For Immediate Release: SENATOR JACKSON HONORED BY LABOR ADVOCATES

Receives the Frances Perkins Award at Western Maine Labor Council annual dinner

LEWISTON – Assistant Senate Majority Leader Troy Jackson (D-Allagash) was given the Frances Perkins Award at the Western Maine Labor Council’s annual Workers’ Memorial Day Dinner on Sunday in Lewiston. The award is given annually in honor of Frances Perkins, who was Secretary of Labor under President Franklin D. Roosevelt and the first woman appointed to a federal cabinet position.

“Frances Perkins spent her life fighting for working people,” said Senator Jackson. “I feel honored and humbled to win an award in recognition of her.”

The Western Maine Labor Council noted Senator Jackson’s longtime support for Maine’s working people, and praised Jackson for supporting the rights of workers to join a union, even though he has never been a member of one.

“We can thank the unions for the 40 hour work week, for safer working conditions, and for better wages and benefits for all workers,” said Senator Jackson. “Frances Perkins believed that the ladder of success should be held for everyone, and that in a race to the bottom, everyone loses. Every day I arrive in Augusta, I think about how best I can help working Mainers climb that ladder to success.”

Senator Jackson received the award Sunday, and pledged to continue fighting for policies that help level the playing field for working families.

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