Working Families Play Critical Role in Election

by John Sweeney, AFL-CIO President

Regardless of the outcome of the presidential election, union families have a tremendous amount to be proud of from their participation in Labor 2000.

America's working families played a critical role in this election.

From the first union volunteers who rallied voters for Iowa's January caucuses to the last AFL- CIO Labor 2000 volunteers making Election Day get-out-the-vote phone calls, working families mobilized the biggest "People-Powered" election campaign in our history. An estimated 100,000 union members volunteered their time at work sites, phone banks and in precinct walks.

The union vote on November 7th comprised 26 percent of the total electorate, up from 23 percent in the last presidential election and 19 percent in 1992.

Union members overwhelmingly voted for labor-endorsed candidates, making the critical difference in state after state. In Michigan, for example, 43 percent of all members were members of union households. One out of every three votes cast in Pennsylvania was made by a voter living in a union household.

I was out there in city after city over the last several weeks and I was so proud of what I saw.

Union members put their hearts into this election. I walked with many of them as they visited their neighbors, knocked on doors, talked to one another about leaflets, and made phone call after phone call to get the word out.

Patricia Nash, member of the Service Employees International in Philadelphia, was one of untold numbers of union people who were active in Labor 2000. A night janitor in a Center City office tower building, she was among the teams of union members who knocked on more than 27,986 doors in the city as part of our "member-to-member walks" held through election day.

Union households turned out in unprecedented numbers around the nation and they voted for Al Gore by a margin of 63 percent. Union members stood behind Gore because he is on the right side of the issues that are central to our lives, issues like our children's future, a financially secure old-age, health care for the sick, and a free and fair voice at work.

Union voters supported key victorious Senate and House candidates while defeating anti-labor office holders, won the state senate in Colorado, defeated two "paycheck deception" ballot initiatives that attacked the voice of working families in politics in Oregon, and defeated voucher initiatives in California and Michigan.

Clearly, labor has re-established our credibility with our members. Union members see their union as a trustworthy source of information to help them make sense of where the candidates stand on issues of importance to them.

For union members, working family issues were paramount in their voting decisions. In fact, post-election polls show that a majority of Americans agrees with a working families agenda. They want social security protected and Medicare strengthened, not turned over to the HMOs. They want prescription drug benefits for seniors, as well as investments in education, health care and infrastructure.

An important part of labor's long-range strategy to promote a working families agenda involves encouraging and supporting union members to run for elected office. More than 900 union members ran for office. Here are two examples:

A third-generation pipe fitter and member of Plumbers and Pipe Fitters Local 533, Jenee Lowe won the District 44 seat in Missouri's state legislature. She champions such on-the-job issues as workplace privacy, prevailing-wage laws and collective bargaining for public employees.

Elementary school teacher Julie Sabo, Minnesota's new 62nd District state senator, ran to show lawmakers the need for legislation that addresses the interdependence of quality education, affordable housing, good jobs and accessible transportation. The Minnesota Federation of Teachers member has spent nine years teaching mostly low-income students.

November 7th made clear that union members exercised the unmatched power we hold as a united political force in this nation. This incredibly ambitious mobilization effort during this election cycle gives us a glimpse of what we can do in the future through sustained grassroots mobilization and organizing, and by continuing to bring people together to rebuild their communities and improve their lives.

We've reunited our ranks and re-sparked the soul of our movement. We're building a culture of mobilization and solidarity that will last, and we're going to build it stronger in the future.

This election is one stop on the come-back journey for us. America's unions will always put working families first. Today, tomorrow and always on every front.