AFL-CIO Pennsylvania Labor 2008 Blog

Meet Your Release Staff: Lee Buchanan, TWU Local 234

Lee Buchanan, TWU (Transportation Workers Union) Local 234, joined the Labor 2008 program four weeks ago.  Jumping right into the action as it was starting to really build around the state he picked up his responsibilities quickly.  Buchanan helps to coordinate the labor walks in Philadelphia as well as the phone banks.  He also coordinates and leads the leafleting effort with his local.

Buchanan is a class one technician with SEPTA (Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority).  He works on engines, does electrical maintenance and other repairs.  He started working for SEPTA ten years ago and has always been an active union member.  “I’ve always been that voice that rallies the crowd,” he said.  “I tend to get along well with people and I enjoy talking with my fellow union members.”

“That is why I am so excited to be working with the Labor 2008 program,” he said.  “I always try to bring every one together and get them all on the same page.  It was an honor to be asked to do this work and my responsibilities as a release staff are a natural continuation of the work I was already doing.”

With the economic crisis Buchanan said that his members are worried about their jobs.  Privatization is the biggest issue for TWU members because if public transportation were to go private most likely their jobs would go non-union.  Wages would go down and so would benefits.  In addition the service would suffer, too.

“Privatization means job loss,” said Buchanan.  “We lose jobs and we lose members and customers lose out on the quality of service that they have come to expect from us.  We can’t afford to have our jobs contracted out and our customers can’t afford the safety and service risk of their transportation going private. We have to hold on to our jobs and our unions.”

“It is so important to talk to our members because this election is going to be about our jobs.  Our members read the papers and can see that the unemployment rate is skyrocketing, that jobs are going overseas, and manufacturing plants are closing down.  So electing the candidate that cares about working families is a major concern for us.”

“We are focusing on member-to-member contact because that is the best way to make sure that people know the issues and the candidates.  Union members trust other union members.  They work together and live in the same neighborhoods and are more likely to listen to each other than some one they don’t know.  That is what the Labor 2008 program is all about.”

“I encourage every one to get involved.  I encourage every one to come out for the labor walks and phone banks.  I encourage every one to send out a local union mail piece and to talk to your fellow union members at work.  This election is about our jobs and this election is about us coming together to save our jobs and elect Barack Obama for President.”

Meet Your Release Staff: Todd Wilhelm, NATCA

NATCA release staff Todd Wilhelm is joining the Labor 2008 program in the Southeast to help manage the ever-increasing union volunteers for the phone banks.  In addition to making sure the phone bank runs smoothly, he also processes the resulting data and information, providing up to date reports on what union members in his area are thinking about the upcoming election.

Wilhelm joins the Pennsylvania Labor 2008 program from Pheonix, Arizona.  He was hired as an air traffic controller in 1983 and was a charter member of NATCA when it was founded in 1987.  He started out in Denver, then moved to St. Louis for work and finally transferred to Phoenix seven years ago. 

“Being an air traffic controller and a member of NATCA was a really good career for me,” said Wilhelm.  “But it’s been tough these past years with the Bush Administration and its appointee to the FAA because they did all they could to break the union.  That is why I wanted to get involved in the election this year.  Now that I am retired I wanted to do something to help my fellow brothers and sisters still working and suffering under this administration’s bad policies.”

“As federal employees, NATCA members especially understand what it means to have a president that does not support unions,” said Wilhelm, “The Bush Administration has been terrible for my union and fellow union members and John McCain will just be more of the same.”

“Barack Obama has made it clear that he supports working people and union members.  This election is about pocketbook issues but it is also about the rights of working people to get a decent wage, comprehensive health care, and job security.”

“In my personal experience and in my experience with the Labor 2008 program, I’ve found that the best way to get this message across to other union members is through face-to-face contract.  Talking to a fellow worker is the most valuable form of communication because you have a relationship and you trust your fellow union members.  It’s someone you know and who shares your concerns and values.”

“So the Labor 2008 is of critical importance to working families in America today.  We need as many volunteers as possible and as many union members talking to each other about why it’s important to support Barack Obama.  Knock on doors, send a piece of local union mail, participate in the phone banks, and leaflet at the worksite.  Get the message out that Obama is our candidate and we’ll have a better future for air traffic controllers and all working people in this country.”

Meet Your Release Staff: Sue Michielli, UFCW Local 1360

UFCW Local 1360 release staff Sue Michielli is an active member of her home state, New Jersey’s, labor movement.  She was released to Pennsylvania for the rest of the election cycle because it is so important to all working people that Barack Obama receives strong support from voters in this state.

Sue Michielli is UFCW Local 1360’s Political Director and Secretary Treasurer of the Southern New Jersey Central Labor Council.  She also serves as Vice-Chairperson of the Camden County Board of Social Services, volunteers her time on the Mandate Health Care Advisory Commission and the New Jersey Child Labor Advisory Board, and serves as Vice-Chairperson of the Union Organization for Social Service.

Despite all her responsibilities in New Jersey, Michielli says that she is glad to be here in Pennsylvania and wants to do whatever is necessary to help educate union members about the important upcoming election. 

“My main responsibilities as a release staff here in Pennsylvania are to coordinate aspects of the Labor 2008 program like the labor walks, worksite leafleting, phone banks, and mailings.  But I’m also here to recruit volunteers and get people involved.   Labor carries the election here and it is up to us to make sure that our voters are coming out for the candidate that will best serve working families.”

One of the issues that Michielli thinks is most important this election is getting the Employee Free Choice Act passed.  “The most important issue to me is the Employee Free Choice Act.  McCain does not support this legislation or the labor movement.  He came right out and said it in his acceptance speech.”

“Obama, on the other hand, is a friend of the labor movement.  He supports the Employee Free Choice Act and promised to sign it into law when elected.  With Obama as president the labor movement will have a chance to grow and the middle class can come back.  We can have a stronger economy.  That’s what this economy needs to improve: it needs a strong middle-class and we need unions in order to help rebuild what bad labor policy has damaged.” 

“And so we need union activists to come out and help.  Union members trust their brothers and sisters and their leadership.  There is solidarity there and an understanding that this is what we are about.  These issues impact all of us in the labor movement so we need to take advantage of the fact that there is an understanding between our members.  That is what makes the Labor 2008 program so powerful and that is why I encourage all members to participate.”

Meet Your Release Staff: Howie Brandt, NALC Branch 84

NALC Branch 84 staff Howie Brandt started in the post office in 1959 and joined the union in 1960.  But he didn’t become active in his union until 1971 when they went on strike.  Inspired by that struggle for better hours and wages, he started out as an assistant shop steward, then he became shop steward, then master at arms, a trustee, and finally he became treasurer of his local.

This is Brandt’s third time as a release staff and he brings a lot of experience with him to his work with Labor 2008.  His responsibilities as release staff this year include organizing labor walks and phone banks, supervising the phone banks, and recruiting volunteers and union activists.

To encourage more union activists to come out and participate in labor walks and member phone banks Brandt emphasizes how important this election is for working families:  “From the labor point of view this election is so important because for the last eight years we’ve suffered under a labor board that hurts working people.  Jobs are going overseas, we don’t have universal health care, and people are worried about their pensions and social security.”

“We need to get the Employee Free Choice Act Passed and while the Bush Administration and John McCain apposes that important legislation, Barack Obama promised to sign it into law.  I tell union members that they need to come out and participate in the Labor 2008 program because we need to save our jobs and the future of our unions.”

“A perfect example is the post office,” said Brandt.  “When I started at the post office you could work from four in the morning until mid-night and still not get your eight hours because every time you sat down they would take you off the clock.  We used to be on call and we never knew when we were going to work or for how long.  Anyone who worked during those times has a huge appreciation for the union because the fair hours and wages we have now are all because of the union.”

“Every one should have access to that kind of protection and that is what the Employee Free Choice Act will give workers.  It will give them the right to decide whether or not to form a union and it will make bargaining fair for every one.”

“So I encourage all union members to get involved.  So much is at stake and it’s important to keep reminding our fellow union members of that fact.  But you have to get involved if you want change.”

Brandt is especially well-known among those who have worked with him during past elections for his ability to organize walk-packets.  “I think the labor walks are especially important.   It means a lot to a person when a fellow union member knocks on their door to talk about the election.  They know that you really care and they are more likely to listen to you when you come to them in person.  That is the kind of effort we need to succeed this year and I urge all union members to come out and join us.”

Meet Your Release Staff: Bill Teitz, IUOE Local 66

IUOE Local 66 release staff Bill Teitz is a politically active member of his local.  He came on as an apprentice in 1982 and since then worked various construction jobs, mostly roadwork.  In May of this year be came a dispatcher at the locals’ office.  But politics and being informed about the issues relevant to working people is his passion.

Over the years he invested his personal time in politics by getting involved through his local.  He participated in phone banks and walks regularly.  “So when the opportunity to be released came up I was quick to accept,” said Teitz.  “When my business manager noticed how quickly I accepted I explained that because the election is so important and because the future of the middle-class and the country are at stake I am eager to get involved.”

Teitz’s responsibilities as release staff in Pittsburgh include preparing labor walk packets, organizing labor walks, coordinating phone banks, and, in general, acting as a resource for political coordinators and union activists in the area.

“I really hope to get more people involved,” said Teitz.  “And I feel that one of my responsibilities is just reaching out to more people to make sure they understand the issues.  And when they understand the issues they’ll want to come out and participate, too.”

“We’ve been going in the wrong direction for the past eight years,” said Teitz.   “And four years under John McCain will only continue to erode work standards and wages that are already damaged from eight years of the Bush Administration.  I’m here to help, in any way I can, all union members do what is necessary to make sure we elect a president that will address our issues”

“One of the most important issues on the table right now is The Employee Free Choice Act,” continued Teitz.  “The Employee Free Choice act is huge.  It will finally level the playing field and make it easier for people to form unions and bargain fairly for contracts.  We’ve been struggling for years under laws that favor big business. It is very difficult to form a union and even more difficult to negotiate a contract.  The employee free choice act will change all of that.  And that is another reason why it is so important for all union members and working families to get involved.”

“Union members trust their fellow members and their leaders. So we need people to come out for the labor walks, the phone banks, and to keep worksite leafleting and sending out local union mail.  This election is too important for us not to get involved.  The future of the working class and this country is as stake.”

Meet Your Release Staff: Lisa Powell, APWU Local 89

Lisa Powell is APWU Local 89 release staff for Labor 2008 in Philadelphia.  She first became involved in her union in 1995 when she became shop steward. She originally wanted to focus on her own local but eventually she was elected legislative director in 2002,  the same year she was first released to work with the Labor 2008 program.


“Legislation affects the workplace and my responsibilities as my local’s legislative director include making sure that people know how important elections and the passing of bills can be to their daily life.  When I started to get involved with my local I never imagined it would lead to political work but now I see how much it is all connected.”

As release staff with the Labor 2008 program this year Powell is helping to organize the weekly labor walks.  She will help recruit participants and make sure that each walk runs smoothly.  “Being released in past years was a great learning experience,” said Powell. “Every year I get to come out and see how union brothers and sisters can come together and really make a difference in an election year. And every year the role I play involves a little more responsibility. This year my main focus is the walks.”

“I try to really stress to people how important it is to go out on walks. It’s more than just going out and bothering people on a Saturday morning. It’s an opportunity to get out and have a conversation with fellow union brothers and sisters.  When we knock on doors and learn what issues matter most to people we also give them hope that there is power in numbers and that the union not only cares about its members, it also wants to make life better for all working people.”

“It’s interesting to see with this current election how more talk there is on the work floor.  Members are talking about the big issues and the candidates at work and at home.  It’s that conversation that is so important, even it is a little heated.  So I urge all members to come out and walk with us on the labor walks this year.  Come have a conversation with your fellow union members and make sure they have the information they need to vote in their own best interest in the November.”

Meet Your Release Staff: Clay Smith, NALC

Clay Smith is Labor 2008 release staff from NALC Local 157 in Philadelphia.  He is the political director for his local and is released every political cycle to work with the labor movement’s political program.  He started in 1998 and this year he is applying his years of experience to coordinating the labor walks and labor walk volunteers in Philadelphia as part of a team of release staff.

“This year I am playing more of a supervisor role than I have before,” said Smith.  “I will get the walkers where they need to be, make sure they have the information they need and make sure the labor walks are as organized as possible.  I always liked to walk in past years and now I can help other people have a positive experience, too.”

As a letter carrier, Smith said that he is familiar with how the failed policies of the Bush Administration are hurting working families.  “In my line of work I see people all kinds of people.  I see policemen, firemen, and every one else.  And I can check in with them because I am delivering their mail everyday.  Even though we all work different jobs we all have this in common: we all want to work hard, have a house, take care of our families and feel good about our future.”

“But on my mail route, which is very middle class, I see houses up for foreclosure where the owners are working,” said Smith.  “Some of these people are working two jobs and they are still losing their home.  This year I’ve seen more houses up for foreclosure than I have my whole career.  So I see hardworking people struggling to put food on the table and to afford their home.  It shouldn’t be this way in America.”

“This is why I like the labor walks,” said Smith.  “I like to talk to people about their lives and what is important to them and doing that at their home on a labor walk the best way.  Then you can have a conversation about what  issues are most important to people and where the candidates stand on them.  And maybe you can’t change people’s minds immediately but you can get them thinking about things like health care, privatization of jobs, and social security when before maybe they weren’t.”

“And that is what we are going to do September 4th, the night John McCain accepts the Republican nomination.  I urge all members to come out and join us on Thursday, September 4th as we educate our fellow union members about why McCain’s position on issues like health care, The Employee Free Choice Act, privatization and social security are bad for working families and why his presidency will just be more of the same failed Bush policies.  We’ll be walking here in Philadelphia, across the state and all around the country.  That’s our responsibility as members of the labor movement and together we have the power to make America better for all working people.”

Meet Your Release Staff: Allen Nuccio, ATU

Allen Nuccio is a Labor 2008 release staff from ATU’s International Offices in Washington D.C. where he works as a member organizer and a research associate. Nuccio is serving as the statewide worksites coordinator on the Labor 2008 team.  His responsibilities include creating a comprehensive plan for ensuring that as many members from as many locals as possible are receiving information about their candidates.

“I’ve always been involved politically,” said Nuccio.  “From an early age my parents took me to lots of rallies and now, living in Washington D.C. I find myself in the center of a lot of political activity.  But it is important to remember that all politics are local. It’s not all happening in Washington D.C. only.  All legislation, even the legislation made at a national level, trickles down and affects lives on a local level.”

One important piece of legislation this year that will have a significant impact on the lives of working families in Pennsylvania and around the country is the Employee Free Choice Act.  “I can say as an organizer how hard it is to help workers form unions even when workers really want to be in a union,” said Nuccio. 

“The Employee Free Choice Act will make people’s lives so much better.  It will allow workers who want to form a union to do so without fear of intimidation and without fear of losing their job. It’s hugely important that we continue to press the house and the senate to pass the Employee Free Choice Act and that we have a president in office that will sign off on it.  That is why, for all working families, it is extremely important that we elect Barack Obama.”

“The Million Member Mobilization petition is another important aspect of the Labor 2008 program,” said Nuccio.  “The members that get that out to their locals and to their families the better. Not only is it important that members are talking to each other about these important issues, it’s also important that we send a strong message to Congress and to the next president of the United States that we want the Employee Free Choice Act passed.”

“Numbers are in our favor in Pennsylvania and we can create a worker friendly Congress. But only if we get all of the locals involved all around the state.  It will be a close election, locally and nationally, but if the labor movement comes together we can put a president in office who cares about our issues.”

Meet Your Release Staff: Marlon Whoolery, UMWA

UMWA release staff Marlon Whoolery was born and raised in Fairchance in Southwestern Pennsylvania.  He comes out of UMWA Local 1980 and worked in the Dillworth Mine in Greene County from 1977-1996, which is owned by Consolidated Coal.  He is now an international representative for UMWA Region 1 which includes Pennsylvania, Maryland, New York, Ohio, and West Virginia in the United States, and Nova Scotia and New Brunswick in Canada.

As a Labor 2008 release staff for Zone 9 in Southwestern Pennsylvania, Whoolery is both focused on mobilizing the union vote behind endorsed candidate for President Barack Obama and also supporting State Representative Bill DeWeese in the 50th State House District. 

“Bill DeWeese has always been a supporter of union issues.  The mining laws in Pennsylvania, for example, had not been updated since 1961.  Technological advances have changed mining in many ways in the last forty years and we need the laws to reflect that.  Just about two months ago, thanks to DeWeese and other Democrats that worked with us, we were able to develop new mining laws to make mining safer.” 

“One part of the new law provides a 750 feet rule regarding the tracks in the mine.  That means that there cannot be more than 750 feet between a miner and the tracks that provide the only means of escape from the mine in case of an injury or accident.  Before this new law there were not any regulations about that and so just getting an injured miner out of the mine could be very difficult.  That is the kind of legislation that UMWA makes a priority and an example of how Bill DeWeese supports the members of the labor movement.”

“The Employee Free Choice Act and the Million Member Mobilization Petition are also big priorities for the UMWA and the Labor 2008 program.  Mineworkers are taking a very active role in gathering signatures for the Million Member Mobilization Petition.  We are visiting all of our work sites and getting all our workers to sign the pledge cards and we endorse candidates who pledge their support or agree to co-sponsor or sign it.”

“In Pennsylvania, where in the past the vast majority of minworkers had unions, the number of non-union mines in growing.  My primary responsibility with our union, as an international representative, is organizing.  The company will fire people on a daily basis if they have to in order to stop workers from having a free and fair decision on whether to form a union.  The Employee Free Choice Act will give workers the right to freely form unions and to bargain fairly with companies once they do.”

“That is why Barack Obama is the only choice this year for working men and women.  He will sign the Employee Free Choice Act when it reaches his desk.  If you work for a living then Barack Obama is your candidate.  He is from a coal mining state, he supports laws for the use of coal and clean coal. John McCain has done nothing for working people and furthermore he believes in “Right To Work” For Less legislation.  He is not for working families.”

“I urge all union members to get out and participate.  Signing the Employee Free Choice Act and voting for Barack Obama in the Fall is a start.  But getting out and talking to other union members about these important issues is crucial as well.  Even though the labor movement does not make up the entire population of working people in this country we have the numbers and the structure to be the difference.  With union member participation in the Labor 2008 program we can be the voice of change this year.”

Meet Your Release Staff: Keli Vereb, USW

USW release staff Keli Vereb is responsible for coordinating worksite leafleting, phone banking, local union mailing, and labor walks in Zone 9, which covers Allegheny, Washington, Fayette, and Greene counties.  In addition to working for the Labor 2008 program this year, she is also the financial secretary for her local, USW Local 1408, and a Women of Steel coordinator for USW District 10.  She is also an elected member of the Lincoln Borough Council. 

Vereb became politically aware early on in her career with the labor movement, which started at the Irvin Works Plant. "My first job at the plant I sat next to the woman who was the head of the grievance committee," said Vereb. "She really impressed me with the way she talked to the bosses.  She got me to go to my first union meeting and next thing you know I was nominated to be on the legislative committee.  From there it snowballed."

"Once you work on a political project and realize that everything comes back to politics you can't walk away," said Vereb. "Once you make that connection between politics and your everyday life political activism just gets into you and you can't stop."

Vereb is aware that some members feel disconnected from politics but she points out that "the more people get involve the more they realize how important politics actually are.  Look at what the past eight years has done to us.  I don't know how many of us will still have a job if we have to go through another four years of this.  The more people realize how this impacts them every single day the more they will be compelled to participate."

And so Vereb dedicates all of her time to making sure members are aware.  "I am working hard to get in touch with local presidents and political coordinators so we can get out to the worksites and leaflet and talk to the members.  It's a good way to get people involved.  I get people talking about the issues that are important to them and suddenly they feel more connected."

"Union members are especially grateful to talk about these issues with other union members.  That is why the worksite leafleting and labor walks are so important, along with the local union mail and the phone banking. They want to hear about the issues from someone who understands and lives their life.  If I am sitting next to someone who does the same job as me at the steel plant then I know they understand exactly what is important to me."

Among the top issues for Vereb, along with getting the Employee Free Choice Act passed, is addressing unfair trade deals like NAFTA and CAFTA that have devastated American manufacturing.  "We know what is going to happen if McCain wins.  He is going to expand these detrimental trade agreements.  I have a brother who lost two jobs because of NAFTA," said Vereb. "I think Barack Obama, on the other hand, understands what is important from his upbringing and from his prior work with unions in Chicago.  He wants to regulate trade and make sure that we bring back the middle class in the country. And that is why we are going to do everything we can from now until November to make sure he gets elected."