The rally was called to protest cuts in workers compensation, demand collective bargaining rights for public employees, and to introduce new officers of the Kentucky State AFL-CIO. The state AFL-CIO was charged last year with embezzlement of hundreds of thousands of dollars. Top officers were removed by the national labor federation.

Some 1,500 workers, many involved in struggles in the state, turned out looking for solidarity.

George Cammon, a crane operator with 27 years at NSA/Aluminum, came with 80 other members of the United Steelworkers of America (USWA) from Hawesville, carrying signs saying, "USWA Local 9423 fighting against Unfair Labor Practices."

Workers from NSA went on strike 20 months ago after winning a union election, but not their first contract. When they made an agreement to go back, the company locked them out. So far the company has brought back 100 workers, but 300 are still out.  
 

Poultry workers

Mindy Catron and Janet Butler are young women who had worked only 10 months at Cagle-Keystone, a poultry processor employing 1,000 workers in Albany when they were fired from their jobs along with 46 other workers for trying to organize a union. Dozens of Cagle workers were very visible in their bright orange T-shirts, as they sold buttons and passed out flyers explaining their fight against the company's more than 200 violations of labor law.

According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, 16.6 of every 100 poultry workers suffered a work-related illness or injury in 1997--more than twice the rate of all private industry.

Only two of Kentucky's five chicken plants are unionized. A fatal accident at one of the nonunionized plants owned by Tyson in the western part of the state at Robards occurred in 1999. One worker tumbled over a retaining wall into a pit of poultry entrails and other parts. A second man was lowered into the pit to try to rescue him.

Both workers were overcome by methane gas that gathers in the pit, where rotting chickens and poultry by-products are stored before being shipped to plants that make pet food. Neither man was wearing breathing gear.

Construction workers, Teamsters, members of the garment and textile workers union, and of the United Food and Commercial Workers union (UFCW) attended the rally. About 45 of the UFCW workers were from Carhartt sewing plants and a warehouse in the western part of the state. Most said they came because of the cuts in workers compensation.

Workers compensation is a safety net for injured workers who incur occupational-related injuries or illness. While administered by the state, employers pay the premiums. Benefits include payments for medical expenses, lost income, and job training. In exchange, employees surrender almost all rights to sue employers for damages arising from workplace injuries.  
 

Only 2 percent get compensation

Led by Gov. Paul Patton, cuts in workers compensation and black lung benefits were enacted in 1996. This has resulted in only 2 percent, or 19 of 806, of applicants qualifying for black lung benefits since the law was changed. In 1994–95 nearly 80 percent of applicants received benefits.

The new law gives a few doctors enormous influence over disability decisions. Even most miners with X-ray evidence of the disease are not being qualified for benefits because of the law's more restrictive standards for black lung cases.

Although employers have benefited from Kentucky's new law, workers are dying. The state estimates that the cost of workers compensation insurance decreased for all employers by at least $136 million--18 percent--during 1997. And the number of claims for occupational disease and retraining benefits, which include black lung cases, declined 57 percent.

Falsification of dust samples in coal mines has resulted in hundreds of miners dying of black lung disease and countless others living with disabling lung damage.

Nevertheless, Governor Patton spoke from the platform at the February 20 rally. State AFL-CIO president Bill Londrigan introduced him as an "ally of labor." The introduction went on, "Unfortunately we had a falling out with him over workers compensation, but are working closely with him in this legislative session to reverse that." Patton said he intended to fix the law so that "workers are fairly compensated, but the benefits are not abused."

Many workers were angered by Patton's participation in the rally. Helen Epling, a bakery worker, said, "Patton was one of the biggest nonunion mine operators in Pike County. That's how he made his fortune. My father is about to die of black lung disease, and he hasn't gotten a dime." The Louisville Courier-Journal reported that the United Mine Workers union did not have organized participation because Patton was part of the lead contingent in the short march that preceded the rally.  
 

Anti-China tirade

Mike Leonard, a United Food and Commercial Workers official attempted to take the focus off the state and federal governments, as well as the employers, when he launched a tirade against China and Wal-Mart during his remarks. He also demanded that recently proposed "domestic content" legislation be passed, stipulating state purchases would first be made from Kentucky companies, then U.S. companies, and if that wasn't possible, companies from other countries that "respected labor standards."

A newsletter entitled "Task Force America," which was passed out by about a half dozen participants, including a few wearing UFCW jackets, took this theme to its logical, America-first, and anti-worker conclusion.

The flyer was devoted to attacking Wal-Mart for its business ties to China. Printed in red, white, and blue, it was splashed with American flags with the main headline: "Wal-Mart In Bed With Red Dictators."

John Sarge is a member of the United Auto Workers in Wayne, Michigan.  
 
 
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