As working families across the country watch the daily ebb and flow of political news — who’s up, who’s down, who said what, and who wore what — it’s easy to feel confused and think the train has come off the rails. But the headlines and cable news stories aren’t the reality of workday politics. At best, much of what we see and hear is designed more to entertain than to inform, aimed at getting clicks and views, rather than encouraging civic engagement.
For these reasons the UWUA has cultivated a deliberate approach to politics that spends less time on electoral races and much more time on the mundane policy work intrinsic to actual governance. A lot happens between election cycles when no one is paying attention, when the cameras are off, the talking heads have gone quiet, and those in power are busy drafting legislation and setting policy.
There are a myriad of issues affecting every utility sector, whether electric, gas, or water, that require detailed analysis, thoughtful advocacy, and deliberate communication, almost none of which will be mentioned on cable news. Tax policy covers much of it — various technology incentives, production and investment tax credits, funding for infrastructure investment, cybersecurity, grid reliability and hardening; each of these things can be influenced by a handful of lines in a piece of legislation. Spending our limited attention speculating about who made the latest gaffe, or wringing our hands about polarization, means we would risk missing the bus when the real work of government is done.
This is also true in the use of UWUA’s Committee on Political Education (COPE) fund, money voluntarily donated by our membership for the purpose of selecting candidates who speak for our members. Given the enormous expense of modern national races, it’s important to keep perspective on what this money can realistically achieve. Some may think that the UWUA can change the outcome of an election one way or another simply by writing a check. The truth is that while all money is, of course, useful to a campaign, the relative size of our fund, campaign finance limits, and the outsize impact of ‘dark money’ in politics means that our real ability to influence election results lies more in what labor can do to provide human support — neighborhood walks, phone canvassing, distributing literature and other, old-fashioned retail political work.
What the COPE fund is enormously useful for is giving the UWUA the ability to create and maintain long-term working relationships with a spectrum of elected officials who fall most closely in line with the politics of the working class in the utility sector. Generally, the sort of elected official we look to work with over the long haul are political moderates and centrists. So-called ‘conservative Democrats’ and ‘moderate Republicans’ are the sweet spot for the issues affecting our membership. Using COPE, we’re able to talk consistently with several dozen such officials during those in-between times, regardless of who ultimately controls Congress or the White House.
This brings up a final point: the UWUA has successfully advocated for our members regardless of which party is in power. Whether Democrats or Republicans are in sole control, or whether government is divided, the work never stops and never truly changes. On any given issue we may be playing offense or defense but our positions, our core beliefs, and our core goal of advocating for our members never waivers. By taking the emotion, the hype, and the bumper sticker slogans out of our work and getting down to parsing bills with center-of-the-road government officials, our union does the work of looking out for our members when no one is paying attention. In fact, especially when no one is paying attention.
So, get out and work the election, vote in favor of working-class interests, let your union know your point of view and be assured that your voice is heard. Speak up; it’s the union way!