Paul LePage

LePage's Office: People Complained Labor Mural Resembled "North Korea"

Benjy Sarlin | March 23, 2011, 3:06PM

Defending his decision to take down a mural at the Department of Labor building and change the name of conference rooms considered too pro-labor, a spokeswoman for Gov. Paul LePage released a faxed complaint comparing the art to North Korean propaganda.

"In this mural I observed a figure which closely resembles the former commissioner of labor," an anonymous fax given to the Portland Press Herald reads. "In studying the mural I also 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."

A spokeswoman for the governor, Adrienne Bennett, told TPM that while she didn't want to "give validity" to the specific sentiments in the fax, it was one of numerous complaints brought up by senior policy staff when the LePage administration took over the department.

"The message we want to send is 'We're here for you,' for job creators and employees," she said. "The decorum needs to represent neutrality."

Democrats and labor organizers slammed the decision on Wednesday, labeling it a cheap and unnecessary poke at unions.

"I think its horrible," Don Berry, head of the Maine AFL-CIO, told TPM. "It's Hollywood LePage. Right or wrong, he likes being in the spotlight."

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Topics: Labor, Paul LePage

Paul LePage

Maine Governor Orders Mural Depicting Labor History Removed From Labor Department

Benjy Sarlin | March 23, 2011, 12:18PM

It's Diego Rivera Redux in Maine, as Governor Paul LePage is taking down a mural in the state Department of Labor building depicting the history of the labor movement and changing the names of conference rooms that he deems too pro-labor.

The 11-panel installation depicted such figures as Rosie the Riveter and FDR-era Labor Secretary Frances Perkins as well as events like a 1937 shoe mill strike and 1986 paper mill workers' strike. Several rooms are named after historic labor figures including Perkins and Cesar Chavez.

A spokesman for LePage told the Lewiston Sun Journal that business had complained about the piece and "The message from state agencies needs to be balanced." He added that the rooms could instead be named "after mountains, counties or something."

Progressive and labor groups are upset about the change and the artist who painted it, Judy Taylor, told the paper that the mural's message was already fair.

"There was never any intention to be pro-labor or anti-labor," she said. "It was a pure depiction of the facts."

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Topics: Paul LePage