Wisconsin State AFL-CIO Blog

Don't Miss Your Chance to Early Vote

 

Don’t miss your chance to vote early!

Today, Friday, October 30, is the last day to vote early in-person in some municipalities in Wisconsin. In certain locations, early voting will continue to be offered this weekend.

Check with your municipal clerk today to see when early voting ends in your area so you don’t miss your chance to early vote. Lookup your municipal clerk at myvote.wi.gov "Find My Municipal Clerk."

If you still have your absentee mail-in ballot, return it as soon as possible to an absentee ballot drop box or your municipal clerk’s office. The U.S. Supreme Court has ruled that all absentee ballots in Wisconsin must be received by municipal clerk’s by 8:00 p.m. on Election Day, Tuesday, November 3 in order to be counted. Get your ballot in today.

Join us this Saturday, October 31, starting at noon for a Labor 2020 Get out the Vote rally and phone bank! We will be joined by Governor Tony Evers, U.S. Representative Gwen Moore, and AFL-CIO Secretary-Treasurer Liz Shuler. RSVP today at wisaflcio.org/mobilize.

Our virtual phone banks will run every day right up until polls close on Election Day to ensure every union member makes their voice heard in our democracy. We will be getting out the vote for Joe Biden, Kamala Harris, and our endorsed candidate in Congress and the Wisconsin State Legislature every day with our union-powered calls.

Can you help us get out the vote in Wisconsin? Join our phone banks at wisaflcio.org/mobilize.

 

Join Gov. Evers, Rep. Gwen Moore, AFL-CIO Secretary-Treasurer Liz Shuler this Saturday!

Join our Labor 2020 rally this Saturday, October 31, at noon with special guests Governor Tony Evers, U.S. Representative Gwen Moore, AFL-CIO Secretary-Treasurer Liz Shuler, and WI AFL-CIO President Stephanie Bloomingdale. We are getting out the union vote for Biden and Harris all weekend long!

Sign up for the event at wisaflcio.org/mobilize.

After we hear from Governor Evers, Rep. Moore, AFL-CIO Secretary-Treasurer Shuler and Wisconsin AFL-CIO President Bloomingdale, our organizers will provide a brief training on how to use the virtual phone bank. We will hit the phones to remind voters about returning absentee ballots, early voting options, and safe in-person voting on Tuesday, November 3.

Let us know if you can join the Labor 2020 rally and phone bank on Saturday, October 31, at noon. RSVP at wisaflcio.org/mobilize.

Union members are calling out the vote for Joe Biden, Kamala Harris, and all our endorsed candidates in Congress and the state legislature. Our phone banks are running every day until polls close.

Over 1.5 million absentee ballots have been returned in Wisconsin. Is yours in? Track your ballot at myvote.wi.gov/trackmyballot. The U.S. Supreme Court has ruled that all Wisconsin absentee ballots must be received by municipal clerks by 8:00 p.m. on Election Day, Tuesday, November 3. You can return your ballot to a designated absentee ballot drop box or hand deliver it to your municipal clerk’s office.

Let’s do this Wisconsin! Make a plan to vote and remind your friends, family, co-workers, and neighbors to cast their ballot. Union members are busy working the phones and having important conversations about what’s at stake on Tuesday, November 3. Join us at wisaflcio.org/mobilize.

Supreme Court rules all absentee ballots due 8:00 p.m. on Election Day

The U.S. Supreme Court has just ruled that if your absentee ballot is not received by your municipal clerk by 8:00 p.m. on Election Day, Tuesday, November 3, your vote will not count.

If you requested a mail-in absentee ballot, completely fill it out and return your ballot. The best way to ensure your ballot will arrive on time to be counted is to drop your ballot in your local designated absentee ballot drop box or hand-deliver your ballot in-person to your municipal clerk’s office. All absentee mail ballots must be received by municipal clerks by 8:00 p.m. on Election Day Tuesday, November 3.

Early in-person voting is underway in Wisconsin until possibly November 1. Check with your municipal clerk for local times and locations. You can register to vote at early voting locations and also at your polling place on Election Day. Download our Absentee and Early Voter Guide if you have any questions about registering to vote or voting early.

We know the race is neck-in-neck in Wisconsin and that every vote will count on Election Day. In 2016, President Trump won our state by just 22,000 votes. Your vote matters. We recommend a vote for Joe Biden, Kamala Harris, and our endorsed working family candidates​ down the ballot because of their commitment to prioritize the needs of working families over corporations and the well-connected.

Joe Biden and Kamala Harris are running on a pro-labor platform and will:

• Prioritize worker health and safety by fully funding OSHA and increasing the number of workplace inspectors.
• Utilize the Defense Production Act to get frontline workers needed PPE that is made in America.
• Build Back Better with real investments in infrastructure, clean energy, and American manufacturing.
• Raise wages for working people.
• Expand access to affordable healthcare.
• Support the passage of the PRO Act which will update labor law to create better opportunities for organizing new unions.
• Ban so-called “right to work” laws which lower wages and weaken union freedoms. 
• Defend pensions, Social Security and Medicare.

Union members will be calling out the vote every day until polls close. Join our virtual phone bank at wisaflcio.org/mobilize. We will provide a brief training and answer any questions you may have. All you need is a phone and an internet connection. Join our virtual rally at noon on Saturday, October 31. Sign up for the rally and phone bank event at wisaflcio.org/mobilize.

We believe our country works best when we all vote. Wisconsin union members are doing the work to turn out the vote and increase participation in our democracy. Return your ballot, or vote early, or in-person on November 3.

Down Ballot

While we work to elect Joe Biden as the next President of the United States, we cannot overstate the importance of electing working family champions to both Congress and to our Wisconsin State Legislature. Click here to view our list of endorsed candidates.

Help us make changes for working families in the state legislature and Congress. Join our Labor 2020 phone banks at wisaflcio.org to call out the vote. We will be hosting a special rally and phone bank this Saturday, October 31, at noon.

If you have yet to vote, preview what’s on your ballot at myvote.wi.gov and double check your local races against our 2020 Fall Candidate Endorsement list available here or at wisaflcio.org/candidate-endorsements.

Our healthcare, frontline, and all Wisconsin working families deserve action in both the state legislature and in Congress where a second coronavirus stimulus bill has been on hold for months. Workers still need PPE. Millions are out of work and rely on enhanced unemployment to make ends meet. Working families deserve additional assistance to weather the interwoven crises of the coronavirus health pandemic, its economic fallout, and long-standing systemic racism.

Working people stepped up to lead our communities through the coronavirus pandemic. Yet, unfortunately, the Republican-controlled Wisconsin State Legislature has failed to show up for working families. The GOP-led Legislature hasn’t met since April 2020. It’s been over 190 days with no legislative action and no bills passed to address the coronavirus.

On November 3, we can make a change and make our voices heard.

Click here to view our list of endorsed candidates for the Wisconsin State Legislature.

Help us get out the vote for our endorsed candidates up and down the ballot. Join our phone banks at wisaflcio.org/mobilize and help Wisconsin voters safely cast their ballot this November. Join us as we rally on October 31 at 12:00 p.m.

In-person early voting is underway and you can request an absentee ballot until 5:00 p.m. on October 29. Return your ballot as soon as possible and track its progress at myvote.wi.gov/trackmyballot. Don’t hesitate to call your municipal clerk with any questions.

Your vote is your power.

Labor 2020 Rally on October 31

Save the Date🗓: Our next Labor 2020 Rally is this Saturday, October 31, from 12:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m.

We will kick things off with guest speakers, and then call out the union vote for #BidenHarris2020. ☎️📣

Let us know you can make it on October 31. RSVP today at wisaflcio.org/mobilize.

Our Labor 2020 phone banks will be rocking every day until polls close on Election Day on November 3. You can sign up to volunteer to get out the vote at wisaflcio.org/mobilize.

In the final days before the Election, union members are doing everything we can to make sure every union voter knows when, where, and how to safely cast their ballot in our democracy.

We are supporting Joe Biden, Kamala Harris, and candidates down the ballot who will work to create a fair and balanced economy with union rights and prioritize worker safety to tackle the coronavirus pandemic head on.

If you are voting by mail, return your ballot as soon as possible and track your ballot at myvote.wi.gov/trackmyballot. Early in-person voting continues this week in Wisconsin. Check with your municipal clerk for times and locations.

Make a plan to vote, join us on the phones and as we rally on October 31 at noon. RSVP at wisaflcio.org/mobilize today!

IAMAW Machinist Union Local 1855 Workers End Strike, Win New and Improved Contract

On October 24, 2020, after a weeklong strike, IAMAW Local 1855 union members employed at AstenJohnson in Appleton overwhelmingly accepted a greatly improved contract offer. This offer includes locking in insurance plan design and premiums for the next two years among other positive changes.

“Congratulations to the workers of the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers Union (IAMAW) Local 1855," said Stephanie Bloomingdale, President of the Wisconsin AFL-CIO. "This is what worker power looks like. Today, IAMAW Local 1855 workers ratified a new and improved collective bargaining agreement after a short and powerful strike. Not one person crossed the picket line. Working people stuck together and won, making gains that set the stage for every worker in our community. There is power in the union.”

Wisconsin Union Members Are Calling Out the Vote!

Ring, Ring! Union members kicked off a weekend of action with a Labor 2020 phone bank and rally. Join our phone banks at wisaflcio.org/mobilize.

On Saturday, volunteers heard from leaders who are fighting for working people like Senator Tammy Baldwin (D-WI), Senator Tammy Duckworth (D-IL), Lieutenant Governor Mandela Barnes, and Wisconsin AFL-CIO President Stephanie Bloomingdale.

“The path to the White House goes right through Wisconsin,” said Senator Tammy Baldwin. “From day one of this pandemic the Trump Administration did not do enough to protect workers and protect our communities. As President Trump turns up the rhetoric, the attacks and the lies, we will turn up our efforts. It’s going to takes us all to win and we must get out every vote.”

Union members heard a special video message from Senator Tammy Duckworth, our Senator in our neighbor state of Illinois.

“Moments of crisis like the one we are in makes us appreciate how important good leadership is in the Oval Office and how disaster it can be when the President lies to the American people about the threats we are facing and fails to keep Americans and American troops safe,” said Senator
Tammy Duckworth. “It’s been clear since day one that Donald Trump is not up to the task of being Commander in Chief, but the consequences of his presidency have grown more disastrous since the pandemic began. We need responsible, honest and emphatic leaders like Joe Biden who will restore faith in democracy.”  

Lt. Governor Mandela Barnes reminded volunteers that, “every call you make is going to matter on Election Day. This is critical work. Having gotten my start in organizing, I know this is crunch time. And that we will build and bring the energy into November 3. Then, we continue to organize and hold our friends accountable to do right by working people, that’s how we advance the cause of this nation. We need more opportunities for people to join a union. Joe Biden and Kamala Harris have a plan for that and they have a plan to raise the wages of working people, bring back good jobs, and build back better.”  

President Stephanie Bloomingdale transitioned the rally into the phone bank with a fiery call to action, for volunteers to hit the phones:

“Thank you to all our great speakers. Let’s go, fight, win. We will keep on doing the work we need to do these final 10 days before Election Day to make sure every union member knows when, where, and how to safely vote and why it’s so important for working families to support candidates like Joe Biden and Kamala Harris. Let’s keep on moving, keep on grooving. Let’s get every union vote out.”

View the full list of Wisconsin AFL-CIO endorsed candidates on the ballot this Fall 2020.

Our virtual phone banks will be rocking every day until polls close on November 3, 2020. Join us! All you need is a phone and an internet connection. We will provide a brief training and be on call to answer any questions you have. Sign up at wisaflcio.org/mobilize.

If you have questions about where or when to vote early, contact your municipal clerk and download our Absentee and Early Voter Guide.

10 Days

Ten days. That’s all the time that stands between us and a better country. A country where workers’ rights are respected, leadership works to end racial injustice, an administration that prioritizes defeating the virus and a Senate that will act to provide relief for workers.

This reality is within our grasp, and we can’t let it slip away. We can’t win that better day without doing our part for Joe Biden, Kamala Harris, and all our endorsed candidates.

Can you help make calls to union households in Wisconsin to turn out the vote? Join our Labor 2020 virtual phone banks, which will be running every day until polls close on Election Day at wisaflcio.org/mobilize.

Have you voted? Thousands of union members have already cast their vote early or by mail. We must work every day for the next 10 days to do everything we can to ensure every single union member votes and our voices are heard. Early voting is underway in Wisconsin until possibly November 1 in some municipalities. If you voted by mail, track your ballot at myvote.wi.gov/trackmyballot.

Can you sign up today to phone bank at wisaflcio.org/mobilize? All you need is a phone and an internet connection. Our organizers will provide training and be on call if you need anything during your shift.

Joe Biden, Kamala Harris, and all our endorsed candidates for Congress and the State Legislature understand that strong unions build and sustain our great American middle class and that we need strong unions for a fair and healthy economic recovery. Biden and Harris have a plan to get workers needed PPE and tackle the coronavirus pandemic head on while supporting businesses and working families during the economic recovery. We need trusted, steady, and reliable leadership during these uncertain times. That’s why the Wisconsin AFL-CIO is supporting Joe Biden for President.

Wisconsin voters could determine who our next President of the United States will be. Help us get out the vote in Wisconsin. Sign up to phone bank today.

 

Join us Saturday October 24 for a Labor 2020 Rally and Phone Bank

We are excited to announce that Senator Tammy Baldwin (D-WI), Senator Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) and Lieutenant Governor Mandela Barnes will be joining us for our Labor 2020 rally and phone bank on Saturday, October 24 at 12:00 p.m. Senator Duckworth is a retired Army National Guard lieutenant colonel and combat veteran of the Iraq War where she served as a U.S. Army helicopter pilot. Representing our neighbor state of Illinois, she fights for Illinois workers and all working families in the U.S. Senate.

Click here to RSVP and let us know you’re coming to the Labor 2020 rally and phone bank starting at noon on Saturday, October 24. Our phone bank will be going all afternoon so join when you can!

Click here to print rally flyer.

We know that the road to the White House runs through Wisconsin. Wisconsin voters play a vital role in selecting our next President. We need a trusted, reliable leader like Joe Biden who supports good jobs and building our American middle class with strong unions. Joe Biden has pledged to support the PRO Act which will help workers organize unions and also ban “right to work” laws that weaken union rights. Biden has a plan to “Build Back Better” with good union jobs by investing in American manufacturing, public services, and infrastructure. All our Wisconsin AFL-CIO endorsed candidates down the ballot believe in supporting working families by supporting union rights.

We know that every conversation we have will make a difference on Election Day. Help us talk with union voters and ensure that every union member in Wisconsin knows how to safely cast their ballot for Joe Biden and Kamala Harris.

RSVP here to join Saturday’s Labor 2020 rally and phone bank or visit wisaflcio.org/mobilize.

Speaker Announcement for Saturday’s Rally and Phone Bank