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2008 in Review: Union Members: Yes, We Can; Yes, We Did |
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Here’s the final part in our series taking a look back at 2008. Be sure to check out Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4 and Part 5.
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Change was in the air—and on the way—in November, as the AFL-CIO’s biggest-ever political mobilization headed toward the finish line. Tens of thousands of union volunteers packed local union halls to phone bank or to talk with union family voters in neighborhoods around the country in the final get-out-the-vote push to elect Barack Obama and win even bigger working family majorities in Congress.
Obama chose a union hall as his last campaign stop. On Election Day morning, he popped into UAW Local 550’s Indianapolis phone bank. Said Keith Neargardener, UAW Region 3 CAP director:
You know, to make the union hall your last stop before becoming president sends such a great message. It shows how he’s not afraid to say the word union and to embrace and support unions openly.
While union voters were ready to effect change, some things remained the same—Republican dirty tricks to deny voters, especially minority and poor voters, their right to vote. Throughout the campaign season, the AFL-CIO’s My Vote, My Right voter protection program fought back against attempts to purge voting rolls, intimidate potential voters, distribute phony Election Day information and other voter suppression tactics.
By Election Day, My Vote, My Right volunteers, activists and lawyers had distributed hundreds of thousands of Voters’ Bill of Rights leaflets, aired radio ads, gone to court and set up voter hotlines. The vigilance paid off. While there were scattered reports of voter suppression, the widespread problems that marred the previous two presidential elections were absent.
Overall, union voters backed Obama over John McCain by 67 percent to 30 percent. Union veterans went for Obama by a 25 point margin and retired union voters chose Obama by 46 points over McCain. Those huge margins were the result of more than 250,000 union volunteers who knocked on 10 million doors, handed out 27 million worksite fliers and made 70 million phone calls. Said AFL-CIO President John Sweeney:
We salute labor leaders and volunteers all across our country for a record turnout of voters from union households—they made the difference in critical states like Pennsylvania, Michigan, Ohio and so many others.
Voters said enough of the McSame McBush policies McCain stood for, but President Bush wasn’t about to leave quietly. He launched a last-minute push to put into place end-of-term regulations that could roll back or weaken rules on job safety, family leave, airline safety and pollution.
The end-of-the year economic news paved the way for what is a bleak holiday season for many families. November saw the largest number of jobs lost in just one month in 34 years—535,000. Unemployment jumped from 6.5 percent to 6.7 percent. More than 1.9 million worked had lost their jobs by the end of November.
The job news was so bad, that after months of fighting against extending unemployment benefits for the growing number of workers who could not find new jobs before using up the unemployment insurance (UI) benefits, Bush finally signed legislation extending UI benefits.
In early November, UAW President Ron Gettelfinger warned that without quick government action, the U.S. auto industry and its 3 million jobs were in serious jeopardy as consumers faced with the worst economy in decades and a drying credit market, weren’t buying cars.
Legislation for a bridge loan to keep the Big Three afloat and save good middle class jobs was blocked in November and December by Republican senators—led by Southern senators from states that had lured foreign carmakers to their states with lucrative tax and subsidy deals.
Although the UAW has agreed to cost-cutting measures over the past several years, loan opponents used the crisis to slam workers and the UAW. In a December memo, Republican leaders urged senators to use the crisis as “their first shot against organized labor” in the battle over the Employee Free Choice Act.
Speaking of shooting, Home Depot founder Bernie Marcus told a group of corporate execs mapping out strategy to defeat the bill that any CEO who doesn’t pitch in to fight the Employee Free Choice Act “should be shot.”
In contrast, Obama, reaffirmed his support for the Employee Free Choice Act when he told the Los Angeles Times:
When it comes to unions, I have consistently said that I want to strengthen the union movement in this country and put an end to the kinds of barriers and roadblocks that are in the way of workers legitimately coming together in order to form a union and bargain collectively.
We’ll wrap up the year on a positive note, with the examples of two union members who showed how we can all make a difference for those in need: John Dacuag and Mark Baetzhold.
In November, the U.S. Coast Guard awarded Seafarers (SIU) member John Dacuag its Gold Lifesaving Medal, the Coast Guard’s highest civilian award, for risking his life when he leapt into the 24-foot seas during a typhoon to rescue a crewman from a sunken ship in the Pacific Ocean.
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Mark Baetzhold, who since 2007 has been helping the villagers in Nyamuswa, a poor agricultural village of about 6,000 in Tanzania, works with them to irrigate their crops and better feed their families. Baetzhold, a member of New York State Public Employees Federation Division 169, an AFT affiliate, sums it up for all of us in the union movement:
Union members stand with other people and help them when they are in need. [Unions] stand for the collective good and try to bring that about through action.
In other headlines from November and December:
Building on Election Success ALF-CIO Executive Council Calls for Economic Mobilization
Sweeney Praises Nomination of Solis
Global Trade Union Leaders Call for Reform of World’s Economy
Human Rights Watch Confirms Colombia Not Ready for Trade Deal with U.S.
Following the Green Jobs Road from Bali to Poznan
Grim State Budgets Could Mean $100 Billion Shortfall
Shockingly Little Oversight in Wall Street Bailout
Chronically Ill Who Forego Care Highlight Need for Health Care Reform
Weingarten Calls for ‘Common Ground’ Solutions to Brunt Impact of Financial Crisis on Schools
After a Year, Bargaining Set for Casino Workers at Foxwood
Machinists Ratify Boeing Contract, End Strike
Priest Runs New York City Marathon to Honor Killed Construction Workers
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