Related Articles

IBEW’s Ground Game Opening up Ohio Politics

October 1, 2012

The real glory is being knocked to your knees and then coming back. That's real glory. That’s the essence of it.

Coach Vince Lombardi Jr.

IBEW activists will never forget newspapers reporting that organized labor in the state was on its knees after labor-endorsed Gov. Ted Strickland (D) lost the governor’s race and anti-worker candidates won many state legislative offices in 2010.

 The stories got even worse after newly-elected Republican Gov. John Kasich signed a bill restricting collective bargaining for public employees. 

But a glorious comeback in 2011, unions took their case to the public and Ohio citizens overwhelmingly voted by referendum to reject Senate Bill 5.

Record-setting corporate political donations are once again flowing into Ohio to defeat President Obama and labor champion Sen. Sherrod Brown in the battleground state—where the presidential election could be won or lost. And the IBEW is fully engaged, not just in keeping labor’s comeback intact, but in winning new ground.

Fourth District International Vice President Ken Cooper has asked all locals in Ohio to designate staffers and volunteers to be released to work with the AFL-CIO on the presidential and other elections. Out of 44 locals in the state, 30 have released staff. Says Cooper:

We have learned lessons from the last gubernatorial race and the referendum campaign where unions made significant financial investments to defend collective bargaining in the state. I ask members who say President Obama should have done more for organized labor to think hard about what kind of resources unions would need to defeat a national right-to-work law if Mitt Romney and his party take control.

Joe Nardella, a journeyman inside wireman and Youngstown Local 64 registrar has been politically engaged for many years, organizing leafletings, campaign walks, telephone banks and voter registration drives. A member since 1974, Nardella says:

I first got involved because I realized that everything we do is tied to politics. We need to make sure every IBEW member is registered to vote. The Republicans have cleaned the locker room to get rid of Democratic voters. I will be personally calling people to make sure they are registered and to educate them on our issues.

Nardella and other IBEW activists are working hard to re-elect Sen. Sherrod Brown, who, says Nardella, “has supported us in all of our causes and is a hard-working pro-labor candidate.”

One of the senate’s most outspoken critics of free trade agreements that undermine workers and unions, Brown has proposed tax policies and other measures that will encourage America’s manufacturers to relocate outsourced plants at home, or keep U.S. plants open.

Crossroads GPS, the campaign fund established by Karl Rove, former chief of staff to President George W. Bush, has contributed $18 million to support first-term Ohio State Treasurer Josh Mandel who is opposing Brown. Mandel, who once trailed Brown by 14 points in the polls, has narrowed the gap.

Says Brown:

This wouldn’t be a race at all if it weren’t for the millions of dollars against me from outside, undisclosed interest groups.

Also on the ballot on Nov. 6 is Issue 2, a proposal by Voters First Ohio, a coalition of state groups supported by the IBEW that would replace the state’s current method of drawing congressional and legislative districts.

Currently, as in most states, the majority party in statewide offices controls the redistricting process that takes place every 10 years.

Voters First Ohio is proposing a 12-member commission that would implement redistricting according to four criteria—keeping communities whole, achieving competitiveness, maintaining compactness and having districts that reflect how Ohioans actually have voted.

Says International President Edwin D. Hill:

All IBEW members owe a debt of gratitude to our brothers and sisters in Ohio who are working hard to return President Obama and Senator Brown to office to continue their efforts to build our economy from the middle-class outward. When the story of the 2012 elections are written, one of the proudest chapters will feature the painstaking efforts of  IBEW members and their locals in the Buckeye State in defeating big corporate campaign money, defending collective bargaining, electing progressive candidates to office and helping to see that the voices of voters are heard at all levels of government.

Photo used under a Creative Commons license from flickr user Progress Ohio.