NDWG All Region Flyer

CHARLESTON  -- Kanawha Valley residents can help fight hunger in the region by simply placing non-perishable food donations by their mailboxes on Saturday, May 9, that will be collected by letter carriers and distributed locally to those in need.

“Many of our neighbors, including seniors, veterans and children, go hungry every day,” noted Letter Carrier and Charleston resident Cathy Jones. “For 22 years, letter carriers across the country have organized this effort to help food pantries stock their shelves, and to increase awareness of this ongoing problem.”

wvgazette.com

HARLESTON, W.Va. (AP) – The West Virginia AFL-CIO will hold a ceremony at the state Capitol to remember workers who died on the job last year.

The 27th Workers Memorial Day ceremony is set for noon Tuesday. Local and state workers and union representatives will attend the ceremony in front of the West Virginia Coal Miner Statue.

West Virginia AFL-CIO President Kenny Perdue says the event will honor 17 West Virginians who died at work in 2014.

By Kenny Perdue

I must admit, at the outset of the 2015 regular legislative session, I was taken aback by the outright hostility and disrespect directed toward working people and the unions who represent them. I was troubled by opinion pieces in Charleston newspapers from a coal industry/big business representative, a corporate labor attorney and a former legislator that not only included untruths, but in a few instances, base mean-spiritedness.

But in the end, I’m grateful.

When faced with that reality, and the realization that the majority of legislators in office right now favor large corporate interests over the well being, safety and way of life of the middle class and working poor, West Virginians turned out by the thousands at the state Capitol March 7.

They demanded that the truth be told about a bill with the word “Safety” in the title that instead reversed mine safety regulations, and legislation called “Right to Work” that would lower wages and limit options in the workplace.

I am deeply disappointed that Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin signed Senate Bill 357, the so-called Creating Jobs and Safety Act of 2015, into law. I have said again and again as this legislation has moved through the process that it is a bad bill, one that strips vital protections that were put in place to keep our miners safe. I am saddened that Gov. Tomblin put coal industry operators, CEOs and profits above the health and safety of West Virginia’s hardworking coal miners.