Dennis McCafferty, union steward and Political & Legislative Director for IBEW Local 21, is a very busy man. His days are spent traveling all over Northwest Indiana and Illinois as an employee of AT&T, and some of his nights he gets to spend at home with his wife Elaine, and his daughter, Alison. When he's not with his co-workers or his family, Brother McCafferty is tirelessly fighting for their rights and their livelihoods in Indianapolis, Springfield, or Washington D.C. As "the Indiana guy" for Local 21, McCafferty deals with all things political for over 1,000 of his fellow IBEW members in Indiana (the majority of the 11,000 member-local reside in Illinois). This makes him well versed in all local politics in both mid-west states, as well as the national scene. But Brother McCafferty does more than just talk-the-talk. He is actively engaged in bringing about a brighter future for his family, and for all working Hoosiers. In this recent interview, he spoke about the crucial nature of this year's election,
"Workers have been under attack in this country. Not only nationally under the Bush administration- but locally as well- with things like Right-to-Work laws, paycheck protection, and all these deceptively titled legislations. We see this as an affront to working people in this state, and we're all about trying to fend these things off. "
Brother McCafferty goes on to describe how he and his fellow members will be especially focused on the Indiana statehouse races this election,
"Right-to-Work keeps cropping up in the statehouse every session. We have a slim labor-friendly majority in the Indiana house, and because of that majority we've been able to prevent Right-to-Work from becoming law. But we need to obtain a larger majority in the House. We can't afford to loose any seats and so we'll make sure we re-elect labor friendly candidates like Shelly Vandenburg in District 19, and Mara Candaleria Reirdon in District 11. And we can certainly benefit from electing candidates like Myron Sutton of District 15, and Chuck Mosesly in the 10th District- who are great friends of working Hoosiers."
Though it may seem impossible with his current schedule, Brother McCafferty plans to step up the action this election cycle by educating his fellow members on all labor-friendly statehouse candidates in the region,
"Through the Labor 2008 program we'll be getting the word out to all our members. We'll be doing mailings, registration drives, work-site leaflets, and we'll include articles on the candidates in our quarterly Newsletter. We need to make sure our members see how important these house races are, and which candidates will stand up for their needs and their rights. We also need to make sure they know just how meat and potatoes these issues are, and how much they can affect their livelihoods."
With union members like Dennis McCafferty working so hard at educating members on the issues, and the candidates this election, Hoosier working families can be confident 08' will be a great year for all of Indiana.
"There are those out there with a corporate, anti-labor agenda who would love to enact Right-to-Work laws and the like here in the state. But I've got news for them. It's not happening on my watch."
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