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Labor breakfast rallies faithful for upcoming election

Presidential candiate Barack Obama was not in attendance last week at the annual labor breakfast, but his name was certainly mentioned by the speakers, including Chicopee Mayor Michael Bissonnette. Reminder Publications photo by G. Michael Dobbs
By G. Michael Dobbs

Managing Editor



CHICOPEE The annual Pioneer Valley Labor Day Breakfast was clearly a political rally to generate an important base for Democrats: organized labor.

Conducted Friday morning at the Castle of Knights in Chicopee, the several hundred union members had the chance to sit and speak with many of the Western Massachusetts elected leadership. Attendees included Mayors Michael Bissonnette, Domenic Sarno and Mary Claire Higgins, Hampden County Sheriff Michael Ashe, Congressman John Olver, State Senators Gale Candaras and Stephen Buoniconti, State Reps. John Scibak, James Welch, Cheryl Coakley-Rivera, Angelo Puppolo, Ben Swan and Longmeadow Select Board member Kathy Grady.

Richard Brown, the president of the Pioneer Valley AFL-CIO, started the breakfast with a joke about Republican Vice Presidential candidate Gov. Sarah Palin, setting a tone that was carried on by Bissonnette.

As the host mayor, Bissonnette spoke first and told the group of several hundred that Republicans don't care about them.

"Let's not be fooled by John McCain," Bissonnette said.

Standing next to a life-size cut-out of Sen. Barack Obama, Bissonnette accused McCain of "flip-flopping" on issues and that political consultant Karl Rove is "embedded in the McCain campaign."

"[Rove] is going to try to change the reality as perceived by the American public," Bissonnette charged.

"We can't afford one more minute of the Republicans being in the White House," Bissonnette said.

Bissonnette noted that Democratic Vice Presidential candidate Sen. Joseph Biden is scheduled to come to a fundraiser in Holyoke on Sept. 10 and expressed hope local Democrats would turn out for the event.

Massachusetts can't afford the elimination of the state income tax was the message delivered by Pamela Schwartz, the western region field director for the Coalition for Our Communities.

Speaking to Reminder Publications before the event, Schwartz said the ballot question sponsored by the Libertarian Party would eliminate about 40 percent of the revenue the state makes.

The reaction, she said, is that leaders from "every sector are opposed to it."

Schwartz said the most basic services of police and fire protection, schools and safe roads would be affected as the state aid helping to fund them would be greatly diminished.

"This [issue] is about a reckless question that would hurt everyone," she said.

She said the proponents of the bill are campaigning with the message that eliminating the state income tax would be a tax cut, which has "immediate appeal."

"In fact they are selling people a bill of goods," she said.

Schwartz said people could learn more about the issue by going to www.noonquestion1.com.