Volunteers Will Launch a Door-to-Door Campaign, Taking More than 10 Million Steps to Connect with Voters and STOP THE RECALL 

Watch the press conference here

Sacramento, CA – Today workers and union leaders with the California Labor Federation kicked off their sweeping campaign to defend California’s progress from the anti-worker effort to recall Governor Gavin Newsom. What’s at stake for all workers, including the 2.1 million represented by the California Labor Federation, is decades of hard-won progress including increased pay, critical protections like paid sick leave and paid family leave, public education funding, child care and homecare, the right to form unions and so much more.

With the landmark success of Governor Newsom’s aggressive plan to partner with unions to rapidly vaccinate essential workers, today’s announcement from the California Labor Federation marks the return of the worker-powered campaign ground game. Thousands of workers will volunteer in the coming months to walk precincts and knock on doors, communicating with voters face-to-face about the importance of stopping the misguided and anti-worker recall.

“Under Gavin Newsom’s leadership, California has the strongest worker protections in the country,” said Art Pulaski, Executive Secretary-Treasurer of the California Labor Federation. “This reckless recall threatens our values as Californians, and will be met with strong opposition from working people across the state. With thousands of boots on the ground, we will lead the charge to stop the recall to protect decades of progress on workers’ rights in California.”

“When the pandemic hit, Governor Newsom immediately thought of the workers of this state and how the crisis was affecting them, said United Domestic Workers, AFSCME 3930 Executive Director Doug Moore. “He acted immediately to protect essential workers with paid COVID sick leave, mandatory workplace COVID reporting, and increased health and safety enforcement on the job.”

“Our nurses have assessed this election,” said California Nurses Association President Cathy Kennedy, RN. “We see who is behind it, and their real agenda to roll back the ability of workers to have a voice on the job, on their workplace safety protections and economic standards for their families, on environmental safeguards, action on climate change, and much more.”

The unprecedented labor campaign to protect our progress by defeating the recall will feature a robust ground game (conducted safely with masking and social distancing) to turn out hard-to-reach voters. Highlights of the worker-led union campaign include:

• Union volunteers spending evenings and weekends throughout the summer and fall going door-to-door, making phone calls, connecting with friends, co-workers and neighbors, including taking over 10 million steps (4,000 miles) of door-to-door canvassing, enough to walk from Los Angeles to the coast of Maine.
• In-language outreach in Spanish, Vietnamense, Chinese and other languages to ensure maximum engagement with immigrant families.
• The most targeted and technologically advanced campaign labor has ever run, ensuring that union volunteers are connecting with voters, urban and rural alike, on the issues that are most important to working people.
• Extensive and targeted digital outreach to maximize turnout among young workers.

“I’m ready to give up my nights and weekends to make phone calls, send texts, and knock on peoples’ doors to make sure every voter says no on the recall,” said Amy Fletcher, a staff research associate at UC Davis, member of UPTE-CWA Local 9119 and volunteer for the Sacramento Labor Council. “My right to a living wage, healthcare, paid sick leave, and an eight hour work day are all at stake – and I will fight with every ounce of energy I have to make sure no one takes that away from me or any other worker in California.”

“Governor Newsom partnered with Orange County unions to put shots in the arms of essential workers, which was critical to getting the COVID crisis under control and protecting workers on the job,” said Gloria Alvarado, Executive Director of the Orange County Labor Federation. “The governor has had workers’ backs since Day One of this pandemic. We will walk through hundreds of Orange County neighborhoods, knock on thousands of doors and take millions of steps to protect California’s progress and stop this recall in its tracks.”

“From the onset of the pandemic, Gavin Newsom has stood up for those who can’t stand up for themselves – fighting for what’s right and saving our members and millions of other Californians’ lives,” said Jacques Loveall, President, United Food and Commercial Workers Local 8-Golden State. “Governor Newsom had our back during the darkest days in recent memory, and we are proud to have his back now to stop this recall so we can get back to the important work of making California the best and brightest it can be.”

 

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