UNITE HERE turnout operation reached 60,000 voters who pledge to vote Biden-Harris in Pennsylvania
30,000 of these were people who did not vote in 2016 when Pennsylvania went to Trump
Philadelphia—UNITE HERE, the hospitality workers’ union that ran the largest door-to-door election turnout operation in Philadelphia, tonight will celebrate its efforts to flip Pennsylvania back to blue.
By the numbers:
- 300,000 doors were knocked by UNITE HERE canvassers
- 60,000 Philadelphia residents pledged to vote for Biden-Harris via a contactless conversation with a UNITE HERE canvasser. Of these, 30,000 were people who did not vote in 2016
- 44,292 the margin in 2016 between Clinton and Trump
- 500+ people who knocked doors during turnout in final push towards the election
Leaders of canvass operations and union officials will be available for comment tonight.
Background: UNITE HERE Philly’s contactless election turnout operation knocked on more than 300,000 doors since early October, making plans to vote with residents from Philadelphia neighborhoods with low turnout in 2016. The hotel, food service, airport, and casino workers of UNITE HERE are majority Black and Brown people who live in communities that have been disproportionally impacted by COVID-19 as a public health and economic crisis.
“Four years ago when we watched our state help elect a hotel and casino owner as president, we pledged to do whatever we needed to take our state back this year, and that was before COVID-19 devastated our industries and the bosses turned their backs on our members,” said UNITE HERE Local 274 President Rosslyn Wuchinich. “The power of our union is our ability to build unity and organization across race and other divisions, and that is what helped us run this operation while 80% of our members have been laid off.”
“The pandemic has been hard for casino workers and our number one priority since it began has been making sure we elect leadership who will take this crisis seriously. We decided to do everything we could to help flip Pennsylvania because our members and families are in pain. We’ve lost our jobs, we’ve lost so many of our loved ones, and we need change,” said Theressa Council, Staff and Organizing Director, UNITE HERE Local 54
“People in Philly are tough. You can disrespect us, you can underestimate us—that just makes us fight harder. We are 2,000 Philadelphia School District cafeteria workers and student climate staff. We are primarily Black women and men who come from the same neighborhoods we serve. We see what Trump has done to our communities. We knew it was on us this year to make a difference in this election and we gave it everything we got,” said Nicole Hunt, President, UNITE HERE Local 634.
Contact: Arthur Phillips, 978-500-5366, [email protected]
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UNITE HERE represents more than 300,000 workers in the North American hospitality industry. UNITE HERE is operating the largest door-to-door canvassing operation in the United States including the largest overall door-to-door canvassing operations in the States of Arizona, Florida Nevada, and Pennsylvania. UNITE HERE knocked on 2 million doors across the U.S. heading into election day.