![]() ![]() This high retention rate is a marked difference between our canvass and a traditional political canvass. So, while a small number of canvassers did return home early, owing to family reasons or difficulties with the physically demanding nature of the work, most stayed for the duration. I mentioned before that UNITE HERE is a union that places tremendous value on direct organizing, and our election work is just one aspect of the work we do to build collective worker solidarity. We attribute this to the fact that UNITE HERE members chose to take part in the program as part of a broader commitment to being union leaders, even though in some cases that meant spending months away from their homes and families. Perhaps even more remarkably, in spite of the very real emotional and logistical challenges involved in doing door-to-door canvassing in a pandemic year, the turnover rate on our canvass teams was incredibly low. Strict adherence to these protocols ensured that none of our 1,700 canvassers contracted COVID-19. We found that what could have been an awkward interaction often led instead to an immediate discussion of Trump’s mishandling of the pandemic and the direct impact this had on that voter’s life. While on the doors, our safety protocols called for asking voters to put on a mask if they did not come to the door wearing one (many did not) canvassers traveled with a box of masks to offer to voters if they didn’t have one. After a long day, small teams of ten would meet outdoors and maintain social distance to debrief. Typically, canvassers hit their turf in pairs, which they still did - only, in 2020, they each took their own car instead of driving together. In this virtual meeting room, they ran through a typical agenda: reviewing highlights of the day before, hitting training points, and coordinating turf for the day. We called it “contactless canvassing.”Īs part of this program, canvassers gathered every day on Zoom instead of participating in a traditional in-person launch. So UNITE HERE consulted the best health professionals, and, based on their advice, we developed a program that would protect both our door knockers and the voters we visited. We were committed to canvassing in person, but we knew we had to do it safely. We knew that direct conversations on the doors have been proven more effective than digital, print, or phone outreach at persuading undecided voters and helping all voters navigate the changing process of voting - particularly crucial in a year like 2020. Our years of experience on the doors told us otherwise. They said that the election could be won without it, choosing instead to rely on paid advertising, mailings, and other kinds of indirect “relational organizing” such as phone-banking and text messaging. They said no one would even open their door to a stranger during a pandemic. Many organizations, including the Democratic Party, chose, at least in the beginning of the election cycle, to eschew door-to-door canvassing because they determined that it could not be done safely or effectively. As such, the centerpiece of our decades-old political program has always been door-to-door canvassing: workers talking with other workers about building power through voting.ĬOVID-19 created a whole new set of challenges to implementing a successful door-to-door canvassing program for the 2020 presidential election. It’s one of the ways that we build strong worker committees and it’s been one of the keys to making us the fastest-growing private sector union in the United States. UNITE HERE has always been a union that prioritizes personal relationships and one-on-one conversations in our organizing. Fighting for our members meant doing everything in our power to get Trump out of office. ![]() Instead, millions were left to fend for themselves while Trump bailed out corporations. As stay-at-home orders spread, UNITE HERE members and other working people counted on elected officials for support in the form of expanded unemployment benefits, protection of health insurance, and swift response to control the spread of the virus. To say that Trump failed American workers would be an understatement. While the pandemic threatened the lives and livelihoods of workers and their families, there was another threat: Donald Trump. After years of consistent growth, our union was thrust into a fight for survival: for our union, for our members, and for America’s working people. In the spring, at what was then described as “the peak of the pandemic,” 98 percent of UNITE HERE members lost their jobs. As a union of hospitality workers - hotel housekeepers, cooks, and casino workers among them - we were hit hard by the pandemic. Plans were already in motion to make this the biggest year yet for our union. UNITE HERE has been preparing for 2020 since 2016. ![]()
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