As the US election nears, union members are knocking on millions of doors in swing states across America in a last-ditch attempt to swing the too-close-to-call election for Kamala Harris.
Joe Biden billed himself as the most pro-union president ever. Now his successor is hoping that the all-out support of organized labor can push her bid over the line. But in a divided America, the labor movement too is split.
Tim Freeman, a hotel worker and member of Unite Here in Philadelphia, has been knocking doors for Democrats since 2020 when he came out in support of the Biden campaign.
“It opened my eyes to seeing what’s important, not just about the voting, but the issues, and then connecting with the voters,” said Freeman.
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Unite Here, the hospitality and food service workers union, is running the largest independent labor-led field program in the US in the 2024 election, with operations focused in swing states of Pennsylvania, Arizona Nevada, and seven other states.
Recent polls show Pennsylvania and Nevada as toss-up states, favoring Democrats by a slim margin, with Arizona currently leaning slightly in favor of Republicans.
Freeman argued Kamala Harris was the best candidate for union members as she backs and has fought for worker rights compared to Trump, who has opposed unions and efforts to bolster worker rights.
“Our union rights are definitely under attack, but not just union rights. All of our rights are under attack,” Freeman said. “We can’t let this man back in office.”
Speaking with voters in person, so that they don’t have to rely on television ads or campaign rhetoric, was important, he said.
“You can be able to see somebody right here in your space, at your door, sharing your story with them as well as seeing what we have in common,” added Freeman. “Strength is in numbers and the more you gather, collect, and give out information to people to let them know, this is what we’re here for and this is why we canvas. Some days are tougher than others but we’re out here putting that good foot forward and putting in that work.”
Ahead of the 2020 presidential election, Unite Here ran a similar door-knocking campaign. The union claimed it mobilized over 440,000 infrequent voters to vote for Biden in Nevada, Arizona and Pennsylvania, including 125,000 voters who had not voted in 2016. The union knocked on 3m doors during the 2020 election cycle.
The union has already knocked on over 3 million doors this election year, with a goal of 3.5m doors across 10 key election battleground states in support of the Democratic presidential candidate, Kamala Harris, Democratic Senate candidates and local elected officials.
“There’s so much noise in the election, getting a voter to engage at the door involves being able to make a quick connection with them, and I think our members are particularly positioned to do that,” said the Unite Here president, Gwen Mills, who designed the union’s Take Back 2020 campaign.
“We’re not tracking polls. We’re just focused on how many doors we can knock on and how many conversations we can have with a voter that may feel disaffected that their vote doesn’t matter, or who may still be struggling with issues and on the fence about where these two candidates are.”
Unite Here noted the number of these voters exceeded Biden’s margin of victory in Nevada and Arizona.
“Fundamentally it comes down to, are we going to be on offense, continuing to build the labor movement, or will be on defense, defending against a central attack,” added Mills. “We feel, without a doubt, that the volume of these conversations, the quality, can tip the outcome of the election.”
The union also engaged in significant voter turnout efforts in Georgia Senate runoff elections in 2021 and 2022, and in Virginia state senate and house elections in 2023.
According to Pew Research Center data from 2023, 59% of union members lean Democratic, with 39% leaning Republican – a large enough percentage to make a real difference in such a close election cycle.
The Teamsters, one of the largest US labor unions, declined to issue an endorsement this election cycle after its president, Sean O’Brien, became the first Teamsters president to address the Republican national convention this year. The union announced its “non-endorsement” with a poll of members that backed Trump.
Trump has had less success with the United Auto Workers president, Shawn Fain, who has come out for Harris, a move that led Trump to insult Fain and autoworkers. The former president has continued to court support from UAW members in Michigan with promises to increase auto jobs.
The UAW released a poll last week revealing members in key battleground states support Harris over Trump by 22 percentage points. The union has been running a door-knocking campaign in support of Harris and noted that support for her increased to 29% among members who had been contacted by the union about the election.
Fain will make a final appeal to members on Tuesday: “This election, the question for UAW members, and every member of the working class, is simple: Which side are you on? If you’re with the working class, it’s time to Stand Up. If you’re sick of the endless greed of corporate America, it’s time to Speak Up,” he wrote on X.
In the meantime, the door-knocking continues. On 19 October the Service Employees International Union, National Education Association, American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, and American Federation of Teachers began a joint, multi-state voter outreach program to include a series of rallies and statewide canvassing efforts in key swing states.
The unions have a combined membership of over 8 million.
“We’re going to have our members and leaders on the ground in every battleground state from now until election day, ensuring every voice is heard and every vote is counted,” said April Verrett, president of SEIU.
David Bonilla, 21, works as an airport service worker in Phoenix, Arizona. He began canvassing this year and is excited as it will be the first presidential election he has been old enough to vote in.
He began working about two years ago in the midst of a contract fight with his employer that was only recently resolved after three separate strike actions.
Bonilla explained he got involved with the door-knocking campaign in Arizona because he noticed there was a lot more work to be done for workers and to ensure public officials are elected who support unions.
“The Biden administration really helped out with giving unions as a whole a lot more power to ask for more, demand more from our employers, and I think Kamala Harris wants to continue that. It’s a no-brainer for us. We have to knock on doors for her and get her into office just to get working people more of a say in their life,” said Bonilla.
“Especially for our union, who are service and hospitality workers, we are the backbone of our economy and these are the jobs that low propensity voters, the people who we are reaching out to at the doors, are working in.”
For the US labor movement, the differences between Harris and Trump are stark. Harris has strongly backed labor unions and is backed by a majority of labor unions, while Trump has castigated unions and workers. Under the Trump administration, his appointees scaled back worker protections and rules aimed at encouraging organizing at the US Department of Labor.
“It’s important that I’m out door-knocking and canvassing because Kamala, she supports a lot of the things that I’m faced with, that a lot of American people are faced with, like ending price gouging, supporting the right to make a decision for your own body, and the tips,” said Morlaina Bruce, a guest room attendant at Circus Circus in Las Vegas, Nevada and member of the Culinary Union for seven years. “I’m concerned about the hatred that Trump has put out there, the division, and the lies that he tells.”
