36 Days: Unions Educate Members About McCain’s Anti-Worker Record

by Seth Michaels, Sep 29, 2008

The first debate is over, early voting is under way in many states, and there are only 36 days left to make a difference in this election. In Pennsylvania, Wisconsin and Virginia, union leaders, staff and volunteers are working hard to educate members about Sen. John McCain’s anti-worker policies and about Sen. Barack Obama‘s positive plans for boosting good jobs, strengthening Social Security and expanding health care for working families.

This past week in Pennsylvania, workers heard from Jim Wasser, an Electrical Workers (IBEW) member and Navy vet who’s part of the AFL-CIO Union Veterans Council. Wasser visited a phone bank in Pittsburgh, where he talked with union volunteers about McCain’s voting record—including McCain’s opposition to pro-worker policies on unions, wages and job security and McCain’s poor record of support for war veterans.

I look at the veterans’ issues, and while I certainly respect McCain’s record as a veteran, when I look at [his Senate record], it’s hard to fathom why he votes like he does. He’s voted against increases in veterans’ care and benefits, against mental health—he didn’t even vote on the last G.I. bill, the 21st Century bill.

My concern is with his voting record in the Senate, and I’m trying to educate folks on his issues and his votes, so they can make an educated vote on Nov. 4, to elect Barack Obama as president of the United States.

In Wisconsin, state Labor 2008 director Sue Ledbetter says delegates to the Wisconsin State AFL-CIO convention last week focused on get-out-the-vote strategies. AFL-CIO Executive Vice President Arlene Holt Baker attended the state convention and spoke about how the national Labor 2008 program works. 

We are going to be engaged with over 250,000 volunteers, worker activists, as part of our campaign. And that means that those volunteers are going to be talking to workers in the workplace, which we know is so important, because the face-to-face conversation is crucial to engaging and educating co-workers. We know that if we’re able to communicate with our members, through the phones, mail, at worksites and doors, where we can have conversations, that they will vote their interests. 

Postal Workers (APWU) Secretary-Treasurer Terry Stapleton also attended the convention and encouraged Wisconsin union members to get involved. 

In Virginia, Working America staff are breaking new ground, reports Labor 2008 state Communications director Julie Hunter. Working America is adding thousands of members in this critical state. Matt Fitting, field director of Virginia’s Working America office in Fairfax, says the group is important because it allows those workers who don’t have a union get the same kind of outreach and education that union members get from their unions. 

We deal  with the same issues unions deal with. When we recruit members, we talk about jobs, health care, and retirement security.

When we go to their doors, the conversation is centered around the issues and that gives us a unique opportunity. When we go and re-contact folks, we always return to those issues and I think our endorsement carries a lot of weight because of that.  

Fitting’s team has added more 36,000 members this year alone. Matt explains the recruiting process: 

When we sign people up, we go to people’s doors and talk to them about one or several of our issues. We tell them what we need to do is get strength in numbers and put pressure on our politicians by holding them accountable so that they’re working for us. The best way to do that is by becoming a member of Working America. 

Since Labor Day, Working America has focused on re-contacting the people whom they’ve signed up and talking with them about the issues that members have indicated were important to them. Fitting says members can’t afford four more years of Bush-style economic policy under McCain. 

Hunter reports that Working America canvassers put in a full day knocking on doors and talking to their neighbors about the important issues.

In addition, union members are turning out to make a difference in Kentucky, New Mexico, Colorado, Oregon, Minnesota and Alaska, where key Senate and House races are going to be crucial in sending a pro-worker majority to Congress. Through walks, phone banks, worksite leaflets and local union mail, these volunteers are helping make the difference in the fight for working family-friendly policies.

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Paid for by the AFL-CIO Committee on Political Education Political Contributions Committee, www.aflcio.org, and not authorized by any candidate or candidate’s committee.

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