Portside

As the US election nears, union members are knocking on millions of doors in swing states across America in a last-ditch attempt to swing the too-close-to-call election for Kamala Harris.

Joe Biden billed himself as the most pro-union president ever. Now his successor is hoping that the all-out support of organized labor can push her bid over the line. But in a divided America, the labor movement too is split.

Tim Freeman, a hotel worker and member of Unite Here in Philadelphia, has been knocking doors for Democrats since 2020 when he came out in support of the Biden campaign.

“It opened my eyes to seeing what’s important, not just about the voting, but the issues, and then connecting with the voters,” said Freeman.

Unite Here, the hospitality and food service workers union, is running the largest independent labor-led field program in the US in the 2024 election, with operations focused in swing states of Pennsylvania, Arizona Nevada, and seven other states.

Recent polls show Pennsylvania and Nevada as toss-up states, favoring Democrats by a slim margin, with Arizona currently leaning slightly in favor of Republicans.

Freeman argued Kamala Harris was the best candidate for union members as she backs and has fought for worker rights compared to Trump, who has opposed unions and efforts to bolster worker rights.

“Our union rights are definitely under attack, but not just union rights. All of our rights are under attack,” Freeman said. “We can’t let this man back in office.”

Speaking with voters in person, so that they don’t have to rely on television ads or campaign rhetoric, was important, he said.

“You can be able to see somebody right here in your space, at your door, sharing your story with them as well as seeing what we have in common,” added Freeman. “Strength is in numbers and the more you gather, collect, and give out information to people to let them know, this is what we’re here for and this is why we canvas. Some days are tougher than others but we’re out here putting that good foot forward and putting in that work.”

Ahead of the 2020 presidential election, Unite Here ran a similar door-knocking campaign. The union claimed it mobilized over 440,000 infrequent voters to vote for Biden in Nevada, Arizona and Pennsylvania, including 125,000 voters who had not voted in 2016. The union knocked on 3m doors during the 2020 election cycle.

The union has already knocked on over 3 million doors this election year, with a goal of 3.5m doors across 10 key election battleground states in support of the Democratic presidential candidate, Kamala Harris, Democratic Senate candidates and local elected officials.

“There’s so much noise in the election, getting a voter to engage at the door involves being able to make a quick connection with them, and I think our members are particularly positioned to do that,” said the Unite Here president, Gwen Mills, who designed the union’s Take Back 2020 campaign.

“We’re not tracking polls. We’re just focused on how many doors we can knock on and how many conversations we can have with a voter that may feel disaffected that their vote doesn’t matter, or who may still be struggling with issues and on the fence about where these two candidates are.”

Unite Here noted the number of these voters exceeded Biden’s margin of victory in Nevada and Arizona.