IAM Joins Western Pennsylvania Union Members to Get Out the Vote

For weeks, IAM and other union members in Pittsburgh and from across the country have flocked to the Allegheny-Fayette County Labor Council office to pick up materials before heading out to door-knock as part of the national AFL-CIO's political program.

In the first stage of the program, political volunteers visited union members' households to provide information about the candidates endorsed by their unions and to gauge union voters' priorities.

Now, less than a week before Election Day, door-knockers are just trying to make sure registered voters get to the polls.

"It is imperative that we motivate our members to vote in the election of our lifetime," said IAM Air Transport Territory Grand Lodge Representative Sean Ryan, who has been in and out of Pittsburgh to assist get-out-the-vote efforts.

IAM Political and Legislative Assistant Ty Richardson has also been on the ground speaking with union members in the battleground state of Pennsylvania.

"We're talking to union members to make sure they know how this election will directly affect their lives and livelihoods," said Richardson.

IAM members are working with members of the other affiliate unions like the Ironworkers, the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, American Federation of Teachers, Association of Federal Government Employees, International Union of Painters and Allied Trades, and United Steelworkers.

The AFL-CIO's political program has focused efforts on the seven "swing" states considered to be the states that will decide this election: Pennsylvania, Georgia, North Carolina, Michigan, Wisconsin, Nevada and Arizona.

In Pittsburgh, the AFL-CIO affiliate unions are advocating for the Kamala Harris and Tim Walz presidential ticket, Bob Casey for re-election in the U.S. Senate, and Summer Lee for Pennsylvania's 12th Congressional District in the U.S. House of Representatives.

For information on the union-endorsed candidates, go tobetterinaunion.org.