Canton City Council President and Iron Workers Local 550 Business Manager/Financial Secretary William Sherer II heads the list of endorsed building trades members who are running for public office.

Besides Sherer, several other Northeast Ohio building trades members are either seeking re-election to their current elected position or running for a seat. Each has received the endorsement of the Cleveland Building and Construction Trades Council.

Others receiving endorsements include:
* Brian Poindexter, a member of Iron Workers Local 17, is seeking to retain his current seat as an At-Large City Councilman in Brook Park.

* Sheet Metal Worker Local 33 member Paul Shymske is challenging incumbent At-Large members for a seat on the North Olmsted City Council.

* Iron Workers Local 17 member Michael Kilbane is running to retain his City Council President seat in Fairview Park.

Sherer

Born and raised in Canton, Sherer has served as city council president since December 2018. His family has called Canton home for the past 110 years.

He credited his wife, Carrie, three adult daughters and two granddaughters for being supportive and understanding during the campaign – especially as he put in long hours away from the family.

The son and grandson of past Local 550 Business Managers, Sherer has spent the better part of 2023 balancing his duties as Local 550 Business Manager/Financial Secretary and Canton City Council President with campaigning.

For instance, during the Primary campaign, he successfully negotiated the best contract Local 550 has signed over the past 90 years.

Sherer, who won the Democratic Primary earlier this year, will face off against Republican Roy Scott DePew in the November General Election.

The two candidates are vying to replace outgoing Canton Mayor Thomas Bernabei, who declined to seek a third term in office.

Sherer is endorsed by every building trades union in the Canton area, as well as Affiliated Construction Trades (ACT) Ohio and the Ohio State Building and Construction Trades Council.

He attributed the relationships he has built over the course of his 35-year career as a member of Local 550, including the last 18 as business manager, for playing a role in his primary victory.

“I base everything on relationships and thank Matt Szollosi, Mike Knisley, Tim Burga and the other building trades for their support,” Sherer said. “We couldn’t have done it without them.”

The combination of Sherer’s determination and the push by organized labor to get one of their own elected as mayor of the eighth-largest city in Ohio was a winning combination in the primary. Another win in November would be a, “once-in-a-generation opportunity for labor,” he said.

Poindexter

Poindexter joined Local 17 as an apprentice 16 years ago and worked his way up to be an organizer. After leaving that position, he decided to run for a Council At-Large seat in Brook Park.

“As an organizer, I realized a lot of laws were anti-labor,” he said. “Once I left organizing, I became motivated and wanted to stay involved, so I decided to run for public office. It was important for me to give labor a voice in Brook Park.”

Once on Council, Poindexter introduced a resolution to oppose any form of So-Called “Right to Work” laws, which passed unanimously.

He also stressed the importance of telling developers looking to do work in the city that they need to use union contractors.

“If we’re not at the table, we’re on the menu,” Poindexter said. “When local governments are cash strapped, they go for cheap labor.”

He explained how unions pay a good living wage, which benefits the city through income tax.

Poindexter, who has two daughters, plus his girlfriend’s daughter, is grateful his friends introduced him to the Iron Workers Union at the age of 27 as it provided, “the greatest job I ever had.”

Following three successful two-year terms on council, he is looking to retain his seat this November. Poindexter is one of two incumbents running for three At-Large seats amongst a field of six candidates.

Shymske

A 25-year member of Local 33, Shymske feels public office is a great platform to promote the values of organized labor.

He likes to stand up for working-class people, promote Prevailing Wage laws and fight against So-Called “Right to Work” initiatives.

“When I go door-to-door, I tell the residents that I’m a member of the middle class and know what middle-class people are going through,” he said.

A member of a large, union family, his father, Paul, was a longtime member of Bricklayers Local 5. Other family members belonged to Local 33, were Cleveland police officers or members of other unions.

This helped instill a deep pride and appreciation of organized labor and helped him create lasting relationships. It is those relationships that Shymske credits to helping his campaign, along with his wife and mother.

“I may not know the business agent of a certain union, but I can call someone I know in that union and a group of guys is ready to put up yard signs or pass out literature,” Shymske said. “The time they donate is greater than they know because they are so eager to help.”

Kilbane

Local 17 member Micheal Kilbane is up for re-election as Fairview Park City Council President.

Kilbane was initially elected to serve the residents of Ward 5 in 2008. On April 6, 2009, he was chosen by his fellow Council members to fill a vacancy in the Council President position and has held the seat since then.

The Labor Citizen reached out to Kilbane, who did not respond to our request for an interview.