CWA, Alliance Unions Focus on Key States - ‘You’ve Got to Fight for a Change: That’s Why I’m

With the Election Day, Nov. 4, upon us, CWA members and activists from other Alliance unions — the Auto Workers, the Steelworkers and the International Federation of Professional and Technical Engineers — are coordinating efforts in 7 critical battleground states to elect a president and Congress that support Employee Free Choice, health care reform, retirement security, good jobs, and fair trade.

The unions are concentrating efforts where the unions represent a significant number of active and retired members. CWA and its Alliance partners represent over a million workers and retirees in Virginia, Pennsylvania and Michigan. But Alliance political activities also are underway in Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Minnesota.

In Michigan, members of CWA are phoning union members across the state to help Obama and pro-working family House and Senate candidates win election, says CWA Representative Shannon Kirkland. In Port Huron, Local 4107 will coordinate CWA phone banking and the UAW has phone banks up and running in its regional offices.

CWA and the Alliance unions are holding "member walks" every Saturday in Kalamazoo and other areas in addition to worksite leafleting before work and lunch and during shift changes. "Voter protection" is a major element of the effort in Michigan "to ensure that eligible voters aren't blocked from exercising their rights," Kirkland said.

In Mississippi, CWAers will be conducting door-to-door canvassing three times a week until Nov. 4, and are distributing leaflets to members. "Locals are taking our message to wherever members work," said Kim Sadler, president of CWA Local 3511. Stewards have been reaching out to members who work in remote locations, she noted.

Local 1180 members Desiree Waters and Cecil Robinson (on left side) going door to door, talking to voters durning block walks in Boothwyn, Pa. Right, Local 13500 member John Vignovic joined with other CWAers in hand billing workers at a U.S. Steel plant in Clairton, Pa.

In Pennsylvania, CWA locals are leafleting members at local membership meetings and at work sites, conducting voter registration drives, and e-mailing literature to locals for distribution. CWA and USW recently joined together in leafleting outside a call center in Wilkes Barre; neighborhood walks are happening across the state.

In Louisiana, back to back Hurricanes Gustav and Ike forced the postponement of some actions, but Alliance members are planning to resume the leafleting of worksites.

In Virginia, activists have adopted worksites and are coordinating voter registration drives. In Richmond, the state's capitol, CWA and the Steel-workers have been getting out the message about the Employee Free Choice Act and health care.

CWA is working in other battleground states where voter turnout is critical. Workers understand what's at stake. "Sometimes I just really want to go home, but there's something inside of me saying, 'You've got to fight for change,' so that's why I'm involved," says Ebony Martin, a steward for Local 4320, in Columbus, Ohio.