BUILDING TRADES FEATURED AS WE WIND DOWN. November 2.

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Dear Ohio Labor Leaders,   Sherman Crowder (USW 979) and Pat Gallagher (President, North Coast ALF) before heading out on a labor walk in Cleveland on Saturday We are TWO days away from Election Day, and our get out the vote operation is in full swing.  You can find out where to participate in walks and phone banks to get out the vote by going to our blog at http://labor2008.typepad.com/oh.  Walk Sites: http://labor2008.typepad.com/oh/gotv-walk-sites-come-out-and-walk-with-us.html Phone Bank Sites: http://labor2008.typepad.com/oh/phone-bank-locations-get-out-the-union-vote-today.html Today was a great day across Ohio, with 1,283 union activists turning out for our final Saturday walk!  If you didn’t come out yesterday, don’t worry.  We’re doing walks and phones pretty much non-stop until the polls close, so find a location near you and come join the fun! We’re very happy today to feature a short interview with United American Nurses International President Ann Converso, who walked in Cleveland today.  Check out the story below. Also today, we are proud to feature the Building Trades.  They work so hard and we are trying to keep up with them... Check out the summary below! In solidarity, Ben Waxman, AFL-CIO Labor 2008 Ohio Director Jeanette Mauk, Ohio AFL-CIO Field Director The Last Saturday Walks of Labor 2008 Labor 2008 Pulse: CLC Leaders Sound Off on the Endgame Affiliate Spotlight: Laborers International Union of North America (LIUNA) 1. The Last Saturday Walks of Labor 2008!   OAPSE 318 activists Fannie Dean, Rose Bonner, Lola Phillips, and Thresa Jackson before going out to walk on Saturday Today, 1,283 union members walked in neighborhoods across Ohio.  Together, they knocked on 19,992 doors.  This is an amazing effort, and we want to thank everybody who volunteered to get out   CWA 4309 members walk in Cleveland: Diane Jones, Walter Redomski, Zack Redomski, Terez Woods, Vickie Hart, Almeida Dye, Malikah Hart, and Alan Turner the union vote.  This is where all of our hard work over the last months culminates.  All the men and women we’ve talked to before, we now must get to the polls.  The walks and phone banks will continue until the end of the day Tuesday. Today in Cleveland, we were fortunate enough to interview Ann Converso, President of United American Nurses.  She said, “I think the union vote is not only going to be influential, it’s going to be critical.  We still process grievances, we still take care of employees needs on the job, but this election has become a priority for us.  It is absolutely critical.”  You can watch the video of Ms. Converso on our blog at http://labor2008.typepad.com/oh/2008/11/last-saturday-labor-walks.html. 2. The Labor 2008 Pulse: CLC Leaders Sound Off on the Endgame   Lynda Mobley and Mary Beth Thompson (both OAPSE) on phone banks in Mansfield Lynda Mobley, President of the North Central Labor Council: “I’m very excited about union members’ participation -- everyone is really coming out in force.  This is an election that we have to win.  We’re phoning, walking, reminding everyone about Election Day, finding out who has voted early and who we still need to get to the polls.  I feel that members’ work reaching out to their families, their friends, and their co-workers will be really critical to the outcome.” William Padisak, President of the Mahoning-Trumbull Central Labor Council: “It’s pure excitement in the Mahoning valley.  Yesterday we saw our biggest turnout ever for walkers and phone bankers we’ve ever seen in our CLC – we could hardly find places to put everyone.  People are excited – everyone is so happy that this   Joe Thayer (SMWIA), Brian Baker (IBEW Political Director), and Kevin Stitak (IBEW 129) moment is finally here.  We’re really mobilizing, we know we have a good shot at winning the presidency if we just put in the maximum effort in these last few days.  It’s also exciting to see all these people who have traveled in from out of state to help us take back Ohio.” Joe Thayer, President of the Lorain County Labor Council:  “The Labor 2008 program has been very successful.  We’ve gotten a lot of new faces involved, and I think and I hope all our work pays off this year.  It looks good but we can’t let our guard down, we have to keep going until the final vote is cast.  A big thing we can do is offer assistance to get people to the polls – union members, the elderly, whomever.” 3. Union Spotlight: Building Trades   Jim Williams, IUPAT International President, phone banking in Columbus The Building Trades unions are doing an amazing amount of work in Labor 2008, and we are proud to feature them today.  Recently, IUPAT leaders visited Cincinnati and Cleveland.  Check out video interviews with President Jim Williams, Executive General Vice President Ken Rigmaiden, and others on our blog at http://labor2008.typepad.com/oh/2008/10/iupat-leaders-at-cincinnati-rally.html At an AFL-CIO Executive Board meeting, we had the privilege of interviewing Sam Chilia, International Vice President of IBEW’s 4th District.  You can see the video on our blog at http://labor2008.typepad.com/oh/2008/07/labor-leader--3.html   Chuck Lucas and John Mirabile, LIUNA 310 members, get ready to walk on Saturday Back in August, we profiled Ken Holland, Secretary Treasurer of the Ohio Laborers District Council.  Read his profile here: http://labor2008.typepad.com/oh/2008/08/labor-leader-of.html We’ve featured UA Local 50 (Business Manager Tom Joseph).  You can find that profile here: http://labor2008.typepad.com/oh/2008/08/local-union-of.html Joe Thayer, SMWIA 33, was Labor Leader of the Week in August.  You can find his profile at  http://labor2008.typepad.com/oh/2008/08/ohio-labor-le-1.html.   IBEW 8 President Joe Cousino hands out flyers at a worksite We also featured IBEW 8 (Business Manager Jim Kozlowski).  To read the profile, for which we interviewed Assistant Business Manager Ken Roach, Political Coordinator Don Burnard, and Registrar Mark Ehrenfried, go to http://labor2008.typepad.com/oh/2008/08/local-union-spo.html. You can see a video of IUPAT members painting a northeast Ohio barn for Obama on our blog at: http://labor2008.typepad.com/oh/2008/08/iupat-members-p.html   Tom Curley, Labor 2008 Building Trades Liaison and a retired member of IBEW 8, and Jim Wasser, Union Veterans spokesman and IBEW member Back in July, we interviewed Donald Criner (Business Manager of UA 577) and Austin Keyser (Political Coordinator of IBEW 575).  You can find that profile at  http://labor2008.typepad.com/oh/2008/07/were-all-in-thi.html We’ve also profiled John   Tom Joseph, UA Local 50 Business Manager Kilbane, Business Manager of LIUNA 310 in Cleveland: http://labor2008.typepad.com/oh/2008/06/labor-leader-pr.html   LIUNA 329 (Business Manager Rick Johnson) sending local union mail:  http://labor2008.typepad.com/oh/2008/10/liuna-329-local.html Roger Leasure, Business Manager of LIUNA  639: http://labor2008.typepad.com/oh/2008/10/roger-leasure-liuna.html IRON 550 (Business Manager Tim Litman): http://labor2008.typepad.com/oh/2008/07/local-union-spo.html Visit the web address below to tell your friends about this.  Tell-a-friend! 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