Unions Decry Maine Gov's 'Mean-Spirited' Removal of Labor Mural From Gov't Building

AUGUSTA, Maine (AP/The Blaze) — 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 said the mural and the conference room names are not in keeping with the department’s pro-business goals and some business owners complained. "The message from state agencies needs to be balanced," Demeritt told the Sun Journal.

The mural was erected in 2008 with a $60,000 federal grant. It depicts several moments in Maine labor history, including a 1937 shoe mill strike in Auburn and Lewiston and “Rosie the Riveter" and a paper mill workers' strike in 1986.  The idea for the art panels reportedly came from Charley Scontras, a labor historian at the University of Maine.

Judy Taylor, the artist who created the mural, called LePage's decision to remove the work "terrible," adding that her 2007 selection by the Maine Arts Commission represented the "commission of a lifetime." Taylor also insisted the artwork was never meant to be political.  "There was never any intention to be pro-labor or anti-labor," she said. "It was a pure depiction of the facts."

Demeritt said the administration's decision was not designed to antagonize organized labor and was not timed to coincide with the groups' recent budget protests at the state capitol building.  Gov. LePage has proposed pension cuts for unionized state workers and teachers and plans to pursue "right-to-work" legislation that has riled union leaders.

Labor advocates claim the decision to remove the mural is "mean-spirited" and a purposeful provocation by the Republican governor.

Mike Tipping, a spokesman for the Maine People's Alliance, a progressive organization, said LePage had been "elected to create jobs, not to be the state's interior decorator."

"The LePage administration is going after Maine workers on a bunch of different fronts," Tipping said. "I guess 'Rosie the Riveter' is just another casualty."

Additionally, Matt Schlobohm of the Maine AFL-CIO chapter condemned the decision, saying a depiction of history should "rise above" political differences.  "To remove a mural that is a historical depiction just seems arbitrary and mean-spirited," Schlobohm said.

"It's a very small thing," Demeritt countered.  "I just want to emphasize that we were merely looking to achieve a little aesthetic balance.  It's very minor."

As for renaming the building's conference rooms, Demeritt said they could be named "after mountains, counties or something."

(Images: Judy Tayor)