AFL/CIO President John Sweeney Thoughts

Dear Union Member,

It seems like yesterday that 15,000 working family voters crowded into Chicago’s Soldier Field to ask questions and hear what the seven major Democratic presidential candidates had to say about jobs, health care, workers’ rights, the war in Iraq and more.

At the AFL-CIO presidential forum in August, retired United Steelworkers member Steve Skvara wanted to know: “What’s wrong with America, and what will you do to change it?”

Since that time, his call for change has become a rallying cry.

Working families are fed up with the direction the Bush administration has taken the country.

Voters are desperate for new leadership--63 percent of Americans think we’re headed in the wrong direction.

They’ve been taking this passion to the polls. A record turnout at the Iowa caucuses showed just how determined voters are to take our country down a different path. And most signs point to a record turnout today in New Hampshire.

The energy we’re seeing represents an emphatic, exhilarating rejection of the Bush agenda.

Last year, working families came out in huge numbers on Election Day to volunteer in Virginia, Kentucky, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Ohio and elsewhere. The reason? Like Steve Skvara, they want life to be better for working families.

And last March, the U.S. House of Representatives overwhelmingly passed the Employee Free Choice Act, a bill meant to level the playing field and allow workers the freedom to form unions without management intimidation, threats and harassment. Unfortunately for America’s working families, they will have to wait because anti-worker Republican senators were able to block the bill, even though a bipartisan majority passed the Senate legislation.

The energy’s been building for some time now, as 2007 became an important year for the labor movement.

Congress gave a raise to 13 million of our lowest-paid workers by passing the first increase in the federal minimum wage in a decade—up to $7.25 from $5.15 an hour. On New Year's Day, workers in 14 states saw a pay boost starting with their first checks of 2008.

Millions more students and families can now afford college because Congress passed the College Cost Reduction and Access Act, making higher education affordable for every qualified student who wants to attend.

And many workers successfully organized their workplaces in 2007. Despite the best efforts of some employers to bust organization efforts, teachers, nurses, bus drivers, child care workers, casino dealers, analysts in the Government Accountability Office and many more workers fought back and won their right to form unions.

It was a good year, but we need to keep looking to the future.

Together, we can make sure that in America, no one goes without health care.

Together, we can create a country with an economy that works for all.

Together, we can ensure no worker's rights are trampled when he or she tries to join a union to win a better life.

Together, we can accomplish so much, but only if we get involved and work hard until November, when we have the chance to make sure our president and Congress fight for working families.

If we continue to fight, we can make 2008 an historic year of change.

In solidarity,

John Sweeney
President, AFL-CIO

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Oct. 19, 2007

Dear Union Members,

Millions of children lost a chance to have health care coverage when the U.S. House voted 273–156 yesterday and failed to overturn Bush’s veto of the State Children’s Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) renewal. It would have taken a two-thirds majority to override Bush’s veto.

It is truly devastating for America’s working families that a faction in Congress put party politics above their obligation to America’s children and shattered a dream for millions of working families.

Until yesterday, millions of low-income families saw hope on the horizon in the form of health insurance that would allow them to take their children to the doctor when they are sick and to get preventive care so they can grow up healthy.

There is simply no justifiable reason for voting against health care for children. The State Children’s Health Insurance Program has been a great success. Studies show children enrolled in the program are healthier, which means they require fewer expensive medical services. Studies even show kids with coverage through this program do better in school.

Those are just a few of the reasons why a strong, bipartisan majority in Congress voted to expand health insurance for children. The most important reason is that taking care of our kids is a moral obligation and supporting SCHIP is simply the right thing to do.

Make no mistake: Those who stood with the president and against our children and grandchildren took an extreme position far outside the mainstream values of both their colleagues in Congress and the American people.

Thank you to everyone who called or sent e-mail messages and faxes to Congress. In total, you contacted your lawmakers more than 100,000 times. The message was loud and clear: Working men and women will hold opponents of children’s health care accountable at the voting booth.

In solidarity,

John Sweeney
President, AFL-CIO

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August 24, 2007
Dear Union Members,

As you may already know, the underground rescue operation to save the six coal miners trapped in the Crandall Canyon Mine has been halted. Tragically, the miners may be buried beneath the Utah mountain forever.

At this difficult time, I ask you for your thoughts and prayers for the miners and their families, as well as for the families of the three rescue workers who gave their lives trying to save the missing.

I also thank you for being someone who cares enough to take action to improve life for working families—on many fronts.

Last year, after 12 coal miners died in the Sago Mine in West Virginia, you helped convince Congress to pass the first major overhaul to mine safety laws in more than three decades, the MINER Act. Since the Bush administration came into office, it has been systematically dismantling workplace safety protections. But you wouldn’t allow corporate greed and Bush administration neglect and indifference to go unchallenged.

That neglect and indifference haven’t been isolated to workplace safety. Just look at our economy—workers’ paychecks are stagnant while our productivity goes up and up. Just think back to the administration’s catastrophic response to Hurricane Katrina, the poor conditions at Walter Reed Army Medical Center, the nation’s crumbling infrastructure, our health care crisis—many, many people are wondering, “What’swrong with America?”

Fortunately, in our democracy, every four years we have a chance to fix what’s wrong—by electing leaders, including a president, who put working families first.

We have a very busy time ahead of us, fighting together for health care, good jobs and the freedom to form unions without employer interference—and fighting for a government led by people committed to make America work for working families.

Thank you for all that you’ve done so far in this fight and for all you will do in the months ahead.

In solidarity,

John Sweeney
President, AFL-CIO

P.S. What do you think the next president should do to make our workplaces safe and healthy? Please share your thoughts on our AFL-CIO Working Families Vote 2008 Forum.

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