Las Vegas, NV
In 1996, the AFL-CIO committed itself to an historic legislative and political program designed to "reverse the flow of money and power that has working families mired in a wage and wealth sinkhole now big enough to swallow our entire economy" and to counter "the politics and policies of elected officials who oppose the interests and welfare of working families."
Because of an unprecedented effort by our international unions, state labor federations, central labor councils and local unions, the slopes of that sinkhole are today far less slippery. And because of the commitment and dedication of tens of thousands of union activists across our country, those elected officials have turned their politics and policies a measurable number of degrees back towards working families who elect them.
At our national level, we shredded the right wing’s specious "Contract With America" and fended off attacks on federal health and safety and wage standards that workers and their families depend upon.
We defeated an insidious attempt to slash Medicare, student loans and environmental enforcement, and to raid pension funds to pay for a tax cut for the wealthy.
And against all odds, we raised the minimum wage, lowered a boom on comp time and the TEAM Act, and derailed the Administration’s proposal for a renewed "fast track" authority in negotiating foreign trade agreements.
What we’ve done over the past two years is indeed remarkable -- but it is only a beginning -- and much more is going to be demanded of the union movement.
In a series of "Working Family Issues Forums" sponsored by the AFL-CIO in dozens of cities, union members and their families are telling us to revive and redouble our efforts to make quality health care available and affordable to all, strengthen Social Security and expand pension coverage, ensure fair wages and raise the minimum wage and, most importantly, restore the right of workers to organize.
Now we face new challenges to the voices of America’s working families -- a phalanx of so-called "paycheck protection" measures in Congress and in dozens of states by right-wing, anti-worker, anti-union organizations and individuals dead-set on retribution against the AFL-CIO for our effective legislative and political efforts.
As a result of our success over the last two years, the AFL-CIO and its affiliated unions have learned that engaging the enemies of working families in open combat is a win-win national legislative and political strategy.
We have also learned that we must broaden our strategy beyond debate in the nation’s capital if we are to fully restore respect for working Americans and the jobs they do. Therefore, in 1998 and the years beyond, our primary emphasis in legislative and political activity will be to fully and regularly exercise the grassroots power of our membership to hold elected officials at all levels accountable to working family issues and concerns.
To that end, we will:
- Hold issues forums around the country, asking our members to help us build a consensus around a Working Families Agenda in which we will push for legislative solutions and measure the positions and records of officeholders.
- Increase the size and scope of our legislative and political education campaign efforts, sharply focusing on grassroots membership mobilization.
- Build on labor’s effective fast track grassroots mobilization effort by utilizing highly-sophisticated direct mail and telemarketing techniques to augment our proven paid media strategies in educating workers and their families on issues affecting their lives.
- Increase participation of our 13 million members and the 40 million members of union households in the electoral and legislative process by providing more and better information on which they may base their decisions and involvement.
- Strengthen our grassroots electoral activity by redoubling -- from 135 to 300 -- the number of full-time political coordinators in the field working to provide information to our members to get them involved in elections and get them out to vote.
- Broaden our focus to include mobilization for political involvement at more levels -- in state legislative, gubernatorial, federal House and Senate, and local elections.
- Register 4 million new voters from union households by the year 2000 and by the same year have 2000 highly-trained union-member candidates running for public office at various levels.