As a union member, you are essential to the health of our democracy. Being involved in our union’s community outreach both activates and engages voters whose turnout to the polls makes the difference in electing pro-worker candidates in local government races, improving our lives and the lives of our broader community. Your participation in these efforts—in particular, campaign literature drops—makes a difference in a meaningful way, and this article shows you how easy it is to be involved in this important activity.
Why Volunteering in Campaigns is Important
Unions and union members serve as a bridge between the less politically engaged members of our community and the politics of local government. Local elections are low turnout, low engagement races compared to the larger federal and state elections. However, they are some of the most important elections for your local community, and particularly for us the public employees working for local government.
As public employees, we get the opportunity to elect our bosses. Your CEMA Political Action Committee (PAC) does the hard work of meeting with and vetting candidates for local office prior to CEMA endorsing any candidates and supporting them with our membership’s time and money.
They look for candidates who will embody and carry forward CEMA’s values—candidates who will help the County provide excellent quality services to our community members, who will ensure the County runs efficiently, and who will see the County operate as a fair employer.
Often, our CEMA-endorsed candidates are not the most financially supported candidates in their races—we support candidates who prioritize working families above corporate interests. As a union, our strength is our membership, and our ability to connect with community members as community members.
Two ways to volunteer is by door knocking and phone banking.
Canvassing, also referred to as literature "lit" dropping and door knocking, is the political activity of volunteers going to voters' houses and advocating for a political candidate or issue.
Phone banking is the political activity of volunteers making phone calls to voters advocating for a political candidate or issue.
Canvassing - What to Expect
Normally, two CEMA members will work together to canvass a particular neighborhood. If it’s your first time canvassing, reach out to your CEMA Business Agent or PAC and we’ll be happy to connect you with a CEMA member or CEMA staff member who is experienced.
The morning of volunteers will gather in a central location, often a park, local restaurant, or central square. There, you will sign in and be asked to download an App to your phone to track, usually, it’s the app PDI (Political Data Incorporated).
When you sign in, you’ll be given the following things:
- An individual log in for PDI with an assigned route of houses, usually 75-150 houses for a team of 2.
- A shoulder bag with the candidate’s literature, usually a door hanger, advertising the candidate and their positions.
- A brief sheet with talking points introducing the candidate to potential voters.
Campaigns usually provide coffee and pastries for volunteers while congregating in the morning.
You and your partner will drive to your assigned route. You will be given a geographically and voter-dense area that you can complete walking on foot, this will frequently be a 4 or 5 block square. Wear comfortable shoes, you may expect to walk one or one and a half miles.
You won’t be knocking on every door, instead, the canvassing app is loaded with voter and polling data. Most campaigns will target registered Democratic voters who have voted in two of the last three local elections.
When you knock on a door, you’ll introduce yourself, let them know you’re volunteering your time walking for a candidate for local office in their district, and ask the resident if you can share a few of the candidates' priorities with them. If amenable, ask the resident if they plan to vote for our candidate.
After you finish, you’ll note in the app how the interaction went.
*Most times you knock on the door, nobody will answer. You can just leave the campaign literature at the door or on the door handle and note that no one was home.
**Never drop campaign literature in a resident’s mailbox, respect signs that say "No Solicitation"
At the End of the Volunteering Session
When you’re done, drop off any extra campaign literature back where you began the morning. Be sure to let your CEMA Business Agent know that you volunteered so you can be noted with credit in OE3’s Voice of the Engineer (VOTE) program.
Often, CEMA volunteers will meet up for lunch afterwards, connect with your fellow members and have fun!
OE3 VOTE Program
Through our affiliation with Operating Engineers Local 3 (OE3), all CEMA members are eligible to participate in OE3’s vote program.
OE3 incentivizes member participation in politics, if you volunteer as part of a CEMA PAC supported campaign, please connect with your CEMA Business Agent or the PAC so that you get credit for volunteering. OE3 purchases great gifts for volunteers each year.
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