March 23, 2011

AUGUSTA — 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.

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."

LePage spokeswoman Adrienne Bennett released an anonymous fax dated Feb. 24 that apparently comes from someone who sat in the Labor Department lobby.

The person wrote: "In studying the mural I 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."

Portland, Maine, PRESS HERALD