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Helping Obama Win The West
(This article first appeared in the September/October 2008 issue of The American Postal Worker magazine.)
Postal workers across the country are working hard to help elect Barack Obama, as well as more members of Congress who will stand up for working families. A significant feature of the work in Albuquerque is a series of forums held at the local union office and at other places during which candidates for state and local offices speak and answer questions.
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“You can only get what you invest in,” Local President Arthur Prouse reminds members when encouraging them to take an active interest in politics and elections. “If you dedicate the time and the effort to study the issues and support the best candidates,” he said,“ you have a much better chance of reaping the dividends — from better pay and benefits to more job security, and a healthy and safe work environment — you name the issue.”
For union members, “our worst enemy is apathy,” he added, which, down the road, would result in “Wal-Mart wages” for workers.
That advice seems to be taking hold, as more members have attended the sessions and have volunteered for Labor 2008, the AFL-CIO’s political action program.
In addition to distributing APWU Postal Workers Back Obama posters, bumper stickers and literature, a core group of activists from the local have participated in neighborhood canvassing, informational pickets, and membership-outreach phone banks sponsored by Labor 2008. And more activities are being planned to help get-out- the-vote as the Nov. 4 elections approach.
New Mexico, where President Bush received 50 percent of the vote in 2004, has been targeted by labor as a high-priority “swing state” for not only the presidential election, but for control of the Senate. Unions are strongly supporting Tom Udall (D) to fill the seat of retiring Republican Sen. Pete Domenici.
Fighting Hard a ‘Mile High’
Labor 2008 efforts are in full swing in the Mile High City, reports Denver Metro Area Local Motor Vehicle Services Craft Director Robert Helmig.
The multi-union effort to help elect Barack Obama and more pro-worker legislators, including U.S. Senate candidate Mark Udall, got started in earnest several months ago.
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Since then, Helmig, Local President Gary Scott, Clerk Craft Director Brian Thomason, and a cadre of APWU activists have been canvassing neighborhoods, registering voters, and making phone calls on behalf of union-endorsed candidates.
Helmig said that union activists feel a special sense of urgency, as they are also working to pass labor-backed ballot initiatives that would expand healthcare coverage, curb corporate crime, and provide “just cause” protection for workers subject to arbitrary firing decisions. They also plan to defeat a “right-to-work” amendment to Colorado’s Constitution that would undermine all workers’ rights to organize. While none of these measures would directly affect postal workers, Helmig noted, “They would affect our families, our friends, and our children’s future here in Colorado.”
For postal workers, the election is important because sending Obama to the White House and more pro-worker legislators to Congress may be the only way to block the Postal Service from subcontracting more and more jobs, Helmig said. “The bleeding has got to stop.”
Helmig and other Denver-area union volunteers provided security and logistical support for a backstage “boiler room” serving as headquarters for technicians coordinating camera shots of delegates during floor activities at the Democratic National Convention.
Click here to order T-shirts, buttons, signs, stickers, and flyers so that members of your local can support the Obama campaign.
This page paid for by the APWU Committee on Political Action (COPA), and not authorized by any candidate or candidate’s committee. |
