Political Engagement Playbook

Political and Elected-Official Engagement Playbook

Respect the Craft — Pay the Standard

Prepared for: Joint campaign coordinating committee + government affairs leads at IBEW Locals 1, 2, 309, 453, 649, 124 Status: Working playbook. Tactical sections to be adapted per jurisdiction.

PART 1 — Read This First

This is the longest game in the campaign. Federal complaints work in months. Direct mail works in weeks. Bridge Fund transitions work in quarters. Political and procurement work measures itself in years. Done right, it is also the workstream that produces the most durable result — language baked into statutes, ordinances, and RFP boilerplate that outlives the campaign itself.

Two operating principles:

1. Be the most useful labor voice in every room. Elected officials hear from a hundred labor voices a month. Most of them ask for something. The most effective political operation in this campaign will be the one that gives officials something — clean facts, real worker stories, defensible policy language, advance warning of community concerns — before it ever asks.

2. Start with the lowest-stakes asks and earn upward. The first ask is never “vote for the bill.” The first ask is “read this memo and let us know what you think.” The second is “consider attending this event.” The third is “would you be willing to sign a letter.” Only after a relationship is established do we get to the heavy lifts — sponsored legislation, procurement reform, public advocacy.

PART 2 — Target Tiers

Federal

Members of Congress representing the six-local footprint.

House members and Senators whose districts include IBEW Locals 1, 2, 309, 453, 649, 124
Members of relevant committees: House Education & the Workforce, House Ways & Means, Senate HELP, Senate Finance
Members of the Congressional Building Trades Caucus

Federal agency leadership (executive branch, where relevant):

DOL Wage and Hour Division — district and regional offices
DOL Office of Apprenticeship
IRS leadership for IRA enforcement
HUD regional office
Federal Highway Administration regional office

State (Missouri and Illinois)

Statewide officials:

Governor’s office (labor liaison)
Lieutenant Governor
Attorney General (Davis-Bacon and worker-protection equities)
Secretary of Labor / Department of Labor leadership
Department of Transportation (federal funding pass-through)

Legislative:

State senators and representatives whose districts include the six-local footprint
House and Senate labor committee members
House and Senate appropriations committee members
Members of any statewide infrastructure or workforce development task forces

Regional / Municipal

St. Louis Mayor’s office
St. Louis County Executive
St. Charles County, Jefferson County, Franklin County executives
St. Clair County (IL), Madison County (IL) board chairs
City alderpersons / county council members in IBEW jurisdictions
Municipal procurement officers (often more important than elected officials for actual project policy)
School district capital improvement boards
Public hospital and university trustees

Quasi-public bodies

Bi-State Development Agency
Regional Workforce Development Boards
Port authorities
Convention and visitor bureaus (capital projects)

PART 3 — The Ask Ladder

For each target, the sequence is the same. We do not skip rungs.

Rung 1 — The Informational Briefing

Ask: “Will you take a 30-minute briefing from us?” What we leave behind: A 4-page memo summarizing the issue, federal compliance angles, and what other officials are doing. Time horizon: Months 1–6 of the campaign.

Rung 2 — The Confidential Position

Ask: “Where are you on this issue?” What we learn: Whether the official is supportive, neutral, or opposed. This shapes everything downstream. Time horizon: Months 3–9.

Rung 3 — The Quiet Statement

Ask: “Are you comfortable being mentioned in a list of officials briefed on this issue?” What this builds: A growing public list that creates social proof for the next official. Time horizon: Months 4–12.

Rung 4 — The Letter

Ask: “Will you sign a letter (one of many) calling for [specific action]?” Letters scale: First letter is to the UBC; later letters target federal agencies, state administrators, regional authorities. Time horizon: Months 6–18.

Rung 5 — The Public Position

Ask: “Will you make a public statement of support for the principle of area standards on publicly funded projects?” Form: A quote in our materials, a social media post, a comment to a reporter, a floor speech. Time horizon: Months 9–24.

Rung 6 — The Procurement or Legislative Action

Ask: “Will you sponsor / introduce / vote for [specific legislation, ordinance, or procurement reform]?” This is the heavy lift. It requires earned credit on the prior rungs. Time horizon: Year 2 and beyond.

Rung 7 — The Sustained Advocacy

Ask: “Will you advocate for this with peers, other agencies, and the public on an ongoing basis?” Form: Champion-level commitment, repeated public statements, willingness to fundraise alongside the campaign. Time horizon: Year 2+, only for a small number of deeply committed allies.

The political operation’s job, week by week, is to move every target official up one rung. Not faster.

PART 4 — The Briefing Memo

Every politician’s office should receive the same standardized 4-page briefing memo on first contact. It is the document that grounds every conversation that follows.

RESPECT THE CRAFT — PAY THE STANDARD
A briefing for [Official's Name]

[Date]

THE ISSUE
Electrical workers in the St. Louis region are being
paid below the established electrical area standard
under an arrangement maintained since 2007 by the
United Brotherhood of Carpenters through its Local 57
affiliate. The estimated cumulative loss to workers
is in the hundreds of millions of dollars. Many of
the affected projects are publicly or federally funded.

THE FEDERAL COMPLIANCE QUESTION
The Inflation Reduction Act (2022), the IIJA (2021),
and the CHIPS Act (2022) layered prevailing wage and
registered apprenticeship requirements onto a
substantial share of regional construction. Workers
paid below the published electrical determination on
federally funded projects represent a compliance
exposure to:

 • Davis-Bacon back-wage obligations
 • IRA enhanced credit clawback (loss of the 5x
   multiplier)
 • Registered apprenticeship utilization shortfalls

The IBEW is filing parallel WHD and IRS actions on
specific projects. Public officials representing
districts where these projects sit may be approached
by federal investigators in the coming months.

THE LOCAL ECONOMIC PICTURE
[Three bullets quantifying regional electrical labor
spending, employment, and wage gap, with sourced
figures.]

WHAT IS BEING ASKED
The campaign is asking elected officials to consider:

 1.  Adopting the principle that publicly funded
     construction in their jurisdiction will be
     performed at or above the established area
     standard for each trade.

 2.  Reviewing existing procurement language for
     consistency with that principle.

 3.  Joining a growing list of regional officials
     who have publicly affirmed the principle.

WHAT IS NOT BEING ASKED
The campaign is not asking any official to:

 • Endorse a particular union over another
 • Take a position in any internal union dispute
 • Adopt language that excludes any labor
   organization by name
 • Block ongoing projects already under contract

THE COALITION BEHIND THE CAMPAIGN
[Six IBEW locals, NECA signatory contractors,
labor council adoptions to date, named community
allies.]

POINT OF CONTACT
[Name, title, phone, email]

A one-page summary, suitable for sharing with staff,
is attached.

The memo should be on plain campaign letterhead, printed on good stock, hand-delivered where possible.

PART 5 — The State Legislative Push

The single highest-leverage long-game asset in this entire campaign.

A. The model bill

AN ACT RELATING TO ELECTRICAL CONSTRUCTION WORK ON
STATE-FUNDED PROJECTS

Section 1.  All electrical construction work
performed on projects funded in whole or in part by
state appropriation shall be performed by workers
covered under a registered electrical apprenticeship
program meeting the standards set forth in section 2.

Section 2.  Standards.
   (a)  The apprenticeship program shall consist of
        no fewer than [N] hours of related supplemental
        instruction over the course of the apprenticeship.
   (b)  The program shall maintain a journeyworker-to-
        apprentice ratio not less than [X:Y] during all
        on-the-job training.
   (c)  Completion rates shall not be less than
        [Z]% over a rolling 5-year average.
   (d)  Programs shall be registered with the U.S.
        Department of Labor Office of Apprenticeship
        or the equivalent state apprenticeship agency.

Section 3.  All wages and fringe benefits paid to
workers performing such electrical work shall be at
or above the rates established by the prevailing
collective bargaining agreement for the electrical
trade in the locality where the work is performed,
as documented by the [state agency].

Section 4.  Enforcement.
   (a)  Any contractor or subcontractor in violation
        of this Act shall be liable for back wages,
        penalties, and may be debarred from state
        contracts for a period not less than three years.
   (b)  Workers and representatives of workers shall
        have a private right of action to enforce this
        Act.

Section 5.  Severability and effective date.

Strategic notes on the model bill:

The standards in Section 2 should be calibrated so that only programs meeting JATC-equivalent quality can clear the bar. Specific numerical thresholds should be set by counsel and the IBEW JATC after careful analysis of what existing programs do and do not meet.
Section 3 is the prevailing-wage anchor. It avoids naming any union and instead points to the prevailing CBA, which in practice is the IBEW agreement.
Section 4(b) is the most important provision. A private right of action means the campaign does not have to rely on state enforcement; workers and the IBEW itself can sue.
The bill should be drafted by experienced legislative counsel and pre-cleared by the IBEW International before introduction.

B. The legislative campaign

Year 1 (campaign launch year):

Draft the bill (Q1)
Identify primary sponsors in both chambers, both parties where possible (Q2)
Build the coalition: NECA, sympathetic non-electrical building trades, community allies, labor councils (Q2–Q3)
File for introduction in the next legislative session (Q4)

Year 2 (first session):

Introduction and committee hearings
Expect not to pass; the goal is to surface opposition, refine language, and build the record
Detailed amendment work
Quiet engagement with state agencies on implementation
Build a public hearing record with worker testimony

Year 3 (second session):

Re-introduction with refined language
Movement through committee
Lobbying push for floor vote
Realistic expectation: passage of a version of the bill in at least one chamber

Year 4–5:

Passage in both chambers, or substantial amendment of state contracting rules through executive action (sometimes faster than legislation)
Implementation rulemaking
Enforcement infrastructure

This is a 4–5 year horizon. Plan accordingly. Budget accordingly.

C. Cross-state strategy

A model bill passed in Missouri makes Illinois easier. Illinois passed makes Indiana possible. The campaign should treat the model bill as a regional, not single-state, asset:

Draft a single template bill suitable for adoption in any state
Maintain a public registry of states considering the bill
Encourage IBEW state federations and other building trades to introduce parallel bills
The more states with active bills, the more political momentum compounds

PART 6 — Municipal and County Procurement Reform

Faster than legislation. Often more impactful in the near term.

A. The procurement clause

ELECTRICAL CONSTRUCTION SCOPE PROCUREMENT STANDARD

For all electrical construction work performed under
contracts with [Municipality/County], the contractor
and any subcontractors performing electrical work
shall:

 1.  Pay wages and fringe benefits at or above the
     rates established by the prevailing collective
     bargaining agreement for the electrical trade
     in the jurisdiction where the work is to be
     performed;

 2.  Utilize workers participating in or graduated
     from registered electrical apprenticeship
     programs meeting the standards set forth in
     [reference to relevant federal apprenticeship
     standards];

 3.  Maintain certified payroll records and make
     them available for inspection upon request;

 4.  Comply with all applicable federal and state
     prevailing wage and apprenticeship requirements
     for any portion of the work supported by federal
     or state funds.

Violation of this clause shall constitute a material
breach of contract and may result in withholding of
payment, contract termination, and debarment from
future contracts with [Municipality/County] for a
period not less than three years.

B. Where to push it

St. Louis Board of Aldermen — full council adoption
St. Louis County Council — full council adoption
Each surrounding county council in turn
St. Louis Public Schools / Special School District / regional school capital boards
Regional university trustees (SLU, UMSL, Wash U, Lindenwood — though private institutions are less directly pressurable)
Bi-State Development Agency board
Lambert International Airport / St. Louis Airport Authority
St. Louis County Library, Convention Center authorities
Hospital system boards (BJC, Mercy, SSM — primarily private but with significant capital programs)

For each public body, the political work follows the same ask-ladder structure: brief, learn position, build social proof, secure first adopter, then chain through peers.

C. The first adopter strategy

A single municipal procurement adoption in the campaign’s first 12 months sets the playbook for the rest. Identify the most movable target first — usually a smaller surrounding municipality with strong labor-friendly leadership and lower lobbying opposition — and put real organizing effort into landing it. Once adopted, every subsequent target gets the same memo with a sentence added: “[Municipality X] adopted this language on [date].”

PART 7 — Campaign Finance and Endorsements

This is where political work gets dangerous if done sloppily. Read carefully.

A. The compliance line

The campaign’s general fund is a labor organization expenditure, governed by LMRDA, state labor laws, and where applicable, the Federal Election Campaign Act. It is not authorized to make campaign contributions, fund electioneering communications, or engage in coordinated election advocacy.

A separate, properly registered political action committee (PAC), funded through voluntary member contributions and subject to all applicable election law, handles:

Candidate endorsements
Political contributions
Electioneering communications
Get-out-the-vote work
Independent expenditure communications

The campaign’s general fund and the PAC fund must be scrupulously separated in personnel, communications, decision-making, and reporting. Mixing them creates legal exposure and undercuts the credibility of both.

B. The endorsement framework

The PAC (not the campaign) maintains an endorsement framework with three tiers:

Endorsed:

Officials who have publicly supported area-standards language in their jurisdiction
Officials who have sponsored or co-sponsored qualifying legislation
Officials who have actively defended the campaign’s worker subjects against attacks

Neutral (no endorsement):

Officials who have been briefed but have not taken a position
Officials with conflicting equities or quiet support without public action

Opposed:

Officials who have publicly aligned with the UBC’s position on the underlying arrangement
Officials who have actively obstructed Davis-Bacon enforcement on regional projects

Endorsement decisions are made by the PAC’s endorsement committee, not by the campaign coordinating committee. The campaign provides information; the PAC makes decisions.

C. The questionnaire

Every official seeking the PAC’s endorsement should answer a written questionnaire that, among other questions, includes:

1.  Do you support the principle that all
    construction work performed on publicly funded
    projects in this jurisdiction should be performed
    at or above the established area standard for
    each trade, regardless of which labor
    organization represents the workforce? Why or
    why not?

2.  Have you publicly supported area-standard
    language in any procurement decision, ordinance,
    or legislation in your career?

3.  Would you support state or local legislation
    requiring electrical construction work on
    publicly funded projects to meet the area
    standard for the electrical trade?

4.  How would you respond to constituent pressure to
    award contracts to lower-cost electrical
    subcontractors operating below the area standard?

Answers are kept on file, published on the PAC’s website where authorized by the candidate, and shared with member voters.

PART 8 — Coalition Building Across Labor

Political weight comes from coalitions. The IBEW alone is one set of voices. The IBEW plus other building trades plus public-sector unions plus service-sector unions is a different category of political force.

A. Building trades

The natural coalition. Most are AFL-CIO affiliates and operate inside the same building trades councils. Sheet metal, plumbing, ironworkers, operating engineers, painters, laborers, bricklayers, elevator constructors — every one of them has reason to be uncomfortable about the UBC electrical model, because the same logic could be applied to their craft.

The ask: Join in supporting the area-standards principle in public statements, labor council resolutions, and political endorsements. Not a request to take direct action against UBC.

B. Other unions

The campaign’s coalition is wider than building trades:

Education unions (AFT, NEA locals) — area-standards principle resonates with their teacher-pay equity work
Public-sector unions (AFSCME, SEIU public) — direct stake in public procurement standards
Service unions (UFCW, SEIU service) — solidarity framing
Postal and federal unions (APWU, AFGE) — federal compliance equities

Cultivate two or three lead organizers from each of these sectors. Their endorsements add weight to the political ask without requiring deep institutional alignment.

C. Community allies

The political effectiveness of the labor coalition is amplified when paired with non-labor allies:

Religious leaders organizing around “good jobs” frameworks
Worker centers organizing immigrant workers and informal labor
Community development organizations focused on regional economic stability
Environmental justice and clean-energy advocates (because IRA-funded projects are at the heart of the federal compliance angle)
Veterans’ organizations (Helmets-to-Hardhats and related)

The campaign’s community ally roster should be small but real — twenty deeply committed organizations are worth more than two hundred letterhead signatures.

PART 9 — The Briefing Rhythm

Per quarter, per target tier:

Federal:

One in-person briefing per Member of Congress per session (March, July, October)
One agency briefing per quarter (rotating among WHD, IRS, DOL Apprenticeship)
Monthly written updates to allied committee staff

State (Missouri and Illinois):

One in-person briefing per priority legislator per quarter
Monthly written updates to labor committee staff
Annual labor day / labor week presence at the state capitol

Municipal and county:

One in-person briefing per target body per quarter
Active testimony at public hearings on procurement, capital improvement, and budget items
Quarterly written update to procurement staff

Cross-jurisdiction:

Quarterly “state of the campaign” update sent to every official on the campaign’s contact list (~150–300 officials)
Annual in-person summit hosted by the campaign for allies (Year 2 onward)

Maintain a private CRM tracking every contact: who was briefed, by whom, what they said, what the follow-up is, when. The political workstream lives or dies on follow-through; missed commitments are how trust erodes.

PART 10 — Risk and Discipline

A. The line we do not cross

We do not lobby for any individual employer’s competitive advantage.
We do not threaten any official with electoral consequences in any one-on-one meeting.
We do not promise endorsements or contributions in exchange for votes (a federal crime).
We do not represent the campaign as a partisan operation. Many of our best allies are Republicans.
We do not use confidential worker information in political conversations.

B. The relationship discipline

A relationship with an elected official is built over years. It is broken in minutes. The most common ways campaigns burn political capital:

Surprising an official with a public ask they didn’t see coming
Going public with criticism of an official without first attempting private resolution
Treating staff as obstacles rather than allies
Asking for the heaviest lift first
Failing to follow up after the official does what we asked
Bringing too many people to meetings
Talking when listening would do more

Train every BM and government affairs lead on these. Refresh the training annually.

C. The press question

The political workstream and the press workstream coordinate, but they do not collapse into each other. An official who is moving privately should not learn from the newspaper that the campaign has been “putting pressure” on them. Press releases naming officials require their prior knowledge — and, where appropriate, their consent.

PART 11 — Measurement

Metric	Year 1 target	Year 2 target	Year 3 target
Officials briefed (in-person)	60+	120+	200+
Officials publicly supportive (rung 5+)	12	35	75
Officials privately supportive (rung 3+)	35	80	150
Procurement adoptions (municipal/county)	1–2	4–8	10+
State legislative bills introduced	0–1	1–2 (MO and IL)	Bills advancing in both states
Federal letters / actions from allied members	2–3	6–10	Sustained
Active opposition (rung -1)	<5	<8	<10

The most important metric is the last one. Opposition stays low when the campaign is doing its political work well. When opposition spikes, it signals that the campaign’s posture has gotten too confrontational, too partisan, or too sloppy. Course-correct fast.

This playbook is a working document. All specific officials, bill language, procurement clauses, and campaign-finance procedures must be reviewed by labor counsel, government affairs counsel, and campaign finance counsel before action. The political workstream is the longest-arc workstream in this campaign; build with patience and protect every relationship.