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Greetings,
With just under 24 hours
left to determine the direction our country will take over the
next 4 years we are on the verge of putting America on a path
that will grow our economy, invest in our infrastructure and
increase the quality of life for working men and women.
In these last few hours
of the campaign Senator McCain and his allies are going to
resort to desperate gimmicks to confuse American voters but
non-union plumbers and negative personal attacks won’t
create one job or prevent one foreclosure. Let’s make sure
that our voters know that Barack Obama has put forth a detail
specific plan to create jobs and reduce
taxes. Our months of hard work
are ready to pay off but we still have to make sure that we get
each and everyone of our members out to vote. The Michigan
AFL-CIO’s labor 2008 program is continuing its GOTV
activities in zones all across the state so please contact your
union, your CLC or the Michigan State AFL-CIO to find out how
you can volunteer through the end of Election
Day.
The Michigan State AFL-CIO Labor 2008 This year the Michigan
State AFL-CIO faced a difficult task in creating a strong labor
2008 program but like our members we chose to role up our
sleeves and get to work Labor 2008 May-June
As Senators Barack Obama
and Hillary Clinton campaigned across America for the Democratic
nomination the Michigan State AFL-CIO was already in full force
laying the ground work for what would become one of the most
successful Labor 2008 programs of all the battle ground
states. State Political Director, Brent Gillette, began
the summer of 2008 traveling across the state of Michigan
speaking to local unions about who the real John McCain is and
why he was wrong for labor. While Brent traveled
Michigan informing our brothers and sisters about who the real
john McCain was release staffers from across the state and the
nation were building our programs in their respective zones and
helping to organize labors support for our endorsed
congressional candidates. During these early months of the
2008 election cycles the Michigan AFL-CIO conducted rapid action
focused on raising awareness about the rising cost of gas and
why America desperately needed leadership that was in tune to
the need of the working class. Labor 2008 June
– July’08 As the democratic nomination became increasingly clear the Michigan AFL-CIO began to ramp up its labor 2008 program by bringing in more release staff from the following unions: AFGE, AFSCME, AFT, APWU, ATU, BAC, BCTGM, CWA, IBEW, IUOE, MNA, NALC, NATCA, SMWIA, UAW, USW and many more. Our zone coordinators began ordering fliers from the working families toolkits and our affiliates began increasing their member to member program activities. While some unions continued to wait for a formal endorsement before becoming fully engaged our CLCs were busy hosting labor walks to talk to union members about John McCain’s long standing opposition to labor and our issues.
In addition to our efforts to get the word out about John McCain union members in Michigan were busy spreading the word about the Employee Free Choice Act. Million Member Mobilization cards became a staple at all union activities and the Justice for Workers Now Coalition was busy planning a march on the Detroit offices of the National Labor Relations Board.
On a warm summer morning
in June hundreds of men and women representing every union in
the state descended upon downtown Detroit in a massive
solidarity march in support of the Employee Free Choice Act. Ray
Michaels of IBEW local 665 explained that “We are here
today to bring attention to the unjust rulings coming from the
National Labor Relations Board that have a detrimental effect on
unions. We also want people to know that when you limit the
formation of unions you depress wages and limits purchasing
power that has a negative effect on the economy and on
jobs”. With Barack Obama having
secured the Democratic nomination, the Michigan AFL-CIO knew it
would be hard to overcome the fact that the Democratic primary
skipped Michigan and that our members weren’t familiar
with Obama and his vision for America. The Michigan AFL-CIO
undertook a large and aggressive effort to dispel the myths
about Obama and why he was the best choice for union
voters. By mid-July the Michigan
AFL-CIO’s labor 2008 program was moving in full force and
support for Barack Obama was growing by the numbers.
Labor 2008 August
– September By the beginning of August there was a robust and active labor 2008 program operating in Michigan. The continued influx of release staff helped create a blanket of support that made sure every aspect of the labor 2008 program was operating at optimal levels. Labor walks, member to member phone banks, worksite leaflets and local union mail activities were taking place daily and more and more members were hearing about the importance of this year’s election.
Brent Gillette stressed
the importance of the labor 2008 program telling members and
staff “we have to make sure that we touch as many of our
members as possible. We know the candidates and the parties are
going to run commercials and do their program but we also know
that are members are most influenced by the endorsement of
someone they trust like a co-worker or fellow union
member”. Brent’s words
proved prophetic as the labor program grew and support for Obama
increased. By Mid-August Barack Obama had visited Michigan on
several occasions including the annual Labor Day celebration in
Muskegon, Detroit and Monroe and his chances for victory in
Michigan continued to grow. By early September the Michigan AFL-CIO’s labor program had become so strong and so effective that Senator McCain abandoned any chance of competing and left Michigan for good. The absence of an aggressive McCain campaign didn’t slow the efforts of the AFT and other unions. On a mid September morning over 150 members of the AFT joined AFT President, Randy Weingarten for a labor walk in support of Obama and Gary Peters.
President Weingarten
spoke to her fellow member saying “our members want to
hear from you! They look at me and they figure I’m paid to
do and say these types of things but when you, the person they
eat lunch with, the person they fight for better wages with,
says it to them on their front door it carries a greater level
of value and is more effective”. The end of September saw
the Justice for Workers Now Coalition hold a final EFCA rally
that included the Presidents of the IBEW, Building and
Construction Trades, Ironworkers, Plasterers and Cement Masons
and was attended by well over 1,000
members. Labor 2008 October
Even though the McCain
campaign was no longer competing in Michigan the labor ’08
program wasn’t about to rest on its laurels. Our member to
member activities continued in full force and we made sure to
continuing engaging our members at their front door, their
worksite and over the phone and through the mail.
NALC release staff member John Serwach stated “we feel it’s important to reach out to our members through local union mail because it’s a low pressure situation where a person can give the candidates a comprehensive review before making a decision. We also use the local union mail as an opportunity to socialize with our fellow members at our union hall while still doing our part for the program”.
The NALC was also
responsible for an October labor walk that brought over 200
letter carriers from as far away as Kentucky and Indiana to
knock on doors in Oakland county. Other unions would not be
outdone when it came to labor 2008. The APWU, ATU, UAW, USW and
others were busy contacting their members at the job site
through the worksite leafleting program. APWU member Dorothy
Malone, said “we are doing a worksite leaflet to help
encourage those remaining undecided to vote for Obama while
encouraging other to remember to vote”.
As we close out November and prepare for tomorrows big vote Barack Obama is leading Senator McCain by roughly 20 points and our congressional candidates are also in good position to pick up two more seats in congress for labor.
The Michigan
AFL-CIO’s labor 2008 program wasn’t easy but it was
a success and we owe it all to our members who volunteered their
time and effort to help bring about a better American for
working men and women. Labor 2008
November See you at the celebration |
