to his campaign and educating union members about his pro-labor record. He hoped union members don't view the election "as my win. I hope you view it as our win." 

Beshear said he especially wanted to thank outgoing state AFL-CIO president Bill Londrigan who opted against running again after 24 years as the federation's head. Londrigan was unanimously elected in 1999; he won five more four-year terms without opposition.

The convention elected Dustin Reinstedler of Louisville to succeed Londrigan, who lives near Frankfort. Reinstedler had no opponent.

Reinstedler, who hails from a multi-generational union family, is president of the Kentucky State Building and Construction Trades Council and vice chairman of Bricklayers Local 4. 

Beshear praised Londrigan's "service in Frankfort in good times and in tough times representing the hardworking men and women of Kentucky--never backing down, always stepping up to whatever the challenge." He added, "Bill, we appreciate your hard work and I know every single union member in Kentucky owes you a debt of gratitude." 

The governor said he was glad to again visit the every-other-year statewide labor assembly. Monday and Tuesday's gathering was the 35th biennial convention.  

"This longstanding conference...gives clear voice to the folks at the heart of the labor movement in communities across this commonwealth," he said. "Our labor unions are the backbone of America, not just in the past but in the present. 

"You helped build the strongest middle class that the world has ever seen and even today, especially as we look at what our labor unions have done-- whether that's out at UPS or negotiating with [the Big Three automakers] today--you continue to create a better life for our Kentucky families."

He lauded building trades unions for their quality work on major construction projects, including the massive BlueOval SK Battery Park in Glendale, which will produce batteries for electric vehicles. Beshear said the $5.8 billion facility is the largest economic development project in state history. 

Said the governor: "You've got these two amazing things together at the same time, a red hot economy--better than I have ever seen it--with more companies choosing us for the biggest projects they've ever done--betting their future on Kentucky--and at the same time some of the strongest union leadership, some of the best results we've ever seen, and project labor agreements on all these major projects."

Beshear said "every hardworking union member down at Glendale right now is doing something historic," adding, "those are the two biggest battery plants on planet earth and right now we are ahead of schedule on their construction."

That quick pace, Beshear said, "let's me as governor...tell every single company, 'If you want to locate here, we will make sure that you are up and running faster than your competitors.' But the second thing, it lets me...say we are only going to make that schedule if you ensure you will have union labor on site to get the job done."

Beshear predicted, "because of your work and because of all us winning this election, I think we even have better days ahead and that's something when we look back at the last four years: a pandemic, tornadoes, floods, the polar plunge--negative 30 degrees in Kentucky."

He said during those difficult days organized labor excelled "because you've always fought for the people of Kentucky, and you show up in our toughest times, and for that I am grateful--whether it was bringing food and supplies to people or helping my wife in what has to be the most successful toy drive in the United States of America."

Beshear said his time in office has included "our best three-year period for economic development in our history....Together we brought in a record $28 billion in private investment. That's more than any governor's administration." In addition, he said that record budget surpluses and historically low unemployment add up to a "budget cycle this year [with] enough money to give every public school employee the giant raise they deserve."

Also in his remarks, Beshear hearkened to one of his familiar campaign themes: setting aside political partisanship. "We don't care if an idea or an individual is a Democrat or a Republican...It is not about moving to the right or to the left but moving forward for all of our people.

"We recognize that the  American people don't wake up every morning thinking about Trump or Biden, red or blue, Democrat or Republican. They think about the job they are going to, the road they are going to drive to get there, the public school [where] they're dropping their kids off, the next doctor's appointment they have for themselves or one of their family members and if we continue to focus on those things that better the lives for all of our families, regardless of their party, regardless of who they voted for, then we can move this state forward in special ways."

In January, Beshear will face a hard-right Republican supermajority House and Senate. "We can either beat Indiana or beat up on each other," the governor quipped. "I personally know I love beating Indiana."

Beshear said that while Kentucky is "on our way to becoming an economic leader in this country, I also think we have a chance to be a moral leader, too."

That was evidently a not-so-veiled reference to Cameron's campaign in which the GOP candidate repeatedly demonized Beshear and the Democrats. He said Kentucky politics and governance has "become so toxic and so poisonous--people acting towards each other in ways that would get everybody else fired at work...I think one of the statements that we made [in the campaign] is that anger politics should end right here and right now."

Beshear said that in his second term, he was "not only looking forward to y'all helping us build these facilities. I'm looking forward to you all representing the workers and the AFL-CIO," which "brings us all together right under one roof."

He said when one union benefits, all unions benefit. "When we stick together, not just you as organized labor but the working families of Kentucky, what a better life we can build."

The governor also presented Londrigan with a framed proclamation recognizing the 118-year-old Kentucky State AFL-CIO as the state's "largest labor federation...whose affiliates represent workers in every occupation." The proclamation also said that "the Kentucky State AFL-CIO has been continuously promoting and protecting the interests of Kentucky's hard working men and women....and their families."