Bill Bernal
TWU Local 556, Phoenix
Bill Bernal, a Southwest Airlines employee and executive board member of Transport Workers Local 556, has served as union shop steward, conducted research for the union contract negotiations team and taken an active role in other union committees and activities. The success in uniting union members around contract issues led Bernal to participate in voter education efforts this election year.
I've seen a lot with this position about how employers treat our members. Working for the airline industry in this era, it is amazing that as a union we got a contract that did not have concessions. The main reason we received a great contract was how we united our membership and became ONE!
The unity we achieved is the main reason I got involved with this election. I saw how we reach our membership: By talking with them on a one-on-one basis, we can achieve our goal. I feel that we need to talk with all union members, because by reaching them in person, they see that it's not just their union but all unions in this fight. I have talked with numerous members and their families these past few months, and seeing what they have gone through and what they have lost has been hard. I believe that together we can and must achieve our goal. When Kerry came through Arizona on this last visit, he saw signs along the train route that said, "Give us eight minutes, we'll give you eight years." This was done by Locomotive Engineers-Teamsters union, and it really hit home for all of us here in Arizona. I have organized union members who have lost their jobs and are out here walking to bring Kerry to the White House. This has been my inspiration.
Arizona is one of the battleground states, and we must win it for Kerry. I've learned so much just by talking to union members and seeing what they need and how their rights have been taken away under the Bush administration. Working with the different international unions and their representatives on this campaign has been rewarding and exhausting. We must come together as union members and elect Kerry into office.
Carla Bryson
IBEW 2327, Portland, Maine
Carla Bryson, a member of Electrical Workers Local 2327 in Portland, Maine, and a Verizon employee, took a big step earlier this year and became the local union's Labor 2004 coordinator, the first time she's become deeply involved in a political mobilization.
I got involved in Labor 2004 because my assistant business manager Jenn Nappi asked me to. I groaned inwardly, but the union asks so little that I felt I should. It involved attending coordinators' meetings once a month, distributing fliers based on union issues and asking members to write down what issues they were most concerned with. This allowed us to show the membership which side Kerry was on and which side Bush was on without getting into big political discussions.
One Saturday in June, members from all the unions in Maine took part in a Labor Walk or Union Canvass. We went out in teams to speak with union members at their homes. We asked what issues concerned them most. The majority said the economy, some said the war, some said national security. We didn't try to make up anyone's mind for them but just talked about issues. We had voter registration cards in case they were needed—and they were! I think just the fact that we were out there in our union shirts, going around the neighborhood on a Saturday in June made some people realize how important this election is.
And it is—it is the most important election for the future of our country. We hear so much about being safe and secure from the threat of terrorism that it's taken away the focus on what's happening to American families. Programs that help poor and working families are being cut. Our great middle class is eroding. Lost jobs are replaced with lesser paying jobs with little or no benefits.
The security of our nation is a top priority these days. The best way to achieve that is to support unions and encourage organizing. Unions provide security and stability to American families—job security, health benefits, safe working conditions and pensions. To quote George W. Bush, "You're either with us, or you're against us."
Unions know who's with us: John Kerry.
Virginia Robinson
PACE Local 5622, Cleveland
Virginia Robinson worked for 31 years at Cleveland's Glastic Corp., a reinforced plastics manufacturer. On April 28, 2004, Robinson was among nearly 100 members of PACE International Union Local 5622 locked out by new management. Today, Robinson, the local union recording secretary, and her union brothers and sisters still walk the picket lines, but they also walk neighborhoods as part of Labor 2004's Labor Walk program, going door to door to speak with union members about the issues critical to working families. They also are phone banking and holding town hall meetings as they mobilize for Nov. 2.
Four years ago this company bought us out, and when our contract expired last year, we offered to extend it, but they said "No"—they needed a new contract to get their money back, and they were going get their money back off our backs. After almost a year of negotiations, we went on strike April 21. On April 28 we offered to start negotiations again. They said they had permanent replacement workers, and we were locked out.
Everybody was really despondent. But in June, we got involved in the big Labor Walk. That was the first time ever my local membership did that. They were so energized by that. When Kerry and Edwards came to Cleveland, several of our local members were right on the stand behind them. That was a tremendous boost and raised their energy level.
Another time Sen. Edwards was here, after he got done speaking, I told him about my local and asked him if one time when he comes back to Cleveland if he could come by the picket line. Do you know that he called the Secret Service guy over and asked him to go get his Ohio campaign person and they brought her over to me and took all the information. Can you imagine what a big boost that would be!
As bad as things are right now—not having a job, not having health insurance—they know their hope is tied up in Kerry and Edwards. They know if Bush stays in, they don't have a hope of getting decent job or health care. That's why everybody is so involved.
