Getting Out the Vote: Spotlight on Arizona

by Tula Connell, Oct 24, 2006

Union members in Arizona are among activists in six states where initiatives to raise the state minimum wage are on the ballot. In Arizona, voters will decide whether to raise the minimum wage to $6.75 an hour, while voters in Colorado, Missouri, Montana, Nevada and Ohio also have similar proposals. With Congress refusing since 1996 to raise the $5.15-an-hour federal minimum wage, voters are ready to make the change themselves.

Most voters, that is, except maybe Arizona Republican Sen. Jon Kyl. He opposed raising the federal minimum wage 15 times, while voting for his own salary increase—congressional pay has jumped by more than $30,000 a year since Congress last raised the federal minimum wage. Earlier this month, union activists delivered to Kyl’s office a copy of Prop. 202, the initiative to raise the minimum wage, because he refused to take a stand on the issue—saying he hadn’t read it.

(Find out more about life on the minimum wage at http://www.sevendaysatminimumwage.org/, vlogs by minimum wage workers hosted by Roseanne Barr. And tell your lawmakers: It’s time for a real vote to raise the minimum wage. Congress will be in session for a few days before Nov. 7 and you can send them an e-mail here.)

With 19 days to go before the Nov. 7 election, the Arizona AFL-CIO reports union members have made more than 50,000 calls to union members about the upcoming election and have knocked on thousands of doors, well on their way to their goal of contacting 145,000 union members by election day. They’re urging voters to support Prop. 202 and vote for Kyl’s opponent, Jim Pederson, for Senate.

Getting out the vote takes a lot of individual effort, and below are profiles provided by the Arizona AFL-CIO highlighting some of the many union activists who are making this election season a winning one for working families.

Jack Duffy worked as a construction electrician for more than 40 years. In April 2004, he retired but is still a member of Electrical Workers Local 570. Duffy is a major player in this year’s Labor 2006 program.

“Our country’s going in the wrong direction,” says Duffy, who works with his union to coordinate weekend labor walks. 

This administration’s done nothing. We need to move on.

Duffy thinks walks are important ways for union members to talk to each other about important issues that are at stake in this year’s elections.

In particular, Duffy is concerned about two issues: Social Security and Medicare. 

I guess I’m at that point in my life where I’m worried about those things. We have pharmaceutical companies dictating the terms of Medicare. That’s just like letting the fox into the hen house.

You have to vote who’s going to do the best for you and right now, for working people, that’s the Democrats. We need to change Arizona from a red to a blue state.

Dale Medley has been a union member for 30 years. Four years ago, he was brought on staff as a business agent for his union, Local 73 of the Asbestos Workers. Medley says he’s met a lot of good people in his life—and lately, he’s been meeting a lot more as he’s been mobilizing for the elections.

We’re concentrating on our membership, making sure they’re all registered to vote.

Medley also is calling and knocking on the doors of members to make sure they are engaged and informed on working family issues that are at stake in this year’s elections.

This November, voters in Arizona have the chance to act where government and business have failed and raise the minimum wage by voting “Yes” on Prop. 202. 

It should have been changed already. It’s not a livable wage. People cannot survive on that.

We’re on the tail end of the dog and things need to change. This is a very important election for us, as working people in Arizona. It’s a turning point in politics. This is the best opportunity I’ve seen in a long time, which means it’s time to get busy. 

Find out more about what’s going on in Arizona and other states at the AFL-CIO Political Action Center at http://www.votenov7.org/, where you can register to vote, learn about working family issues and download candidate comparison fliers.

If you’re not a union member, join Working America, the AFL-CIO community affiliate, and join the fight for good jobs, affordable health care, quality education and secure retirements.

This portion of this website is paid for by the AFL-CIO Committee on Political Education Political Contributions Committee, 815 16th St., N.W., Washington, D.C. 20006, with voluntary contributions from union members and their families, and is not authorized by any candidate or candidate’s committee.

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