Members of Ironworkers, Local 292 in South Bend, Indiana are determined to have their voices heard this election by being very active in educating their members on Barack Obama, as well as labor friendly statehouse candidates who oppose Right-to-Work! They have already sent out personalized fliers on Barack Obama from the working families toolkit, and they plan to send out another mailing soon on a labor friendly statehouse candidate! Articles on Barack Obama and Jill Long Thompson are also included in the Ironworkers Local 292 newsletter.
President of Ironworkers Local 292, Robert Kara, is committed to making sure his members have all the necessary information they need to be able to protect their livelihoods and their families in November. In this recent interview, he discusses the high stakes of this election especially when it comes to local races here in Indiana,
“The possibility of Indiana becoming a Right-to-Work state scares all of our members, as well as it should. It should scare even the average worker in Indiana, not just the union worker, because it is going to affect everybody. ”
But instead of being scared of the threat of Right-to-Work for less, Brother Kara is working hard to make sure his members are armed with the facts this November,
“I think its always important to educate our members on the issues and on the ramifications of Right-to-Work for less?One of the aids that we use to get publications out to our members is the working families toolkit. Its really easy to use to personalize the information from you own local. The response I’ve gotten has been that its really effective. Our members like reading it, because it shows that it did come from our union hall, and wasn’t printed from a politician.”
Brother Kara believes that having personalized communication to the members is key,
“Unlike a fall sweep stakes letter, when we send a letter out and it comes from the union hall, the member is absolutely going to open it because it could pertain to health care or a change in a benefit? It’s not going to get tossed aside and it will get read.”
By sending personalized mailings and newsletter articles on how the candidates stand on important issues, Brother Kara is confidant that union members will make an impact in the presidential, gubernatorial, and statehouse elections,
“I think that if we do our part and educate our members, that we’ll be able to elect Barack Obama as president, we’ll be able to elect Jill Long Thompson as Governor, and we’ll keep Indiana from becoming a Right-to-Work state. We just have to make sure we get the word out.”
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