Once again, Republicans are trying to erase the history of America’s working people. In Maine, Republican Gov. Paul LePage has ordered the removal of a 36-foot mural depicting the state’s labor history from the Department of Labor. The 11-panel piece  in part depicts a 1986 paper mill strike and “Rosie the Riveter” at Bath Iron Works. Judy Taylor, an artist based on Mount Desert, won a 2007 competition to create the mural to depict the “History of Labor in the State of Maine.”

The AFL-CIO Executive Council welcomed Veda Shook and Walter Wise as new members today.

Shook took office Jan. 1 as president of the Flight Attendants-CWA, succeeding Patricia Friend, who retired and also resigned from the Executive Council. An AFA-CWA member since 1991, Shook says she plans to keep right on flying. Before her election as president, she served as an AFA-CWA vice president since 2007.