For Immediate
Release
Contact: Steve Smith:
202-637-5018
AFL-CIO Votes to Endorse
Senator Barack Obama for
President
Endorsement Triggers Largest Ever
Mobilization of Working Families
AFL-CIO
Program to Reach Union Voters Nationwide, 13
Million in 24
Priority States
http://www.meetobama08.org/
(Washington, June 26) - Calling Sen.
Barack Obama a champion for
working
families, the top leaders of AFL-CIO unions
today voted without
opposition to endorse
him for president of the United States,
thrusting
the labor federation’s largest
ever grassroots mobilization effort
into
high gear.
“In so many ways―on
jobs, health care, gas prices and the war
in
Iraq―our country is headed in the
wrong direction,” AFL-CIO
President John
Sweeney said. “Barack Obama has proven from
his days
as an organizer, to his time in
the Senate and his historic run for
the
presidency, that he’s leading the fight
to turn around America.
He’s a champion for
working families who knows what it’s
going
to take to create an economy that
works for everyone, not just Big Oil,
Big
Pharma, the insurance companies, the giant
mortgage lenders,
speculators and the very
wealthy. We’re proud to stand with Sen.
Obama to help our nation chart a course
that will improve life for
generations of
working people and our children.”
In its
endorsement statement, the AFL-CIO General
Board cited Obama’s
strong support of
working families on issues such as health
care
reform, fair trade that will lift up
workers here and around the
world,
retirement security and the freedom
to form unions and bargain for
middle-class
living standards. Obama has a 98 percent
voting record on
working families’ issues,
compared to just 16 percent for Sen.
John
McCain.
“Senator Barack Obama
has secured the nomination of his party in
a
campaign that has energized millions of
Americans and spoken to the
hopes and dreams
of people from every corner of our nation,”
read the
AFL-CIO General Board’s statement
to endorse Obama. “His
leadership can
re-engage disenfranchised Americans and bring
our
country together.” The General Board,
which includes presidents of
all 56 unions
in the federation as well as Executive Council
members
and representatives of state and
local federations, trade departments
and
constituency groups, votes by per capita
membership.
“Senator Obama has
advocated a change of direction for our
nation
that mirrors the priorities of the
labor movement,” the
statement
continued.
The endorsement
is not only a stamp of approval; it marks the
beginning
of a huge, united political
mobilization among working class voters.
The AFL-CIO will focus on mobilizing more
than 13 million union
voters―including
union members, families of members, retirees
and
members of the AFL-CIO community
affiliate Working America―in
24
priority states, working to elect U.S.
senators and representatives, as
well as
state and local candidates.
“We’ll work
our hearts out for Barack Obama,” said
AFSCME
President and AFL -CIO Political
Committee Chair Gerald McEntee.
“Our
program is going to be worker to
worker and neighbor to neighbor.
We’re
ready to mobilize. We’re ready to rock and
roll. This
country and our people are ready
for change.”
Today, the AFL-CIO also
launched a new website that provides extensive
information on Obama’s background, record
and positions
(http://www.meetobama08.com/).
The
endorsement is the latest phase in a massive
grassroots program to
mobilize union
voters. In early March, the AFL-CIO launched
its
national “McCain Revealed” campaign,
which focuses on educating
union voters
about John McCain’s anti-worker record and
plans. Since
the campaign began, AFL- CIO
volunteers have knocked on more than
60,000
doors and delivered 1.5 million
worksite flyers on McCain’s economic
record.
Nearly a half-million mailers on McCain’s
economic positions
hav
e been sent to
union swing voters in key
battlegrounds.
“We want to engage our
members and all working people on the need
for
action on the issues that make a
difference in our daily lives,"
said
International Brotherhood of
Electrical Workers (IBEW) President Ed
Hill.
“It is time to move beyond name calling and
division so that
our country can take
positive action on the challenges we
face.”
United Steelworkers President Leo
W. Gerard said, “Senator Obama’s
plan to
revitalize American manufacturing and his
commitment to make
workers the top priority
in any trade agreement give our members
hope
that his election will lead the
country in a new direction that’s
long
overdue, and inspire us to work as never
before to secure
his
victory.”
Elements of the AFL-CIO
grassroots mobilization:
●
The AFL-CIO top-tier states in 2008 are
Ohio,
Pennsylvania, Michigan, Wisconsin and
Minnesota.
● More than
250,000 volunteers will be activated
and
deployed.
●
Through Labor Day, volunteers will go to
300,000 union
voters’ homes, make more than
300,000
phone calls and
distribute over 2 million fliers.
● In addition to the presidential
election, the AFL-CIO is
engaged in every
viable Senate race and more
than 60 House races. All told, the AFL-CIO
will be
engaged in more than 510 races
nationwide,
including state
legislative elections.
●
The unions of the AFL-CIO will collectively
devote more
than $200 million to the 2008
election.
● The 2008
grassroots mobilization is the most
sophisticated
program the AFL -CIO has ever
run,
employing cutting-edge
voter communication techniques,
including
micro-targeting to ensure our
members are receiving the information they
want on the
candidates and
issues.
Working families are poised to
play a pivotal role in this
year’s
elections. On Election Day, union
household members will account for
nearly
one in four voters nationwide. The campaign
in support of Sen.
Obama will prove
especially helpful among working class voters,
which
many have identified as the swing
group in this election.
●
In key battleground states such as Ohio,
Michigan and
Pennsylvania, union household
voters made up
between 25 and
35 percent of the total vote in 2006.
● In 2004, turnout among
registered AFL-CIO union voters
was as much
as 19 percentage points higher
than turnout among nonunion voters in key
battleground
states.
●
Working America, the community affiliate
of the AFL-CIO,
has expanded to 11 states
and will have
more than 2.5
million members nationwide by Labor Day.
In Ohio alone, Working America has
nearly
800,000 members.
● Union household voters across
all demographics
consistently cast votes for
pro-working family
candidates.
For example, in the last presidential
election among AFL-CIO members, 61 percent
of
white voters voted for John
Kerry, while 37 percent voted
for George
Bush. By contrast, among
nonunion voters, 41 percent of white voters
cast ballots
for Kerry while 58 percent
voted for Bush
For interviews with
AFL-CIO leaders and affiliated union
presidents,
please contact the AFL-CIO
Media Outreach department at
202-637-5018.
###
