Labor Leader of the Week: Bobby "Mac" McAuliffe

USW District 10 Director Bobby ‘Mac’ McAuliffe, has been active with the United Steelworkers of America his entire adult life. Serving in many roles with his union, he has been very involved with the partner unions of the PA AFL-CIO, Central Labor Councils, and is a Vice President of our State Federation.

Community service has always been important to Bobby, conducting volunteer work with his brothers and sisters as long as he has been a union member. That devotion to service has been so consistent he was named the Labor Leader of the Year for 2020 for the March of Dimes Transportation, Building and Construction Awards. Bobby and District 10 were not going to let the pandemic interfere with their volunteer work. To get innovative, the USW District 10 annual March of Dimes Walk for Babies event was changed to a Ride for Babies. “It’s something great about the Unions,” Bobby said. “We get involved with so many things, especially anything that helps out kids.”

Getting out the vote is also community service work, and possibly the most important work we can do this year. While the pandemic has presented challenges to the traditional union member-to-member electoral program, District 10 has reacted by having members get out information about how to vote safely and great pro-labor candidates earlier than ever before.

“We normally go to plants and leaflet,” Bobby said, “but due to the pandemic we are doing things a little differently. We are distributing information at all of our over 600 worksites across the state, delivering flyers for our local union leaders to pass out.” They are also using the virtual phone bank, communicating via mail, and participating in the other pillars of the Labor 2020 Field Program, all, with an eye on safety for everyone involved, and that never is far from Bobby’s mind. "We make sure they wear facemasks and PPE like that when they are out at locations. We are making sure our members stay safe, as well as those we come in contact with."

He is just as committed to getting the word out about great pro-labor candidates running in important down-ballot contests, all having a critical impact on his members. Protecting incumbents who have a proven record, and seeking to elect candidates who value organized labor.

Are you ready to vote? Go to www.workersfirstvoteunion.org to make sure you’re ready, registered and empowered to vote.