IBEW locals representing over 5,100 members call Sanders the “clear choice for working people”
Boston, MA—Leaders of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW) System Council T-6 announced Thursday that they have voted unanimously to support the candidacy of Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders for President of the United States.
“Bernie Sanders is the clear choice for working people, every union should be supporting Bernie for President” said Myles Calvey, Business Manager of IBEW Local 2222 and chair of the System Council T-6, which represents seven local unions in Massachusetts and Rhode Island. “Labor unions should always be guided by a moral compass and must support only those candidates for office that share our values and champion the causes important to the working class. The majority of our members work for Verizon, who despite recording profits in excess of $1 Billion dollars per month, is actively trying to cut healthcare benefits for retirees on a fixed income. Senator Sanders is not only talking about this inequality, he has spent his life fighting to eliminate it.”
Leaders said that the decision to endorse came about after rank-and-file members have spent the summer urging support of Sanders. According to Ed Starr, Business Manager of IBEW Local 2321 in North Andover, MA, “Our members are smart people who understand that poll-driven platitudes will not rebuild the middle class. They have urged the leadership of the IBEW T6 council to be true to our ideals and support a champion for working people for President of the United States. Senator Sanders has been a friend to IBEW workers, has walked along side us on picket lines and has supported our efforts to preserve jobs and benefits. Simply, Bernie is the real deal”
Local leaders say that they will begin outreach to workers throughout New England and put together an “aggressive” field campaign that will leave no stone unturned in the lead up to primaries scheduled for early 2016. According to Calvey, “We will continue to have conversations in the workplace, but we will not stop there. This campaign will be won in the neighborhoods and that is where we will spend our time; out in the community talking to workers, their families and neighbors. Our futures depend on it.”
IBEW System Council T-6 is comprised of seven local unions in Massachusetts and Rhode Island representing over 5,000 Verizon employees. They are IBEW Locals 2222, 2313, 2321, 2322, 2323, 2324, and 2325.
The post Massachusetts & Rhode Island Telephone Workers Unions Endorse Bernie Sanders For President appeared first on NH Labor News.