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Labor critic named to House Labor Committee

1:23 PM Mon, Jan 26, 2009 | Permalink
By News staff

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By Steve Peoples

Among the flurry of changes on Smith Hill this month, one in particular caught our attention.

Rep. Douglas Gablinske, the second-term Bristol Democrat largely known for anti-labor views, has been assigned to the House Labor Committee.

Labor unions aren't exactly thrilled about the appointment.

Organized labor funneled thousands of dollars to Gablinske's young opponent, Matthew Pion, an independent, the week before their election.

"I fully expected that the unions would come after me," Gablinske said. "What caught me by surprise was this fellow was an independent and he was 24 ... They didn't show their hand until the eleventh hour."

Pion didn't raise a single dollar between July 1 and Oct. 6, according to his filing with the state Board of Elections.

But he raised $5,350 in one three-day period the week before the election. All that money came from political action committees representing organized labor, according to campaign filings.

Gablinske, who told us he had expected a relatively easy victory, was reelected with 57 percent of the vote.

House Labor is scheduled to meet tomorrow to consider several bills affecting issues such as collective-bargaining rights and pensions.

Gablinske said he would use his position on the Labor Committee to defend management's rights, "which have been given away or bargained away for the last three decades in Rhode Island to the detriment of all taxpayers."