|
|
Greetings,
On November 4th the men and women of the Michigan labor movement were able to celebrate a huge victory in the 2008 elections as Michigan handed a victory to President Elect Barack Obama as well as new U.S. Congressmen Gary Peters and Mark Schauer.
The evening began around 9:00 P.M. as the men and women of the labor movement who played such a key role in our victories here in Michigan began to gather on the main ballroom of the Rennaissance Center to watch the election returns. As the results began to trickle in you could feel the sense of excitement grow with each announced win. The loudest roar of the early evening came as news networks announced that Barack Obama had secured a victory in the battleground state of Pennsylvania. A few hours later when it was announced that Ohio had been won by Barack Obama the crowd's anticipation of victory was palpable to everyone in the building. At midnight Eastern Standard Time CNN projected that Senator Barack Obama would be America's 44th President and the crowd erupted and began hugging and exchanging congratulatory high fives. Although the election fo Barack Obama was the highlight of the evening many participants returned to the nearest TV screens to await the result of the congressional races in Michigan's US house districts 7 and 9. Although the results were slow to be finalized it became increasingly obvious with each passing minute that both Gary Peters and Mark Schauer would claim victory and give working families two more voices in congress. Among the crowd of Obama supporters were several individuals representing unions that were essential to labor's big wins in Michigan. AFGE member Joe Dolan exchanged congratulations with his fellow AFGE members while several NALC release staff commented how the nights results made all the hard work of the campaign worthwhile. Michigan State AFL-CIO President, Mark Gaffney, summed up the influence of the labor 2008 program saying "Tonight we are witnessing big wins for labor in Michigan. Senator Obama's win coupled with the wins of Peters, Schauer and Michigan Supreme Court Candidate, Diane Hathaway is clear and convincing evidence that the the labor movement in Michigan remains strong and continues to be a powerful force in Michigan elections".
The celebration continued well into the early morning hours with many of Michigan's leading labor figures gathering in the Governors Suite of the Rennaissance Marriott at the invitation of the AFT who were dynamic in getting their members to buy in to the labor 2008 program. The Michigan AFL-CIO recognizes that none of its success in this years election cycle could have happened without the support of all of our affiliates and their members. We want to congratulate you for the success that is a direct result of all your hard work. On behalf of the Michigan AFL-CIO and all of our endorsed candidates we want to thank all the Affilitate programs who visited Michigan to help promote the labor 2008 program.
WE DID IT!!! |
