Labor activist Wilmer Ellis and his wife, Juanita, during a LEAP conference.
Local 549 member honored for political efforts
LOBBYING, PRECINCT WALKING, and phone banking to elect labor-friendly candidates are all in a day’s work for Local 549 (Pittsburg, Calif.) member Wilmer Ellis. A Boilermaker of 34 years, Ellis has been selected by the Contra Costa County Central Labor Council and Building & Construction Trades Council for the Labor Activist of the Year Award.
Ellis attributes his political achievements in part to his predecessor, IVP Tom Baca, originally a member of L-549. “We sat down and talked about how the lodge needed to be more politically active — how to create a political powerhouse,” he recalls.
As political affairs director, Ellis manages all political activities for L-549 and is actively involved in electing candidates at the federal, state, and local levels. He attends LEAP every year and has built long-standing relationships on Capitol Hill. Ellis told the Martinez Gazette, “I do what it takes to get labor-friendly candidates elected. It’s important to stop the outsourcing of jobs, to hold unions strong and protect the workers who… carry the whole country on our backs.”
Dale Bilyeu, BM-ST of L-549 says of Ellis, “He takes the political situation very seriously, and works hard to make a difference.”
