USW GOTV Activists Bond in North Carolina

After a long day of block walking to urge citizens to vote, Joe Shelley knocked on Martha Thomas’ door in Raleigh, N.C., about dinnertime, introduced himself and said he was from the National Voter Protection Coalition.

vote4Before he could continue, she said, “What I am looking at is that USW on your shirt,” and she pointed to the logo. “I know you guys are doing a good job this year. I hope it pays off.”  

Ms. Thomas told Joe Shelley that she would definitely vote and that she’d had several contacts with USW members urging her to the polls.  “You have been dedicated, I am telling you,” she said as Joe Shelley left smiling.

Joe, a boiler operator at KapStone Paper in Charleston, S.C., was trained at Linden Hall in August with 100 other Steelworkers to serve as a door-knocking block walker to get out the vote on Nov. 4.

These trained activists have been pounding pavements from Colorado to Kentucky for two months urging occasional voters to make a special effort to get to the polls this fall.

Last week, a group ranging in number from 10 to 15 working from a headquarters in a hotel in Raleigh went to more than 6,000 doors, talking to residents or leaving literature on early voting locations and times. The goal of the two and three-member teams was to hit between 200 and 300 doors a day, recording interactions on electronic tablets. They all achieved that goal, with the tablets providing citizens’ addresses, maps, names, ages, and party registration.

vote3James Carvin, assistant to the District 9 director; Shane Mitchell, Rapid Response coordinator for District 9, and Joe Shelley coordinated this group. The activists made block-walking a success and built strong bonds with fellow USW members. They share a commitment to bettering life for working people, and they found ways to have a good time accomplishing that.

Every day, they met in the hotel lobby at 10 a.m., reviewed their assigned address packets, and recounted block-walking stories. Alexis Clemmons, who works at the International Paper plant in Riegelwood, N.C., told of finding a sign on a door that said, “If no one answers the bell, start pulling weeds.”

Wilhelmenia Hardy, of USW Local 1025 at Corning Glass in Wilmington, N.C., recalled finding a paper taped to a door that said, “I am a Democrat. I voted. Please don’t ring the bell.”

In those cases, or when there were “no trespassing” signs or big dogs, the door knockers skipped the house. They weren’t looking for trouble.

In most cases, though, they were greeted warmly, and they believe that demonstrates that their work was making a difference.

Joe Smith, who works at the Goodyear plant in Fayetteville, N.C., recalled, “One guy from Fayetteville shook my hand and invited us back to a neighborhood cook out that evening.”

He said his most rewarding experience was knocking on a door in Cynthiana, Ky. A 95-year-old Steelworker invited him and his partner Billy Smith in.

The elderly gentleman had been in the union 14 years at an auto parts factory and proudly identified as a Steelworker. He showed Bill and Joe a certificate that a State House member had sent to him and his wife to congratulate them on their 75th wedding anniversary. The house member happened to be a Democrat that the AFL-CIO was supporting. The senior Steelworker said he would definitely be going to the polls and definitely voting for that man.

All of the block walkers said they were sure they’d persuaded many people to vote who would not have done so otherwise or gave them information that enabled them to vote.

vote2Alexis Clemmons recalled, for example, that when she was in Wilmington, N.C., she passed a home with people on the porch and just called out to a young woman to vote. The woman responded, “Go away. I am not voting.” Alexis canvassed the entire neighborhood, ended up back at that first house, and realized it was on her list.

She walked up to the porch, and the young woman said again, “I told you, I am not voting.” Alexis replied, “I am doing this for you,” and explained that for young people to have good futures, they needed to elect representatives who will create jobs and improve the economy. By the end of the conversation, the young woman told Alexis she was glad she had returned, understood why she needed to vote and promised to do it.

On Wednesday, Alexis and Donna Shaver, an administrative assistant in District 9’s North Carolina office, stopped a man they met in the street as they began knocking doors on a block in Raleigh. He told them he would be at the polls Nov. 6. They alerted him to the fact that Nov. 6 would be two days too late and gave him early voting information.

Alexis and Donna also found a homeowner who had moved recently from Greensboro to Raleigh and wasn’t sure where she was registered. They found her registration in their electronic tablets and assured her she could vote in Raleigh.  She promised to vote and bring a friend.

Wilhelmenia Hardy, who has worked 17 years at the Corning plant that makes fiber optics, said that in North Carolina, she found many people who were unaware that the state had reduced the number of days for early voting, so giving them the new information really helped.

vote1Similarly, Nekenya Woodard, of USW Local 1821 at the International Paper plant in Charlotte, N.C., said she felt the work really made a difference because despite all the candidates’ television ads and the road signs, many people told her, “Oh, I forgot about the election.”

On Tuesday, she knocked on the door of a man who’d just returned from an overseas trip. He was glad to get the early voting information because he did not know where his polling station was. As she left, he called out to her, “Thank you for doing what you do!”

Of course, there are some hard times on the door-knocking route. Some people refuse to answer doors. Sometimes it’s cold or rainy. Sometimes it’s exhausting.

Nekenya Woodard said at first she was timid about approaching strangers, but another door knocker helped her get past that.

Many of the activists said it’s tough sometimes being away from home and family. Shane Mitchell talked about the separation, but said, “My family understands we have to do what is necessary to help and support our membership.”

Larry Murray, District 9 staff who previously served as president of USW Local 850 at Continental Tire in Charlotte, N.C., talked about what the door knocking work meant to him. “Doing this makes you feel like the candidates who support workers can win.”

Joe Smith said that in addition to being meaningful, the work is inspiring. “Almost every day you come away with something uplifting that makes you want to go out again the next day.”

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