LEWISTON — Her message would have been the same no matter the state, Wilma Liebman said. Still, the company made a difference.

“I’m not sure the spirit of the audience would be the same,” she said. “You feel the solidarity (here.)”

Around her, at the IBEW Union Hall on Goddard Road, volunteers grilled 600 locally-made hot dogs and hamburgers, kids raced after bubbles and families lounged on the grass.

Liebman, chairwoman of the National Labor Relations Board, got up from a paper plate and can of soda at the Western Maine Labor Council’s third annual Labor Day barbecue Monday afternoon to offer quick remarks. Liebman said she’d been invited to Maine shortly after being named chairwoman in January.

“It is particularly gratifying to be here on Labor Day when we honor working men and women and their struggles and commitment to economic justice and workplace democracy,” she told the crowd of 250.

“I am hopeful that we will see a revitalized labor law and policy over the next few years. It is important not to lose hope and to continue the struggle for economic justice.”

A member of the NLRB appointed by President Clinton 12 years ago, she’d been given the Working Class Heroine’s Award by the Southern Maine Labor Council in the morning.

State Labor Commissioner Laura Fortman, who introduced Liebman, said Maine is “looking at a challenging time.”

“As the national (unemployment) rate’s been 9.4, we’ve been hovering at about 8.4 percent,” she said.

With so many out of work, the state’s been talking to the federal government about extending unemployment benefits and a health care tax credit, both part of last winter’s stimulus plan and both expiring in December, Fortman said.

“We just really need to make sure people are going to have the supports that they need to weather some tough times,” she said. “On the plus side, what we have been trying to do is focus on the opportunities, green and energy jobs.”

On Friday, a partnership of the state, unions and several agencies mailed off an application for a roughly $4 million energy jobs training grant to the U.S. Department of Labor.

“It’s a great collaborative of people coming together,” said Western Maine Labor Council President Don Berry. “I’m really optimistic. There’s only 25 of these across the country, I think we’re in good shape.”

Berry drew applause when he told the crowd the barbecue had been produced locally, meat from Little Alaska Farm in Wales and buns from Country Kitchen. In addition to having Liebman as a guest, the council, made up of 18 local unions, used the setting to talk single-payer health care and the Employee Free Choice Act. It supports both.

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Wilma Liebman, chairwoman of the National Labor Relations Board, makes a short speech during Monday’s Western Maine Labor Council’s third annual Labor Day barbecue at the IBEW Union Hall on Goddard Road in Lewiston.