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Roberts: Unions about safety, job protection

Large crowd attends annual Labor Day picnic at Hough Park

By J. Miles Layton Times West Virginian

MANNINGTON — A passionate, upbeat mood swept the crowd as orators fired up and inspired more than 1,500 people who attended the Labor Day Picnic Sunday at Hough Park.

The keynote speaker was Cecil Roberts, president of the United Mine Workers of America International. Conjuring up a fiery oratorical zeal reminiscent of tent revivals of long ago, Roberts talked truth to those powers that want to crush the working man and keep him down. He said unions offer job protection that every American worker craves.

“A miner told to climb up on scaffolding without a rope or into a dangerous part of a mine should be able to look at his boss and say, ‘Kiss my a**!’” Roberts said.

The crowd roared and offered thunderous applause. But Roberts was only just beginning to get warmed up. He recognized veterans, politicians, pensioners and others, even offering a prayer. At one point, Roberts stepped down from the podium and walked among the crowd, extolling the virtues of unions that have created the middle class.

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