Labor Lobby Day First Time Attendees Share their Experiences

PHOTO: Josh Tymoczko (BMDA-UAW 3999) & Kate Johnson (IBEW 1837), House Majority Leader Matt Moonen (D-Portland), Assistant House Majority Leader & other union members at Labor Lobby Day.
 

Two weeks ago we had a strong turnout for Labor Lobby Day, with about 170 union members flooding the State House to talk with their legislators about key labor priorities. Over 60 union members attended the one-day event at the State House for the first time. At Labor Lobby Day, they learned about our priorities to lower child care costs, tax the rich, pay state employees fairly, protect rural maternity care and more.

Josh Tymoczko, a member of the Bath Marine Draftsman’s Association (UAW 3999), had never been to Labor Lobby Day and had not even been involved much in his union until recently. As BMDA began gearing up for contract negotiations with Bath Iron Works, he decided to become a strike captain and get more involved.  He was one of sixteen BMDA members who attended Labor Lobby Day. Tymoczko was able to talk to his State Representative about making affordable child care more accessible with a delegation of workers from his region in the packed halls outside the House of Representatives chamber.

“It was kind of overwhelming at first, but we had a lot of good people in our group, said Tymoczko. “Even though it was a little hectic, I knew I had people I could count on to kind of help me through it. The Capitol building is a lot bigger than I thought it was.”

IBEW 1837 member Kate Johnson, also a first-time Labor Lobby Day attendee, said she enjoyed networking with other union members across the state over breakfast, learning about how to lobby legislators and hearing from legislative leaders at the morning orientation session.

“We were just kind of thrown into a group, but our captain Meg was wonderful at being like, ‘All right, so here's what we're gonna do. We're gonna go find our senator and we're gonna just ask for her time,’” said Johnson. “I've been to senator’s offices before and had more formal meetings, but I'd never approached a Senator just cold and been like, ‘hi, I'd like to talk to you.’ And so that was great to get to learn how that worked.”

Johnson, who is from Portland, got to meet with Senator Jill Duson (D-Cumberland) and Rep. Grayson Lookner (D-Portland), who both expressed support for the bills. She said she liked that her group had a mix of different union members from the Maine State Nurses Association, the Maine Service Employees Association and IBEW. Johnson said she would like to see more new faces at Labor Lobby Day next year.

“I would tell them that it's a very accessible event and that you're offered a lot of information and opportunities,” she said.

Tymoczko said every union member should go to Labor Lobby Day at least once to understand what goes on up in Augusta.

“I think it's kind of eye opening for a lot of people when they see how their legislators are on labor issues,” he said.

In the afternoon Tymoczko and Johsnon were part of a group that met with House Majority Matt Moonen (D-Portland) and Assistant House Majority Leader Lori Gramlich (D-Old Orchard Beach) to discuss labor legislation. Josh also updated the legislative leaders on contract negotiations for his union at BIW and the issues at play in their contract.