NAACP and Unions Working Together to Overcome Pennsylvania Voter Suppression Law

Philadelphia, PA – Two national unions and the Pennsylvania NAACP today announced a collaborative effort to register 25,000 new voters in the Keystone State by October 1st.

The effort by members of the Communications Workers of America (CWA), the Transport Workers Union (TWU) and the NAACP will also focus on educating voters on the requirements of the state’s new voter identification law, a measure recently passed by the Republican-dominated State Legislature that is cynically designed to suppress turnout – particularly in the minority community.

“The NAACP and Organized Labor have made a commitment to ensure all civil rights are granted to all people, and here in Pennsylvania the right to vote is being threatened by a conservative, extreme group of people. We will not sit by and we will fight back and we will register as many voters over the course of the next month”, said Northeast Regional Director Marvin Bing

Transport Workers Union Local 234 President John Johnson, Jr. said, “Our collaboration shows how serious we are about coming together to address voter suppression in PA.  Our members in TWU, CWA, and the NAACP represent a strong coalition that will take a stand for democracy and protect the voting rights of our members, families, and communities.”

Volunteers from all three organizations will be taking to the streets in both Philadelphia and Pittsburgh carrying voter registration forms, and will have materials providing information on the proper forms of identification now required by law in Pennsylvania to exercise the most basic right of every American citizen.

“Together, we will work day and night in Philadelphia and Pittsburgh to register new voters and educate current voters about what they now need to do to participate in the democratic process,” said CWA District 2-13 Vice President Ed Mooney. “Some in the State Legislature may think they can keep eligible voters away from the polls with unnecessary hurdles, but they need to think again.”

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Contact: Jessica Neal, NAACP Communications, 202-559-9618 or jneal@naacpnet.org

Ralph Branch, TWU Communications, 267-253-8360 or rbranch@twu234.org

Chuck Porcari or Liz Schilling, CWA Communications, 202-434-1168 cporcari@cwa-union.org, eschilling@cwa-union.org