The final day of the 41st IBEW International Convention kicked off with a passionate call to arms by Ohio Democratic Senate candidate Sherrod Brown.
“Unions are the only real check we have in corporate power. Government’s not doing it the way we should. Unions do. You’re doing your part, but no one in Washington is standing up to the corporations that game this system and raise your prices and screw your workers,” he said.
Brown served as a U.S. senator for three terms before being defeated in 2024. He is running again in a special election against incumbent Jon Husted.
Brown, appearing on video, recounted a recent visit to a swearing-in of new members in Reynoldsburg, Ohio, that was hosted by Fourth District International Representative Austin Keyser.
“I’ve never seen anything quite like that,” he said. “I got to see 20 people raise their right hands and get sworn in, and they know their life was going to change. They know that they were going to make good wages, good benefits, healthcare, pension and good job security, something they never really probably thought they [would have.] Because they walked out of that job fair carrying a union card.”
He closed with a call to overthrow the corrupt political class running the federal government this fall.
“I think about the lesson, any union organizer knows, they don’t just give you collective bargaining rights. They don’t just give you fair wages, or safe workplaces, or good benefits. … You have to go out and take it,” he said. “This November, we’re going to get it.”
