During an interview with The UpTake at Netroots Nation, United Steelworkers President Leo Gerard said that, in the future, organized labor would invest more resources in state politics. The Steelworkers have traditionally spent 70 percent of their political donations and manpower to influence national elections, and only 30 percent on state elections. But Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker’s assault on collective bargaining rights, and organized labor’s existential struggle in Madison this past winter, have convinced Gerard that state politics cannot be ignored.
