Labor delegates are leaving the Democratic Convention with a clear message and a mandate, energized by the inspiring words of Barack Obama that "We cannot turn back, not with so much work to be done."
The message: This is the ultimate crossroads election for America's working families. Electing Barack Obama and Joe Biden is the only hope for turning this country around and securing the fleeting American Dream for their children and grandchildren. Another four years of Republican control will produce more of the same--declining wages and fewer jobs, more aggressive employer resistance to organizing workers, continuation of the health care crisis, and no voice for working families in Washington.
The mandate: Get out in your unions and communities like never before and deliver this message to everyone--union and non-union workers and family members alike. Get them to the polls in November and, equally important, keep them engaged after the election to hold those elected accountable for giving voice to working families' issues. The AFL-CIO's goal is to have 250,000 volunteers in the field. SEIU wants to activate about half its membership, over one milion in total. Working America, the branch of the AFL-CIO that signs up individuals who share the labor movement's values and political goals, is asking its two million members to deliver this message to all those they can reach in their communities.
Never before have I seen a higher sense of urgency, excitement, and shared resolve from as large and diverse mix of labor leaders and delegates as those gathered in Denver. They recognize this is as much a defining moment for the labor movement as it is for the country. Even more hopeful, these labor activists are as ready for and eager to bring change in their unions and in union-management relations as they are ready and eager for change in the country. (More on this in a future article).
There was also a remarkable candor expressed in some of the union meetings. Union leaders know they face a challenge getting some of their white members to vote their economic interests and overcome any lingering, even unconscious, reluctance to vote for an African American. To their credit, many of the union leaders are talking directly and openly to their members about this.
AFL-CIO Secretary Treasurer Richard Trumka, for example, warned delegates that, as he said in a recent Huffington Post article: "The opponents of working people are trying to divide us by using Obama's race as an issue. Union members must lead the fight against such divisions and, instead, look at the bottom line." In a recent speech at the Steelworkers' Convention he put it even more directly:
"I don't think we should be out there pointing fingers in peoples' faces and calling them racist. Instead we need to educate them that if they care about holding onto their jobs, their health care, their pensions, and their homes, if they care about creating good jobs with clean energy, child care, pay equity for women workers, there's only going to be one candidate on the ballot this fall who's on our side, only one candidate who's going to stand up for our families, only one candidate who's earned our votes...and his name is Barack Obama!"
That is the bottom line every labor delegate--from the building trades to teachers, machinists, government employees, hospitality workers, retail clerks, service workers, and others--are taking home from Denver. The task of spreading the word across America begins in earnest this Labor Day weekend.