Utilizing non-partisan political committees, we are working to establish a presence with elected leaders and candidates across our 11-state footprint.
What do SSMRC’s political committees do?
SSMRC political committees operate at the state, county, and city levels. Our parent organization, the United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners of America, handles federal-level government matters. Our council’s committees work to form partnerships that will help pass labor-friendly laws and give council representatives access to the table to discuss how our members could be assets to major projects. Committees also promote political involvement and voting among our membership.
Just as large corporations have political pull, union political committees seek to provide similar influence for working people. Some of the labor issues we discuss with legislators include right-to-work laws, health and welfare benefits, unemployment-insurance programs, prevailing wages, workers’ compensation, workplace safety, tax fraud in relation to construction projects, and apprenticeship standards.
We provide bipartisan support.
Following the example of our UBC parent organization, SSMRC political committees are non-partisan and open to working with all politicians who champion the goals of working people. When approached by candidates who have held office before, our political committee directors review voting records, and we monitor the voting records of politicians we have assisted previously. We hold those elected officials accountable to the promises they made.
Why union political committees are needed:
The Southern States Millwright Regional Council’s goal is to have a political committee or footprint in every state in our district. We need to do this because every year, state-level bills and other legislation threaten the rights of working people. Some of those bills have been successful in recent years. For example, Arkansas’ prevailing-wage law was lost in 2017 – a defeat that hurt working families across the state. On the other hand, we have won victories as well. For instance, many thousands of man-hours our members have worked in northeast Arkansas’ burgeoning steel industry during the past six years are directly tied to SSMRC’s Arkansas Political Committee.