RACINE, W.Va. (WCHS) — On Monday, the United Mine Workers of America held their annual picnic in Boone County. This was the 86th annual Labor Day gathering at John Slack Memorial Park.

The event brought out union leaders and political candidates in election campaigns.

As elections approach, unions are expected to have a major influence, and events like this are a way for union members to get to know the candidates better.

Brian Lacy, vice president of UMWA International District 17, said the event is an important tradition.

“I think it’s really important to keep labor at the forefront and not let people forget that the protections they have today, whether they’re unionized or not, came from the labor movement,” Lacy said.

The union follows an approval process. It interviews candidates to determine if they support the labor movement and seek solutions to the problems workers face.

“We want them to be for workplace safety, for people to have rights and to be able to have a safe workplace where they can go home to their families every day,” Lacy said.

Lacy said they must also support good-paying jobs, good health care, good pension plans after retirement and the right of citizens to organize.

“We’ve seen attempts to undermine many of these hard-won battles that unions have fought and I think we have to be very careful going forward,” said U.S. Senate candidate Glenn Elliott.

Trade unions play a more important role in politics because their aim is to create a balance between employers and organized workers.

Union members said getting involved in politics was more important than ever today as they say income inequality is soaring with corporate profits at their highest level in 70 years.

“We have to be mindful of the proud history of the labor movement in the state, the blood, sweat and tears that members of the labor movement have shed to fight for rights that we sometimes take for granted,” Elliott said.

Elliott said unions invented the middle class. Today, union membership is down to about 10 percent of the population. He said he wants to see more people banding together because it creates a stronger force, especially during an election year.