Union Volunteers in Georgia Mobilize to Defeat Anti-Worker Sen. Chambliss

by Seth Michaels, Nov 18, 2008

The 2008 election isn’t over yet. In Georgia, the U.S. Senate race is headed to a Dec. 2 runoff, and union members are working hard to oust anti-worker Saxby Chambliss and send Jim Martin to the Senate.

On Nov. 4, neither candidate won a majority of the more than 3.75 million votes cast, which triggered the Dec. 2 runoff. As the election rapidly approaches, the AFL-CIO and thousands of union volunteers will carry out the largest labor mobilization ever attempted in a runoff campaign.

Union volunteers will continue the efforts that were successful in states across the country. They’ll deliver thousands of worksite fliers, make thousands of phone calls, send union mail and knock on doors across the states.

With a short time until the election, the effort already is under way. Some 81,000 union members will receive a mailer this week detailing Chambliss’ record of hostility to working families and pro-worker policies. Chambliss was elected because of a vicious 2002 campaign and assistance from President George W. Bush—and, in return, he’s voted consistently to support the anti-worker Bush agenda. 

• Chambliss voted against raising the minimum wage.
• Chambliss voted against the State Children’s Health Insurance Program.
• Chambliss voted against health care benefits for returning veterans.
• Chambliss voted to protect Big Oil price-gouging and Wall Street speculation that hurts the economy.
• And he voted against the Employee Free Choice Act to allow workers the freedom to form unions and bargain for a better life.

Jim Martin, who is running to replace Chambliss, would join other new senators in supporting the Employee Free Choice Act and other important legislation to turn around the economy and rebuild the middle class. It’s vital to send pro-worker senators to Washington, D.C., to pass new policies and break the grip of obstruction. 

Thanks to a strong effort from union members across the country, there are now 57 pro-worker Senate votes. In addition to the Georgia race, two other Senate contests are yet to be decided. In Alaska, the counting of absentee ballots and early votes is finishing up today in the contest between incumbent Sen. Ted Stevens and AFL-CIO-endorsed challenger Mark Begich. In Minnesota, the contest between AFL-CIO-endorsed Al Franken and Sen. Norm Coleman is headed for a recount.

The Bush-Chambliss agenda has been thoroughly discredited by the economic crisis and rejected by the voters who elected Barack Obama and new pro-worker House and Senate members in November. It’s time to finish the job and send Saxby Chambliss back to Georgia, and this will require a major mobilization of active and retired union members and their families.

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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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