AFL-CIO Town Hall Meetings With Presidential Candidates Begin April 29, 2007

For Immediate Release
Contact: Steve Smith 202-637-5018
202-412-4440 (cell) 

“Working Families Vote 2008”

Forums Aim to Involve Working Families Deeply in Selecting Next President

(Washington, April 18) -- The AFL-CIO launched its “Working Families Vote 2008” campaign today by announcing plans for a series of town hall style forums with presidential candidates in the coming weeks, culminating with a multi-candidate forum in early August in Chicago.

“America’s working families are looking for a national about-face when it comes to good jobs and wages, affordable health care for their families, retirement security and a firm plan for getting out of Iraq,” said AFL-CIO President John Sweeney.  “Over the next several months, candidates for president of the United States will have a unique opportunity to listen to the real concerns of working people – firsthand. And working families will have the chance to ask the candidates what they will do to make America work for working families.”

Confirmed forums are:

Sen. Christopher Dodd – April 29, Sacramento, Calif.
Sen. John Edwards -- May 1, Seattle
Sen. Barack Obama – May 14, Trenton, NJ
Sen. Joseph Biden – May 16, Miami
Sen. Hillary Clinton – May 19, Detroit
Gov. Bill Richardson – June 4, Phoenix
Rep. Dennis Kucinich – Date and time TBD
Multi-candidate forum – August 6 or 7, Chicago

The candidate “town hall” forums are part of an intensive six-month program to engage union members and their families in the AFL-CIO’s presidential endorsement decision-making process. The Executive Council of the AFL-CIO voted last month to ask each of its 54 national unions to make no endorsement until the AFL-CIO General Board decides, following the six-month period of member consultation, whether or not to endorse a candidate prior to the primaries.

“These town hall meetings provide the candidates with a real opportunity to rally and inspire the grassroots activists who are essential to victory in 2008,” said AFSCME President and AFL-CIO Political Committee Chair Gerald McEntee.  “Union members are looking forward to hearing from the candidates and being more active than we've ever been before.”

The AFL-CIO “Working Families Vote 2008” campaign is the broadest effort yet to involve working people in the selection of a president, aiming for record turnout in 2008.  The town meetings will help ensure that the candidates understand working people’s priorities on issues like health care reform, retirement security, jobs and the freedom to form or join a union to bargain for a better life. 

In addition to the town meetings, the AFL-CIO will provide union members and their families with opportunities to engage the candidates for president through online idea exchanges and other means. Later this month the AFL-CIO will launch an interactive website dedicated to the presidential campaign and endorsement process.

In the 2006 elections, the AFL-CIO’s massive union voter mobilization proved key to shifting the balance of power in Congress. The AFL-CIO mobilized more than 13.6 million voters in 32 states in support of working family friendly candidates.

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