Ken Hechler inducted into hall of fame.
By The Associated Press
Tuesday September 12, 2006
Ken Hechler, a former congressman and secretary of state, has been inducted into the West Virginia Labor Hall of Honor.
The Labor Hall of Honor is administered by the West Virginia Labor History Association, which held the induction ceremony last week.
Those previously inducted include Mother Jones; Frank Keeney, a United Mine Workers leader who also participated in the Battle of Blair Mountain; Wheeling native Walter Reuther, former president of the United Autoworkers; Arnold Miller, the late UMW president; and Joseph Powell, former president of the West Virginia AFL-CIO.
Hechler was honored "for his many years of public service on behalf of working people," including his terms in Congress from 1958 to 1976.
"At a time when Congress was wary of organized labor due to the infiltration of organized crime, Hechler remained steadfast in his vision of a democratic labor movement of the rank and file," the association said.
Hechler was the first congressman to fight for coal miners’ safety after the Farmington Consol No. 9 disaster killed 78 on Nov. 20, 1968.
He was a primary sponsor of the U.S. Coal Mine Heath and Safety Act of 1969.
As a congressman, Hechler also supported the Black Lung Association and Miners for Democracy, rank-and-file movements that won union elections in 1972. After the Buffalo Creek flood in 1972, Hechler worked to secure emergency relief for its victims, including relatives of 125 people who died and 4,000 people left homeless.
