Labor 2006—Using the Home Phones

by Mike Hall, Oct 31, 2006

Letter Carriers Chief of Staff Jim Sauber pitches in to deliver-via phone-the Labor 2006 message at the phone banks at the AFL-CIO headquarters last week.

We’ve told you about worksite leafleting in Ohio, door-knocking in Pennsylvania, phone banking in Wisconsin and Labor 2006 political action all around the country as union volunteers and Working America members mobilize to get out the vote Nov. 7.

But right here in Washington, D.C., in the heart of the AFL-CIO building, past the cafeteria and snack machines, more than 800 folks have pulled up a chair and picked up a phone. They’re urging union family voters in key states to support worker-friendly candidates and to cast their ballots on Election Day.

Kathy Smith, an AFL-CIO staffer whose normal title is special projects coordinator for the Human Resources Department, and AFL-CIO Legislative Rep Byron Charlton are running the 40-plus line phone bank that has made more than 45,000 calls since late September.

Along with more than 100 headquarters workers volunteering for phone shifts, Smith says some 20 affiliated unions and related groups are dialing for victory. Last week, Letter Carriers (NALC) President William H. Young plopped himself down behind a phone for a shift when his union adopted a night to make calls.

Along with the NALC, Smith says, AFT, Electrical Workers (IBEW), Fire Fighters (IAFF) and the United States Student Association have adopted phone shifts.

Staff volunteers also have come from the Bricklayers (BAC), Working America, United Steelworkers (USW), Flight Attendants-CWA (AFA-CWA), AFGE, Postal Workers (APWU), AFSCME, Theatrical Stage Employees (IATSE), AFL-CIO Transportation Trades Department (TTD) and the Department for Professional Employees (DPE).

Says Smith:

Something that you can’t help but notice is that when groups come together from a union or their department, their spirits are high and they actually seem to be enjoying the phone calls.…Of the folks we connect with, once they know we are from the union, they want to hear what we have to say.

The operation runs pretty smoothly most of the time, but Smith says she faced a recent crisis. As anyone who has spent time phone banking knows, that lingering aroma is from pizza—pizza tonight, pizza last night and pizza tomorrow night. That was too much of a good thing. On Friday night, the faithful phoners protested—a well-honed skill among union brothers and sisters. Their demand? Chinese food. They got it, and the calls rolled on through the night.

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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