As General President Jimmy Williams Jr has said, IUPAT members aren’t red or blue – we are black and gold. That concept is the starting point for my vision of DC4’s political action, and it is my hope that we can keep our endorsement process and other political activities transparent and open for all our members.
To that end, we’ve made our Endorsement Questionnaire available to the Republican and Democratic Committees for each of the 33 counties we represent, and we interview each candidate seeking an endorsement before presenting a recommendation to the Executive Board and Delegates.
We meet regularly with our representatives to discuss legal and political updates and work together to pass laws that help protect our members’ livelihoods, elevate our crafts, and increase our market share opportunities. We work together with our Organizing Department to help enforce labor laws and learn which laws need to be fixed. We help get out the vote (GOTV) for the politicians that stand for and with us. We attend rallies and public meetings and put in the work to defend workers’ rights. We advocate for collective bargaining rights, project labor agreements, prevailing wage laws, local labor policies, apprentice and safety standards, and all worker issues.
As they say, politics is not a spectator sport, and DC4 plays offense and defense for our members’ rights and the rights of all workers. If you’re interested in becoming more involved in DC4’s political action, please reach out to me at (716) 458-5844 or jguza@dc4.org.
In Solidarity,
Joe Guza – Director of Political Action
Political Action Links:
New York State Elected Officials
New York State County Government Directory
New York State Political Parties