Randy Palmateer of IBEW Local 697 grew up in a union family in Northwest Indiana, and remembers going door to door canvasing during elections when he was as little as six years old. With the region hit hard from the last eight years of the Bush's economic policies , Brother Palmateer knows that this year he'll be as busy as ever making the voice or working families heard. Brother Palmateer says that the best way to make sure to elect labor friendly candidates is to mobilize the labor movement,
"I remember when union families used to make and break elections. If every union member came out and voted in the best interests of their pocket books, working families would prevail."
In order to make sure that happens this year, Brother Palmateer of IBEW Local 697 organized one of the largest work-site leaflets for Barack Obama in the state of Indiana! Brother Palmateer, along with Ron Wandasiewicz and Julianne Guidotti of IBEW Local 697 greeted 2,000 of their union brothers and sisters at the BP Amaco Plant in the wee hours of the morning with fliers from the working families toolkit that read, "Obama won't take your gun, but McCain will take your union!"
Brother Palmateer plans to continue work-site leafleting because he know that it works, "I that this kind of member to member education is very effective because I used to work out at BP, and when I was out there and I got a handbill I looked forward to reading it on break and at lunch. I know that educating our membership can really make the difference, so we're going to be reaching out to our members through to November!"
The construction field always has it ups and downs and is always changing but progress will never stop.Even in a questionable economy there is always room for growth and expansion. The will and strength of the people is what makes us all able to move forward and accomplish great feats together. and construction has always been the backbone of this country no matter the economic status.
Posted by: Crane Trucks | May 15, 2009 at 12:47 PM