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| Andy Galaway and Grant Fayen, Local 638 freedom fighters in the War on Workers |
The so-called Voter Amendment is on the November ballot. It originated with ALEC, the corporate-funded group responsible for state laws that privatize government services, suppress votes, grant monopoly powers to special interests and destroy collective bargaining rights.
Brother Andy Galaway and Brother Grant Fayen both have full-time combo jobs at UPS and are members of Local 638 in Minneapolis. They realized they needed to get involved during last year's fight against right-to-work-for-less in Minnesota. (The good guys won that one.) Said Fayen,
I first got involved when they were trying to push "right to work" through. I could no longer stand by and do nothing while the establishment attacked my livelihood.Since taking up the cause for free, fair and accessible voting, Galaway and Fayen reached thousands of people. They spread the word to everyone they meet from their brothers and sisters on the shop floor and in the local to the pizza delivery guy and the barber. Sister Diane Ersbo, a member of Local 638, tells us:
Andy and Grant present the educational training at the (members') meeting and even more Teamsters will be voting NO! Andy and Grant did a great job!... It took bravery and courage to present this as there are quite a few Republicans in the room (wink-wink) .... Andy and Grant truly get that to really stop the war on workers, you have to get involved and fight back! I am so glad to have them as my brothers!Galaway invites members to his house for lunch and informational training. The issue is personal to him. He explains that his 102-year-old grandmother couldn't vote if the amendment passes.
She lives independently in a senior high rise. Her only source of income is social security. She has mobility issue in the two recent falls she broke her hip and her wrist. Elisabeth has not driven in 30 years so if she has an old driver’s license it wouldn’t be valid. That means Elisabeth needs to collect two documents to prove her identity to obtain a valid voter ID. The first is a certified copy of her birth certificate (cost $26) and the second is a certified copy of her marriage certificate (cost $9). So Elisabeth is out $35 for a free ID. This assumes that a birth certificate was issued 102 years ago and that the court house that holds it didn’t suffer a fire, flood or tornado that wiped out records or misplaced it. (There are) other cost more hidden than the fees of $35. Someone is going to have to take a day off of work to pick up Elisabeth, drive her to the DMV and stand in line with her. Elisabeth is just one example of a person who will be negatively impacted by photo ID. If it passes we will make sure she can continue to vote as we are family. What happens to all those like Elisabeth whose families have moved away, don’t have time, can’t get off of work or don’t consider voting a priority?Fayen found he wasn't alone:
I had no idea there were so many Teamsters that were so passionately involved as I was, and that so many people knew very little about the "Voter ID" bill. Making sure this voter ID bill does not pass is so important to me because it is a direct violation of our constitutional rights.
It is important to me because I believe everyone has the right to vote, and this is going to exclude eligible voters. That to me is scary.We're glad to have them as our brothers, too!
