Beshear: ‘Working families are a lot stronger than Matt Bevin thinks.'
By BERRY CRAIG
AFT Local 1360
Kyle Henderson, Plumbers and Steamfitters Local 184 business manager, didn’t have to invite Andy Beshear to Paducah Saturday night for the union's 120th anniversary dinner.
Henderson told the big crowd that after the Democratic gubernatorial hopeful heard about the celebration, he phoned him and said, "Kyle, I’ve got to be there. I’ve got to come and talk to my friends.”
Henderson said unions “don’t have a lot of political friends” in Frankfort any more.
Paducah-based Local 184, one of the oldest labor organizations in western Kentucky, endorsed Beshear, the outgoing attorney general, in the May Democratic primary. He thanked the local, adding, “without you, I’m not sure I would have won that primary. You all were there with me; you were with me early. ”
The Kentucky State AFL-CIO endorsed Beshear right after he bested House Minority Leader Rocky Adkins and former state auditor Adam Edelen. Beshear's running mate is educator Jacqueline Coleman.
Bevin fended off a stiff challenge from three Republicans, notably state Rep. Robert Goforth, in the GOP primary. Sen. Ralph Alvarado is on the ticket with Bevin.
Beshear praised Local 184 for its six-score years of history “of fighting for working people...of making sure that if you work a hard week, you make enough to raise your family working just one job" and "of making sure that our families are in a place where, if you need to take your parents or your kids to see a doctor when they're sick...you can afford it, and it doesn't break the bank.”
After saluting “Local 184 and all of organized labor for helping to build this country and build our middle class," he reminded the union members and their families "that our way of life, [and] the concept that working a hard week should result in fair wages, is under attack right now.”
Beshear said that he came to join a celebration, but warned that “we have to know the serious situation that we are in…We have a governor in Frankfort that will stop at nothing to pay us less, [and] will stop at nothing to make sure that we will have fewer benefits.”
Beshear said Bevin “has torn down every organization in Frankfort that is supposed to make sure we have a safe workplace.”
The crowd frequently interrupted Beshear with applause. But the clapping and cheering was loudest when be declared that Nov. 5, election day, was an opportunity to show the governor that “working families are a lot stronger than Matt Bevin thinks.”
Beshear also stressed his western Kentucky roots. His father, Gov. Steve Beshear, grew up in Dawson Springs in Hopkins County.
The former governor’s son said Bevin has forgotten western Kentucky. He said the governor "doesn't work to create jobs right here, and has no vision for it." Beshear promised that when he wins, he'll remember the region.
Meanwhile, he wanted the crowd to "know this race isn’t about me. It’s about us...While we are here celebrating 120 years, if Matt Bevin is reelected, I don’t know if we get to celebrate 125 years. That’s how serious this is.”
Beshear pledged to return for subsequent celebrations if he unseats Bevin.
“I need your help,” he said wrapping up his brief remarks. He challenged the crowd to “take ownership of this race, to believe that all of our futures are on the line and that all of our families will be better off” with Bevin out of office.
But he said that victory hinged on a big turnout. He urged "every single person we know to vote" -- "that every single member of Local 184 gets out and votes, along with their family and their friends, that every single member of organized labor--and every single person whose job is on the line and is a part of this middle class--gets out [and votes]."
He predicted that "if the election were today, we’d win." But the vote was exactly a month away, he reminded everybody.
"So we have one month from today, one month to secure a better and brighter future, one month to stand up for all the teachers that this governor has called names, one month to make sure we never have a governor that yells at labor" in the Capitol after his GOP-majority House and Senate approved "a ‘right to work' for less bill." In 2017, Bevin pushed for, and eagerly signed, RTW legislation and a measure to repeal the prevailing wage.
He continued, "One month to elect a governor that works every day to restore prevailing wage. One month to elect a governor that will restore the skilled trade boards, but mainly one month to elect a governor that cares about our working families just like you do.”
Beshear was on familiar, as well as friendly, turf. The dinner was at the Julian M. Carroll Convention Center, where on Thursday, he squared off against Bevin in the first gubernatorial debate.