The leadership of Local 8888 is not waiting for a countdown to Election Day to get more Steelworkers to the polls. The union has launched a full-court press to register, inform and turnout thousands of shipbuilders to vote, including young workers who are the target audience of a new Steelworkers hip hop video. https://youtu.be/BdIqPV0SsRw

At a press conference on April 9th to announce the union’s Spring Voter Registration Drive, USW Local 8888 President Charles Spivey said, “The seeds of victory must be planted early to bloom on Election Day.” He added, “We simply cannot leave any votes behind, not in 2019 nor 2020.”

Spivey, now in his second year as Local 8888 president, said the union would focus first on registering more union members to vote. They will able to update their voting status at the union hall on Wednesdays, Thursdays and Fridays. Gate registration will occur on May 7th at the 35th Street gate during the afternoon shift change; May 9th at the 68th Street gate in the afternoon; and May 23rd at the 46th Street gate in the morning.

Spivey said the regular outreach to members in the shipyard has a larger purpose: “We intend to make carrying a voter card as common as carrying a union card.”