Union Members Make the Difference Nov. 7

by Mike Hall, Nov 8, 2006

Union voters played a big role in yesterday’s historic election that brought at least 28 new Democratic members to the U.S. House of Representatives and four to the U.S. Senate, with two other Senate races still too close to call.

An election-night survey by Peter D. Hart Research Associates finds that in House races, union voters supported Democratic candidates 74 percent to 26 percent for Republican candidates. That’s a big jump from 2004 when the margin was 70 percent to 30 percent and from the 2002 off-year election when union voters favored Democrats 68 percent to 32 percent.

In the battleground states where Senate seats were in play, the union vote went to Democrats 73 percent to 27 percent versus the 55 percent to 45 percent split among all voters.

Says AFSCME President Gerald McEntee:

The union movement provided the largest vote margin of any party, institution or organization in America.

The strong support for change didn’t come from blind party loyalty but, as the Hart survey points out, from a deep desire for change and dissatisfaction with Bush’s and congressional Republicans’ leadership.The survey finds that:

• 69 percent of union voters disapprove of Bush’s job performance.
• 64 percent are dissatisfied with the economic situation in the country today.
• 57 percent believe the decision to go to war in Iraq has made America less safe.

When asked their top issues, union voters cite the war in Iraq (41 percent), economy and jobs (32 percent), health care and prescription drugs (26 percent) and Social Security (26 percent).

They also say their top two concerns about the Republican-controlled Congress are that Republican lawmakers:

• Cared more about political power than doing right (37 percent).
• Acted as rubber stamps for George W. Bush (36 percent).
• Supported politics that hurt working people (32 percent).
• Tolerated corruption and dishonesty (24 percent).

AFL-CIO President John Sweeney says the challenge the union movement faced and conquered was to transform members’ frustration and anger into political power. The Hart poll finds that Labor 2006’s member mobilization hit the mark with 93 percent of union voters in battleground states saying they had heard from their unions about the issues and candidates, including phone calls, workplace contacts and the Internet and e-mail.

Sweeney says:

We were by far the most powerful turnout engine on the progressive side. We knew the turnout of union household members and our new Working America members could change the power structure in our country, and that’s exactly what happened. We showed once again that strong unions are essential to winning progressive change.

Hart also surveyed Working America members on election night and found the AFL-CIO’s community affiliate brought new voters to the polls compared with 2002, the last off-year election, before Working America was created. In fact, 80 percent of Working America members who did not vote in 2002 went to the polls yesterday and backed Democratic House candidates 77 percent and Senate candidates by 80 percent.

Working America members’ desire for a change in direction was overwhelming, with 65 percent saying it was time to clean up corruption in Washington as the most or a very important factor in their vote. Also 70 percent cited the need to improve health care coverage and access and 65 percent said protecting Social Security.

Union voters say the new Congress needs to set progressive working family priorities including:

• Protecting workers when companies declare bankruptcy (96 percent);
• Requiring Medicare to negotiate prescription drug prices with the pharmaceutical industry (94 percent);
• Reforming trade agreements (94 percent);
• Reducing health care costs for average families (93 percent);
• Strengthening protection for workers to join unions (93 percent);
• Raising the minimum wage (91 percent); and
• Passing Bush’s plan to privatize Social Security (16 percent).

Working family voters aren’t going to “naively” depend on Democrats to lead the way toward the changes they voted for yesterday, says Sweeney:

…we’re going to keep up our campaign and keep working people working together to demand that Congress take decisive action. We are going to insist that our new congressional leaders begin work immediately…on urgent priorities….Working people elected these men and women and we’re not just going to hold them accountable—we’re going to unite our country behind them to renew economic opportunities for all.

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