MEDIA ADVISORY FOR:
Saturday, October 22, 2022 at 10am Pacific
MEDIA CONTACT:
Bethany Khan: bkhan@culinaryunion226.org ▪ (702) 387-7088
Culinary Union to launch the largest GOTV program in Nevada on the first day of Early Vote
Las Vegas, NV - UNITE HERE’s Culinary Union continues the strongest political program in Nevada by launching the largest “Get Out the Vote” (GOTV) operation on Saturday, October 22, 2022, at 10am on the first day of Early Vote. Statewide, 400 Culinary Union canvassers have knocked on more than 610,000 doors and had over 100,000 conversations. The political team is knocking on the doors of more than half of Black and Latinx voters and more than a third of the AAPI voters. The average Culinary Union canvasser knocks on 60+ doors during their shift, with the entire team knocking on 16,400+ doors in Las Vegas and Reno everyday, 7 days a week. Canvassers are on track to knock on over 1 million doors in Reno and Las Vegas.
During Early Vote, the Culinary Union will be running the largest statewide political program in Nevada. Hospitality workers, who have taken a leave-of-absence from their jobs to get out the vote, are available for interviews in English or Spanish. There are also limited shadowing opportunities available for reporters who are interested in spending an hour in the field with canvassers. To attend any of the GOTV launch events during Saturday, October 22 - Tuesday, November 8, shadow a canvass team, or to schedule interviews, contact Bethany Khan via email.
WHO:
*Ted Pappageorge, Secretary-Treasurer for Culinary Union
*Diana Valles, President of the Culinary Union
*400 Culinary Union canvassers
WHAT: Early Vote launch with the Culinary Union
WHEN: Saturday, October 22, 2022 at 10am Pacific
WHERE: Culinary Union (1630 South Commerce Street Las Vegas, Nevada 89102)
Livestream: www.Facebook.com/Culinary226
WHY:
UNITE HERE’s Culinary Union previously released its 2022 Midterm Endorsement Guide and the “Neighborhood Stability Slate to take on Wall Street landlords” ahead of Early Vote in the 2022 Midterms.
The Neighborhood Stability Slate includes: Senator Catherine Cortez Masto, Governor Steve Sisolak, Congressional representatives Dina Titus, Steven Horsford, and Susie Lee, Clark County Commissioners Tick Segerblom and William McCurdy III, candidate for North Las Vegas Mayor, Pat Spearman, and Assembly representative Sarah Peters. The list is available on NeighborhoodStability.org and more elected officials and candidates will be added as they sign onto the Neighborhood Stability Slate.
Culinary Union continues to run the largest political statewide program in Nevada for the 2022 Midterms. Statewide, 400 Culinary Union canvassers have knocked on more than 610,000 doors and had over 100,000 conversations. The political team is knocking on the doors of more than half of Black and Latinx voters and more than a third of the AAPI voters. The average Culinary Union canvasser knocks on 60+ doors during their shift, with the entire team knocking on 16,400+ doors in Las Vegas and Reno everyday, 7 days a week. Canvassers are on track to knock on over 1 million doors in Reno and Las Vegas.
Hospitality workers are on a political leave-of-absence to canvass statewide and talk to voters about Governor Sisolak, Senator Catherine Cortez Masto, Congressional Representatives Dina Titus, Steven Horsford, and Susie Lee, Clark County Commissioner Tick Segerblom, and candidate for North Las Vegas Mayor, Pat Spearman.
“We are proud to get out the vote for political leaders who will continue to fight to protect working families,” said Ted Pappageorge, Secretary-Treasurer for the Culinary Union. “We have the most pro-worker representatives we have ever had in our lifetimes. Governor Sisolak, Senator Catherine Cortez Masto, Congressional Representatives Dina Titus, Steven Horsford, and Susie Lee, Clark County Commissioner Tick Segerblom, and candidate for North Las Vegas Mayor, Pat Spearman fought for workers during the pandemic and we are going to have their backs during this Midterm. The biggest corporations have been using the pandemic to price gouge working families but we are fighting back and we have a plan to win. No voter believes Republicans are going to take on massive Wall Street landlords who are stealing our homes and ruining our neighborhoods. Workers do not believe that Republicans, who are getting rich off of record oil profits and prescription drugs, are going to take on Big Oil or Big Pharma. Together, we will continue to take on Wall Street landlords, Big Oil, Big Pharma, and greedy corporations to win for working families.”
Amid a 22% average increase in rent in Northern Nevada, hospitality workers are canvassing in Reno 6 days a week while braving 100+ degree heat and hazardous smoke and air from fires during the summer. Hospitality workers have traversed mountains and have been knocking on doors in every community from Sparks to Lake Tahoe. In Las Vegas, canvassers are hitting the streets, including on days where temperatures have soared past 114 degrees, and beginning on October 22, are knocking on doors 7 days a week throughout the Las Vegas Valley from the Eastside, Westside, and in North Las Vegas, Sunday-Saturday. Canvassers launch daily from the Culinary Union’s John Wilhelm Big Hall between 11am-11:30am and stay out on the doors till 8pm.
The Culinary Union, the largest affiliate of UNITE HERE, the strongest political force in the state, is mobilizing hundreds of thousands of hospitality workers and immigrant voters during the 2022 Midterms to elect political leaders who will continue to fight for Nevadans. Political canvassers reflect the Culinary Union’s diverse membership, which is majority women and people of color, and who are committed to organizing and winning economic and racial justice. The Culinary Union drives turnout in Nevada because the union has worked for nearly nine decades to build worker power and strength. Each political effort draws from the Culinary Union’s 87 years of rich knowledge of effective and precise voter contact, which is rooted in the principle of working people talking to each other about the importance of building collective power through voting.
“I’m an immigrant from Ethiopia and I support elected leaders who want to do more to help immigrants like my family and I. We need to elect more leaders who will fight for working-class families and immigrants,” said Meseret Gizaw, a casino porter and Culinary Union member for 12 years. “MAGA Republicans want to deregulate corporations and give them tax breaks while taking away the rights of the people. My family sent me out to fight for the Democrats so that we could have a victory for all.”
Nevada voters want elected leaders to stand with working people and for the right to dignified affordable housing, and against corporate landlords that are getting rich off of evictions. As the largest organization of workers in Nevada, Culinary Union is signing up voters to support the passage of Neighborhood Stability at the county level.
NEIGHBORHOOD STABILITY:
*Prohibits rent increases for the first year of tenancy.
*Guarantees that rent increases are tied to CPI with a 5% yearly cap.
*Requires landlords to give 90-day notice on future rent increases.
*Includes commonsense exemptions for units built in the last 15 years and for mom/pop landlords who only own 1 unit or live in a multi-unit building.
Culinary Union is also calling on all candidates running for office this November to pledge to support Neighborhood Stability, as hospitality workers will be considering candidate stances regarding Neighborhood Stability as they cast their votes during the Midterms. For more information on Neighborhood Stability, go to: NeighborhoodStability.org
The Culinary Union has consistently run the largest and strongest political program in Nevada and is running an even larger program in the 2022 political cycle. Each cycle, the Culinary Union has surpassed previous political efforts:
*2016: 300 canvassers knocked on 250,000 doors.
*2018: 350 canvassers knocked on 370,000 doors.
*2020: Culinary Union delivered Nevada for Biden/Harris and drove unprecedented turnout with the largest political team statewide. 500 canvassers knocked on 650,000 doors, including half of the Black and Latinx voters in Nevada.
*2022: The Culinary Union’s political program for the 2022 Primary was the largest in the state. During the 2022 Primary, the Culinary Union’s political team of 120 canvassers knocked on over 24,000 doors. In the Midterms: The field team, currently composed of over 400 guest room attendants, bartenders, cocktail and food servers, porters, bellmen, cooks, and kitchen workers, spend up to 10 hours a day, 7 days a week canvassing. The program, which continues through Tuesday, November 8, 2022, will continue to ramp up for the weeks and days prior to Election Day.
We Vote. We Win. For our families!
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ABOUT CULINARY UNION:
Culinary Workers Union Local 226 and Bartenders Union Local 165, Nevada affiliates of UNITE HERE, represent 60,000 workers in Las Vegas and Reno, including at most of the casino resorts on the Las Vegas Strip and in Downtown Las Vegas. UNITE HERE represents 300,000 workers in gaming, hotel, and food service industries in North America.
The Culinary Union, through the Culinary Health Fund, is one of the largest healthcare consumers in the state. The Culinary Health Fund is sponsored by the Culinary Union and Las Vegas-area employers. It provides health insurance coverage for over 145,000 Nevadans, the Culinary Union’s members and their dependents.
The Culinary Union is Nevada’s largest Latinx/Black/AAPI/immigrant organization with members who come from 178 countries and speak over 40 different languages. We are proud to have helped over 18,000 immigrants become American citizens and new voters since 2001 through our affiliate, The Citizenship Project.
The Culinary Union has a diverse membership which is 55% women and 45% immigrants. The demographics of Culinary Union members are approximately: 54% Latinx, 18% white, 15% Asian, 12% Black, and less than 1% Indigenous Peoples.
Culinary Union members work as: Guest room attendants, cocktail and food servers, porters, bellmen, cooks, bartenders, laundry and kitchen workers. The Culinary Union has been fighting and winning for working families in Nevada for 87 years.
CulinaryUnion226.org / @Culinary226
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