PROVIDENCE –– Scott Malloy knows that times are tough for organized labor in Rhode Island.

Membership numbers are down. The General Assembly recently changed state law to reduce retiree health benefits for state workers.

And the state’s largest union is locked in a contract battle with the governor’s office that has exposed a divide between union leaders and the rank and file.

The timing is good, Malloy says, for the Rhode Island Labor History Society’s annual awards banquet, which is scheduled for Thursday night.

“I think it gives us a chance to rally the troops,” said Malloy, secretary-treasurer of the society and a University of Rhode Island professor.

The group, at its 21st banquet, will honor a handful of labor supporters, including former state Attorney General Julius C. Michaelson.

And a posthumous award will be given to Wilma Schesler, “a martyr for the local labor movement” who died more than 30 years ago, according to an announcement released by the society. She “was run down and killed by a scab on a picket line on November 9, 1974 at the Institute for Mental Health during a strike,” reads the announcement.

Why is she being honored this year?

Malloy notes that Schesler was a member of the American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees, the same union locked in a high-profile contract dispute with the governor’s office.

“We’re trying to show that times have been tough before … and this should give us courage and inspiration to go forward,” Malloy said.

Members of Council 94, AFSCME, voted recently to reject a four-year contract proposal crafted by top union leaders and the Carcieri administration.

Following the vote, Carcieri issued an executive order forcing increased health care costs on Council 94 members and other unions that rejected the four-year agreement.

The dispute soon landed in court, where it currently sits pending a review by Superior Court Judge Patricia A. Hurst.

Aside from Michaelson, the former attorney general, no politicians are being honored at this week’s awards banquet, which is sold out.

“We try to stay away from politics as much as possible and give the credit to rank and file,” Malloy said of the event, which he organized.

Aside from the awards, the night will feature a five-minute silent documentary of Providence’s 1917 Labor Day Parade, which depicts a number of marching unions still in existence such as the Painters, Streetcarmen, and the Teamsters.

In the film, the parade moves from Kennedy Plaza past City Hall with the train station in the background. Horse-drawn wagons are visible, as are automobiles. The video clip will soon appear on the group’s Web site.

The Rhode Island Labor History Society is the largest of its kind in the United States, with more than 400 members, according to Malloy.

The organization offers stipends to high school and college students who research local working class issues and immigrant history. It also collects, preserves, and publishes labor-related material.

Thursday’s event will be held at the Roger Williams Park Casino.

speoples@projo.com