Labor Walks Support Pro-worker Candidates

Union members in Connecticut and across the country are knocking on the doors of their co-workers to talk about how the 2024 high stakes elections will affect their lives. 

In the Fifth Congressional District union members are visiting co-workers with information about Congresswoman Jahana Hayes, a union member and teacher who is top target of the MAGA Republicans in their quest to keep control of the U.S. House. Hayes is known for her perfect voting record on behalf of retirees to protect and expand Social Security and her voting record in support of public education and workers' rights.

“I always vote for women in local races,” said one union member on her porch. “They understand.” But she was still deciding about President. A block away, a middle aged man whose family is in the union, eagerly filled out a voter registration card to vote for the first time. “I have to vote for Kamala,” he said commenting on how dangerous a Trump victory would be for the well-being of his family.

The AFL-CIO and most unions have endorsed Harris and Walz, who himself is a union member and a teacher., warning about the corporate Trump Project 2025 agenda which would decimate all rights won over generations including the right to vote, the right to a union, the right to abortion, health care, education and policies which would slow climate change.

In Meriden, the teachers' union hall was filled with public and private sector workers wearing blue “It's Better In A Union” t-shirts, cheering on pro-worker candidates for State Legislature. The weekly Labor Walks provide an opportunity for union members to canvass neighborhoods and have one-on-one conversations about the importance of the elections with other union members.

At the same time hotel workers, health care workers and others are standing up for their rights in contract negotiations across the state understanding that what can be won at the negotiating table can be taken away at the ballot box.

Community organizations are also mobilizing to get out the vote emphasizing that this election will determine if the country goes back to the jim crow era or if the country will move forward for the needs of all working class people. The elections will be determined by voter turnout. There is something everyone can do.