Wednesday, March 28, 2012

Whoa! Record no. of union members running for IN Statehouse

We said we'd remember in November.
More than 55 union members, former members or retirees are running for the 125 Indiana House and Senate seats up for election this November.

What an inspiration to know that 44 percent of all legislative races involve our union brothers and sisters. It's a huge step forward in the fight to repeal anti-worker laws in Indiana. Rock on, Hoosiers!

About those races: The Indiana State AFL-CIO reports,

To support our union brothers and sisters who are running, the Indiana State AFL-CIO is implementing an aggressive statewide campaign that includes voter registration efforts, an aggressive member-to-member education campaign and training for candidates.

In fact, this past weekend dozens of campaigns and candidates from around the state came to Indianapolis for the first of a series of candidate trainings. Held at the NALC Branch #39 office, the daylong session included training on how to create a campaign plan, fundraising, volunteer recruitment, message development, media training, voter outreach and real world advice from State Senator Tim Lanane and Rep. Terri Austin, both of Anderson.
The Indiana AFL-CIO will soon be holding our COPE convention to make formal endorsements. Further details about endorsed candidates will be made available at that time.
We know of at least one of our Teamster brothers who's running for state representative: Jerod Warnock, business agent for Local 135 and brother of Local 364 President Robert Warnock III. His race, in South Bend Districtt 5, is considered a tossup.