Largest-Ever Union Get-Out-the-Vote Drive Kicks Off

by Seth Michaels, Oct 22, 2008

Union volunteers around the nation are getting out the vote.

Thirteen million union voters; 250,000 union volunteers; 13 days to turn around the country.

As Election Day approaches, the union movement is carrying out its largest political mobilization in history, getting active and retired union members and their families to the polls to help elect Sen. Barack Obama to the White House and working family-friendly candidates in races up and down the ballot. It’s the biggest independent voter-turnout program in the country.

AFL-CIO President John Sweeney says the union movement is energized and ready to make the difference.

Union members are determined to create a sea change in American politics that will benefit working families for generations to come. We’ve mounted our largest, broadest grassroots effort ever to elect Barack Obama and candidates at all levels who are committed to putting our nation back on track after eight years of failed Bush policies.

The AFL-CIO’s Labor 2008 program is operating in 20 presidential battleground states, as well as focusing on a dozen Senate races and 60 key House races across the country. Thousands of events—walks, phone banks, worksite visits and rallies—will make sure  union members are educated about the stakes in the election. (If you’re a union member and want to take part, click here to find an event in your area.)

Through the efforts of a quarter-million volunteers, the AFL-CIO is reaching more union voters than ever. More than 70 million phone calls, 10 million door knocks, 27 million worksite fliers and 57 million mail pieces have already reached union members, with even more to come over the final two weeks.

In addition, Working America, the AFL-CIO’s community affiliate, will reach out to its 2.5 million members across the country through door-to-door canvassing and mail.

Through the My Vote, My Right campaign, the AFL-CIO also is recruiting poll workers and fighting vote-suppression tactics to make sure that every vote is counted. Union members and labor lawyers will be on hand to make sure voters know their rights and that voting goes smoothly. (Check out the Voter Bill of Rights for Michigan, Missouri, Ohio and Pennsylvania by clicking the state name.)

The thousands of union volunteers are taking nothing for granted. The Labor 2008 program is the largest, most targeted union mobilization ever, and it will make the differences in states and races across the country.

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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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