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Maine Governor Orders Labor Mural Removed
March 24, 2011
Portland Press Herald - Maine Gov. Paul LePage has ordered the removal of a 36-foot mural depicting the state's labor history from the lobby of the Department of Labor headquarters building in Augusta.
In addition, the LePage administration is renaming several department conference rooms that carry the names of pro-labor icons such as Cesar Chavez.
LePage spokesman Dan Demeritt says the mural and the conference room names are not in keeping with the department's pro-business goals and some business owners complained.
The mural was erected in 2008. It depicts several moments in Maine labor history, including a 1937 shoe mill strike in Auburn and Lewiston and "Rosie the Riveter" at the Bath Iron Works.
The Sun Journal newspaper says some worker advocates feel the move is a "mean-spirited" provocation.
Mural of Maine’s Workers Becomes Political Target
March 24, 2011New York Times - Clashes at state capitols over organized labor have become commonplace this year, with protesters throughout the country objecting to proposed limits on collective bargaining and cuts in benefits. Maine’s governor, Paul LePage, has opened a new — and unlikely — front in the battle between some lawmakers and unions: a 36-foot-wide mural in the state’s Department of Labor building in Augusta.
A spokeswoman said Mr. LePage, a Republican, ordered the mural removed after several business officials complained about it and after the governor received an anonymous fax saying it was reminiscent of “communist North Korea where they use these murals to brainwash the masses.”
“The Department of Labor is a state agency that works very closely with both employees and employers, and we need to have a décor that represents neutrality,” said Mr. LePage’s spokeswoman, Adrienne Bennett.
The mural was created by Judy Taylor, who won a 2007 competition overseen by the Maine Arts Commission to commission artwork for the department’s lobby.
“I don’t agree that it’s one-sided,” Ms. Taylor said. “It’s based on historical fact. I’m not sure how you can say history is one-sided.”
Ms. Taylor said she consulted with historians to do the mural, for which she received a $60,000 grant.
“It didn’t intend to be pro-business or pro-labor,” she said. “By default, it’s honoring the working man and working woman.”
Mr. LePage has repeatedly clashed with labor unions since his inauguration in January. He is pushing for a higher retirement age for public employees and for “right-to-work” legislation that would allow union members to stop paying dues or fees.
His order to remove the mural has faced criticism. Don Berry, president of the Maine State A.F.L.-C.I.O., called the move “mean-spirited” and said that “99 percent of our business people won’t have any problem with the mural.”
Mike Tipping, a spokesman for the Maine People’s Alliance, a progressive group, said,
“People elected Governor LePage, hoping he would create jobs and not get involved in the interior decoration of state offices.”
Mr. LePage has also ordered that the Labor Department’s seven conference rooms be renamed. One is named after César Chávez, the farmworkers’ leader; one after Rose Schneiderman, a leader of the New York Women’s Trade Union League a century ago; and one after Frances Perkins, who became the nation’s first female labor secretary and is buried in Maine.
Charles Scontras, a labor historian at the University of Maine, said:
“Totalitarian regimes erase history as well. We manage to do it by indifference or neglect or for ideological reasons.”He voiced surprise that a Franco-American like the governor, whose wife was once a union steward, would take such a move when the mural honored the work that generations of Maine’s Franco-Americans had done in the shoe, textile and paper industries.
“The Department of Labor is owned by the people of the state,” said Ms. Bennett, the spokeswoman. “We need to make sure we’re representing all Mainers.
“The governor understands the value of history,” she added. “That’s why we’re exploring placing the mural in the State of Maine Museum.”
AFL-CIO: LePage Plan to Remove Labor Dept. Mural 'Spiteful'
March 24, 2011Portland Press Herald - Labor leaders described LePage's decision to remove the mural as "political payback" in a statement released this morning by the Maine AFL-CIO.
"It's unfortunate that Governor LePage continues to pick fights with the working class in Maine," said Don Berry, president of the Maine AFL-CIO. "This is political payback, the opposite of putting people first. It's a spiteful, mean-spirited move by the governor that does nothing to create jobs or improve the Maine economy."
In an interview, LePage spokeswoman Adrienne Bennett said the governor wants the mural to be donated to the state museum or another appropriate venue.
"It is inappropriate for a taxpayer funded agency to appear to be one sided or the other," she said. "The Department of Labor works closely with employees and employers."
She said the Governor's Office has received "several messages" from the public complaining about the mural. She released an anonymous fax dated Feb. 24 that apparently comes from someone who sat in the Labor Department lobby.
"In this mural I observed a figure which closely resembles the former commissioner of labor," the person wrote. "In studying the mural I also observed that this mural is nothing but propaganda to further the agenda of the Union movement. I felt for a moment that I was in communist North Korea where they use these murals to brainwash the masses."
The fax is signed "A Secret Admirer."
Bennett also released a memo sent from Maine Department of Labor Acting Commissioner Laura Boyett that asks staffers for suggestions about renaming eight conference rooms, some of which are named after labor leaders.
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