Many labor unions have blanketed swing states with record numbers of volunteer and paid canvassers. The persuasion phase has nearly ended. Now it’s all about getting out the vote.
MARY LOUISE KELLY, HOST:
As October comes to an end, many labor unions are blanketing swing states with canvassers going door to door.
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KELLY: The AFL-CIO estimates that 1 in 5 voters in Michigan, Wisconsin and Pennsylvania live in union households. NPR’s Andrea Hsu reports from Philadelphia.
ANDREA HSU, BYLINE: Skylar Goodman has been knocking doors in every corner of Philadelphia since July.
SKYLAR GOODMAN: I was averaging, like, five, seven miles a day.
HSU: Today, she’s headed to northeast Philly, not far from where she grew up. It’s a working-class neighborhood of row homes.
GOODMAN: The best thing in the world when you’re canvassing – go right up and down the blocks.
HSU: Goodman works for the Painters Union. She’s part of the AFL-CIO’s mammoth effort to do labor-to-labor outreach.
GOODMAN: People want to talk to somebody like them, and we do, like, the trade-to-trade, the women-to-women.
HSU: Canvassers, like Goodman, have been out reminding them that Kamala Harris has stood with striking workers and helped to create good union jobs in their city. They’ve tried to draw a contrast with Donald Trump, knowing the former president has substantial support among union workers, especially white men. They’ve highlighted things he said about how he hates paying overtime and about how he supports right-to-work laws, which allow workers to opt out of paying union dues. Goodman fears, if elected, Trump would act on that.
GOODMAN: Having a national right-to-work law would severely weaken unions’ ability to organize and to do what we do for workers.
HSU: But the persuasion phase of this campaign is largely over. Now it’s all about making sure people actually vote. Pennsylvania was decided by just 44,000 votes in 2016 and just over 80,000 in 2020. So even buttoning up a handful of votes matters. But even in blue Philadelphia, it’s not the easiest thing.
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HSU: For one thing, a lot of the people aren’t home. There’s only the Ring doorbell to speak to.
AUTOMATED VOICE: We can’t answer the door right now, but if you’d like to leave a message, you can do it now.
GOODMAN: Hi. How are you? My name is Skylar…
HSU: She leaves a door hanger that says, workers win with Harris-Walz. And then it’s on to the next house.
GOODMAN: We’re going to cross the street here.
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GOODMAN: Hi. How are you?
HSU: A few people who are home say, yeah, I’m voting. But they won’t say who they’re voting for. We find Venita Bracy trimming a houseplant on her front porch.
VENITA BRACY: It’s personal. Like, I don’t have to share that information.
HSU: Still, Skylar Goodman does what she can to connect with this voter. When she learns Bracy was a Head Start teacher, she shares some of her own story.
GOODMAN: I’m a Head Start kid, so thank you…
BRACY: Really?
GOODMAN: …For that.
BRACY: Oh.
GOODMAN: Yeah.
HSU: They chat for another five,10 minutes talking about early education and other things.
GOODMAN: Thank you so much…
BRACY: Yeah.
GOODMAN: …For speaking with us.
BRACY: It was a pleasure.
GOODMAN: Did you want to hang on to this?
BRACY: Sure.
GOODMAN: All right.
BRACY: Sure.
HSU: Goodman leaves her with a list of union-endorsed candidates and feels pretty good about how Bracy will vote. But, she says, you never know.
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UNIDENTIFIED PERSON: Not home.
HSU: About an hour away, in the Philly suburb of Norristown, Wernel Martinez is knocking doors for a different labor organization, the hospitality union UNITE HERE. Unlike Goodman, he’s not from around here.
WERNEL MARTINEZ: So I grew up in Puerto Rico, and then we moved to Orlando.
HSU: He was hired by UNITE HERE to knock doors in Pennsylvania, where his background helps him connect with voters like Josephine Villalongo.
MARTINEZ: (Speaking Spanish) Kamala Harris?
JOSEPHINE VILLALONGO: (Laughter, speaking Spanish).
MARTINEZ: Yes.
HSU: He marks her down as a Harris voter and moves to the next question – how is she planning to vote?
VILLALONGO: (Speaking Spanish).
MARTINEZ: (Speaking Spanish).
HSU: She says, in person, on Election Day. She points to her minivan.
VILLALONGO: (Speaking Spanish).
MARTINEZ: (Laughter).
VILLALONGO: (Speaking Spanish).
MARTINEZ: OK.
VILLALONGO: (Speaking Spanish).
MARTINEZ: This van is full with the people – we’re going to voting.
HSU: Unfortunately, one person in her family who won’t be able to vote is her 20-year-old son, Kenieo. Wernel Martinez discovered he wasn’t registered to vote. But turns out the deadline to be eligible to vote in this election had just passed, a reminder of just how little time is left for both sides to make their final push in yet another close election.
Andrea Hsu, NPR News, Norristown, Pennsylvania.
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