Built by Sacrifice. Driven by Results.
“Every dollar in our treasury carries the weight of missed birthdays, broken backs, and sleepless nights, and my mission is to turn that sacrifice into real results for every member.”
David Thomas Graves
This campaign is about one simple truth
our union was built by sacrifice, and it must now be driven by results.
Local 728 has accomplished a lot. We’ve been bold when others stood still. We’ve taken financial risks, modernized key systems, and led the way on issues many other locals are only now beginning to confront. The Executive Board has already done more in the last few years than most would have thought possible. And I respect that. I honor that. But the truth is, it’s not enough.
We are standing at a crossroads, and the status quo, even if it’s improved, is not going to save us. Federal pressure is rising. State regulation is tightening. The industry is contracting, evolving, and offshoring. And while we’ve made steps forward, we’re still clinging to pieces of a system that no longer serves us. Our financial sovereignty, our bargaining power, and our long-term survival are under threat, not because we’re weak, but because we’ve been reactive instead of strategic.
We owe our older members more than respect, we owe them dignity, protection, and a legacy that holds up under pressure. They gave their bodies, their health, and their lives to build this local. And we owe our younger members more than good intentions, we owe them real opportunity in the world they’re stuck surviving in: a digital, gig-driven, unstable economy where tradition won’t pay the bills and loyalty doesn’t guarantee a career.
I’m not running to manage decline. I’m running to end it. I’m running to push harder, faster, and more fearlessly. To challenge complacency where it still exists. To build a union with urgency, innovation, and a laser focus on members first. No more backroom politics. No more patting ourselves on the back while members struggle in silence. No more letting tradition slow down transformation.
I will honor the past. I will fight like hell for the present. And together, we will build a union that survives the future, by refusing to bow to a system that was never built for us, and never will be.
David Thomas Graves