Joe Biden and Kamala Harris’ victory in this free and fair election is a win for America’s labor movement. Everywhere in every way, working people are heroically and resiliently fighting back against this pandemic, its economic fall out, chronic income inequality and systemic racism. Union voters delivered this election for President-elect Biden and Vice President-elect Harris. Their message and commitment to create “the most significant pro-labor, pro-worker administration” resonated with our 12.5 million members and 56 affiliated unions who are hungry for a bigger voice in our economy and our politics.
Working people also spoke loudly in electing union-friendly candidates at all levels of government. Here are 10 victories you should know about:
1. Union Voters Surge for Biden-Harris: Union members went 58% for Biden-Harris. While the general public supported Biden by 3 points, our members favored him by 21 points.
2. Members of American Postal Workers Union (APWU), National Association of Letter Carriers (NALC) and National Postal Mail Handlers Union (NPMHU): For making sure that a record surge of mail ballots were delivered so the voices of all working people could be heard and counted.
3. Kai Kahele, Hawaii: The Air Line Pilots Association (ALPA) member won the election for U.S. representative and will represent Hawaii's 2nd Congressional District.
4. Debra Hixon, Florida: The longtime educator and member of the Broward Teachers Union (an affiliate of AFT) won election to the Broward County School Board.
5. Nikki Merritt, Georgia: The member of Communications Workers of America (CWA) Local 3204 won the election for Georgia state Senate District 9.
6. Brandon Chafee, Connecticut: The Electrical Workers (IBEW) member was elected state representative for District 33.
7. Fire Fighters: The IAFF affiliates notched victories in 23 local ballot measures, including "increased funding for our members’ fire departments, established binding arbitration, halted attacks on our members’ schedules and ended efforts to create a public safety officer (PSO) program."
8. Connie Chan, California: The former International Federation of Professional and Technical Engineers (IFPTE) Local 21 member was elected to the San Francisco Board of Supervisors.
9. Troy Jackson, Maine: Jackson, who is a member of both the Machinists (IAM) and Painters and Allied Trades (IUPAT), won re-election to the Maine state Senate.
10. Delaware IATSE Members: These members built the stage where Joe Biden and Kamala Harris accepted the victory delivered to them by the American people.
If you know of any additional wins for working people from the 2020 election we should include in this series, please email them to [email protected].