United Mine Workers host annual Labor Day rally in West Virginia

RACINE, WV (WOWK) — Labor Day officially marks the traditional kick-off of the fall campaign season, even though many candidates have been campaigning for months. And that was true Monday at an annual labor rally in Boone County.

Labor Day barbeques and political stumping seem to go hand-in-hand every two years, and this year was no different.

The United Mine Workers of America hosted its Labor Day picnic and rally at Slack Park in Boone County. All kinds of political candidates were there, shaking hands and moving through the crowd, asking people for their votes.

The UMWA has been hosting this rally for 86 years. There was plenty of music on stage, and good food to go around. For the candidates, it was a good opportunity to engage with union voters and others.

“Workers’ rights are always on the ballot. We’ve seen a push in recent years in West Virginia with Right to Work laws and getting rid of prevailing wage laws, to really strip away some of the hard-fought battles that unions have fought for. We’ve got to take these rights back,” said former Wheeling Mayor Glenn Elliott, (D) Nominee for U.S. Senate.

“Well, this is so special now. I look at my family. Both of my grandfathers were coal miners. One went into the mines at eight years of age. His dad had just died and he had to go work in the mines,” said Huntington Mayor Steve Williams, (D) Nominee for WV Governor.

With thousands of new jobs coming to West Virginia and more recent economic development announcements, hopes were expressed that many of those jobs be filled with union labor.

Many labor unions such as the AFL-CIO and the UMWA, will be endorsing candidates for the November elections and you can get that information by googling their websites.

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