Union members were determined Kerry volunteers, voters

(Rochester Business Journal)

    Election Day 2004 was not surprisingly, an enormous disappointment to the working families represented by the AFL-CIO.  Exit polling and independent surveys show that our members turned out in droves and 65 percent of them voted for Kerry.  One out of every four voters at the polls this year were from Union households.  Union members nationwide provided a 5.8 million vote advantage for John Kerry, just as we did in 2000 for Al Gore, according to surveys by Peter D. Hart Research Associates, and NEP exit polling.
    Leaders from every sector of the national labor movement believe that our overwhelming grassroots campaign, fueled by millions of rank and file workers was the “biggest, most unified labor program ever” and will lead to political and legislative gains for working families. “No matter who is in the White House, we’re going to take that energy, momentum, technology and field operation and start right now building a movement that will keep turning this country around,” said AFL-CIO President John Sweeney.  
    “Yesterday’s election was breathtakingly close,” continued Sweeney. “There is clearly no conservative mandate for our nation. People want government action to keep good jobs here instead of policies to ship them away. They want to strengthen retirement security instead of privatizing Social Security. They want to work with employers and states to bring down health costs and expand health coverage.”
    According to polls taken by Hart Research  for the AFL-CIO, Union members felt the economy and creation of jobs, the health care crisis and the war in Iraq were their top issues in this election.  These polls indicate that  92 percent of union members were contacted by the unions  with information on where candidates stand during this election cycle, a staggering 81 percent of Union members had at least 3 communications from their unions regarding the election.  In Ohio, our members voted 67 percent for Kerry and  31 percent for Bush.
    Remarkably full-time union staff and rank and file union members totaled over 5500 volunteers in  battleground states – an increase of 4000 back  in 2000. The total number of  paid Union  staff or rank and file union members in 2004 - - Florida (514), Ohio (728), and Pennsylvania (723) - - this number alone beat the total number of workers across the country in 2000.
    Over 225,000 volunteers participated in the Labor 2004 program. Union members knocked on more than 6 million doors in neighborhood walks that have been running daily in many states since Labor Day. Volunteers made over a hundred million phone calls and passed out more than 32 million leaflets at workplaces and in neighborhoods - - including more than six million in Ohio alone. Union members reached out at 257 phone banks with 2322 lines running in 16 states. The AFL-CIO’s program sent out more than 30 million pieces of mail to union households - - and this does not include mailings sent by affiliate unions to their members independently.
    “The union movement’s political program is one that is built to last,” said AFL-CIO Political Chair and president of AFSCME Gerald McEntee. “The nurse who phone banked for the first time in her life this week or the meat packer who passed out leaflets on this job have become activists - - they are part of a team who will be ready and willing to come out again.”
    “Through our political program, we have invested in our future,” said AFL-CIO Political Director Karen Ackerman. “More unions than ever participated on a large scale in the AFL-CIO’s coordinated program. We have now set the stage to bring working family friendly candidates into office throughout the nation.”
    Lori Chlopecki, an inside wireman, mother, and member of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW). In 2004 Lorie made hundreds of labor to labor phone calls at a union member phone bank.  She volunteered for walks as part of the Labor 2004 campaign. “This election is personal and it's about the future for our children," said Chlopecki at an AFL-CIO press conference today in Washington, D.C.
    In an unprecedented effort for labor, tens of thousands of volunteer union members (including dozens from Rochester) traveled from non-battleground states -  like California, New York, New Jersey and Massachusetts - to swing states as part of a nationwide strategy to mobilize the Union vote.   
    The AFL-CIO’s new national organization for working people, “Working America” was a major player in this plan. Working America has 750,000 members, and is in touch with a total of 1.1 million members of working family households, they offer information about candidate positions on key issues such as health, overtime pay and jobs.  In Ohio, for example, Working America reached out to 578,000 household members. That is in addition to 1.2 million “traditional” members of union households in Ohio -- meaning that nearly two million Ohioans got information and a mobilization appeal from the union movement this year.
    “My Vote, My Right,” The AFL-CIO’s non-partisan voting rights project,  started building partnerships with community groups at the grass roots level over the summer and held meetings with elections officials, recruited and trained poll watchers, and educated voters. On election day, thousands of Union poll watchers monitored 850 high risk polling places and watched for voting rights violations.  
    Our members used many creative programs in addition to walking and phoning during this campaign.  “Pink slip events” where held in Florida, Oregon, Washington and Arizona where hundreds lined up along highways holding pink slips for President Bush. Union activists dressed up as a milk carton with a slogan reading, “Missing: My Job” in Michigan.   In Washington and Oregon, workers constructed  a lemonade stand touting the “middle class squeeze.” Union women nationwide held letter writing parties for other women in swing states.
    All in all, Union Members across the nation put a magnificent effort into this year’s elections, and while we remain disappointed at the results, we have accomplished a great deal in our struggle for worker justice.  We have trained and educated thousands of new volunteers and built up our activist base to a much stronger level.  It is these grass roots activist networks that will strengthen our ability to win stronger worker protections on the national, state and local level.  And it’s only the beginning of what promises to be our most successful organizing campaign ever.