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Fired Up for Fall Elections: CWA Members Learn and Lobby at Annual Conference
From the presidency to Congress to state legislatures and governors’ races, the November 2000 vote is the most important election in a generation, impassioned CWA and political leaders told participants at this year’s Legislative/Political Conference in Washington, D.C.
“Let’s make November 2000 a turning point in our history: A day when working families finally stood up to the monied interests, the anti-union baiters and the union haters. A day when Americans returned to the values of community spirit and caring for others,” CWA President Morton Bahr said in his keynote address. “Together we will once again see the American Dream be a reality for our members and all working families.”
Bahr and other speakers won enthusiastic ovations from the participants, who pledged to take the message back to their locals and step up programs to elect worker-friendly candidates to office. Members spoke of voter registration drives, efforts to get voters to polling places and hosting question-and-answer sessions with local candidates.
“This election is about preserving our values as working people,” said Marlene Ryan, executive vice president of Local 1087 in Freehold, N.J. “We have to stand strong and elect candidates who are going to support us and our cause.”
Ryan and more than 600 other CWA members from across the country attended the conference June 18-21. When they weren’t listening to speeches or attending seminars, members went to Capitol Hill to meet with senators and representatives from their states.
Specifically, they asked lawmakers to support the proposed federal ergonomics standard, add a prescription drug benefit to Medicare, end the telephone excise tax and pass a law to stop employers from classifying workers as “independent contractors” in order to avoid paying health and pension benefits.
The Republican-controlled Congress was determined to push ahead with its agenda in spite of CWA members’ efforts. Since the conference, the House and Senate passed an appropriations bill for the Labor Department designed to delay — and ultimately destroy — the ergonomics standard. However, President Clinton has vowed to veto the bill and is committed to having a standard in place by year’s end.
Congress also voted on the prescription drug benefit in late June. A Republican plan far weaker than benefits proposed by the Democrats passed by a narrow margin in the House of Representatives. It’s now in the Senate’s hands.
At Stake: All Three Branches
The stakes this year include the White House and the future of the Supreme Court — the next President could name as many as three or four new justices — as well as the opportunity for working families to regain a powerful voice in Congress. Democrats need to pick up six seats in the U.S. Senate and five in the House to become the majority party.
“It’s up to us to work harder than the opposition,” Secretary-Treasurer Barbara Easterling told the conference. “It’s up to us to mobilize our members and register and turn out more voters than the anti-worker, right-wing extremists. It’s up to us to expose the true record of George W. Bush, and remind people that Al Gore will be the best friend working families could have in the White House.”
House Democratic Leader Dick Gephardt (D-Mo.), speaking at the end of the conference, outlined his party’s ambitious agenda to ensure that working families benefit from the new global economy, to bring health insurance to every American and to vastly improve the quality of education at all levels.
“This is your country. Don’t let anybody take it away from you,” he stressed, drawing a sharp distinction between his party’s agenda and that of corporate America. “Get out and vote. Get people to the polls,” he urged. “We’re going to win this election and take this country back.”
Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D-Conn.), whose mother worked in sweatshops to support her family, said it’s time to return Congress to people who truly care about workers, and to ensure that America has a president who cares, too.
“Calling yourself compassionate will not whitewash a record of attacking the rights of working Americans,” DeLauro said.
Rep. George Miller (D-Calif.) has been on the House Labor Committee for 26 years, watching what he called “a continual assault by Republicans on unions.”
“We’re poised to take back the House this year,” he said. “Then we can finally talk about a progressive agenda.”
Congress and the White House aren’t the only battlegrounds. Scores of state house seats are also on the line. They’re critical, speakers said, because legislators will have the task of redrawing congressional districts based on Census 2000, a process that could leave poor and minority voters under represented.
“A lot of people will tell you ‘This is the most important election of a lifetime,’” Rep. Patrick Kennedy (D-R.I.) said in a fiery speech that brought the crowd to its feet. “This is the most important election of a lifetime.”
CWA a Respected Political Force
Linda Chavez-Thompson, executive vice president of the AFL-CIO, said CWA members have a reputation among lawmakers for being strong and effective lobbyists for working families.
“All across this country, there’s not a single leader who doesn’t know who CWA is,” she said. “CWA is known as a premier union that takes care of business, legislatively and politically.”
Joe Andrew, chairman of the Democratic National Committee, said the Gore campaign is on a roll thanks to efforts of union members and their families, but said there’s much more work to do. “The way we’ll win is with the people in this room talking to your friends, your family, your colleagues, lighting a fire under them, making them understand how crucial this is,” Andrew said. “The Republicans have tidal waves of cash. But we’ve got heart and soul and sweat and the ability to organize.”
CWA members also heard from Ida Castro, chair of the Equal Opportunity Employment Commission, Tad Devine, senior media coordinator for the Gore campaign, Steve Rosenthal, political director of the AFL-CIO, Rep. Mel Watt (D-N.C.), who discussed political redistricting, and Rep. Fortney “Pete” Stark (D-Calif.), who talked about the proposed Medicare prescription drug benefit.
A government that puts working families first is within reach, speakers said, but it won’t happen without ample effort and energy from union members and people who share their vision.
“Let’s make November 2000 a turning point in our history: A day when working families finally stood up to the monied interests, the anti-union baiters and the union haters. A day when Americans returned to the values of community spirit and caring for others,”
— CWA President Morton Bahr
“Let’s make November 2000 a turning point in our history: A day when working families finally stood up to the monied interests, the anti-union baiters and the union haters. A day when Americans returned to the values of community spirit and caring for others,” CWA President Morton Bahr said in his keynote address. “Together we will once again see the American Dream be a reality for our members and all working families.”
Bahr and other speakers won enthusiastic ovations from the participants, who pledged to take the message back to their locals and step up programs to elect worker-friendly candidates to office. Members spoke of voter registration drives, efforts to get voters to polling places and hosting question-and-answer sessions with local candidates.
“This election is about preserving our values as working people,” said Marlene Ryan, executive vice president of Local 1087 in Freehold, N.J. “We have to stand strong and elect candidates who are going to support us and our cause.”
Ryan and more than 600 other CWA members from across the country attended the conference June 18-21. When they weren’t listening to speeches or attending seminars, members went to Capitol Hill to meet with senators and representatives from their states.
Specifically, they asked lawmakers to support the proposed federal ergonomics standard, add a prescription drug benefit to Medicare, end the telephone excise tax and pass a law to stop employers from classifying workers as “independent contractors” in order to avoid paying health and pension benefits.
The Republican-controlled Congress was determined to push ahead with its agenda in spite of CWA members’ efforts. Since the conference, the House and Senate passed an appropriations bill for the Labor Department designed to delay — and ultimately destroy — the ergonomics standard. However, President Clinton has vowed to veto the bill and is committed to having a standard in place by year’s end.
Congress also voted on the prescription drug benefit in late June. A Republican plan far weaker than benefits proposed by the Democrats passed by a narrow margin in the House of Representatives. It’s now in the Senate’s hands.
At Stake: All Three Branches
The stakes this year include the White House and the future of the Supreme Court — the next President could name as many as three or four new justices — as well as the opportunity for working families to regain a powerful voice in Congress. Democrats need to pick up six seats in the U.S. Senate and five in the House to become the majority party.
“It’s up to us to work harder than the opposition,” Secretary-Treasurer Barbara Easterling told the conference. “It’s up to us to mobilize our members and register and turn out more voters than the anti-worker, right-wing extremists. It’s up to us to expose the true record of George W. Bush, and remind people that Al Gore will be the best friend working families could have in the White House.”
House Democratic Leader Dick Gephardt (D-Mo.), speaking at the end of the conference, outlined his party’s ambitious agenda to ensure that working families benefit from the new global economy, to bring health insurance to every American and to vastly improve the quality of education at all levels.
“This is your country. Don’t let anybody take it away from you,” he stressed, drawing a sharp distinction between his party’s agenda and that of corporate America. “Get out and vote. Get people to the polls,” he urged. “We’re going to win this election and take this country back.”
Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D-Conn.), whose mother worked in sweatshops to support her family, said it’s time to return Congress to people who truly care about workers, and to ensure that America has a president who cares, too.
“Calling yourself compassionate will not whitewash a record of attacking the rights of working Americans,” DeLauro said.
Rep. George Miller (D-Calif.) has been on the House Labor Committee for 26 years, watching what he called “a continual assault by Republicans on unions.”
“We’re poised to take back the House this year,” he said. “Then we can finally talk about a progressive agenda.”
Congress and the White House aren’t the only battlegrounds. Scores of state house seats are also on the line. They’re critical, speakers said, because legislators will have the task of redrawing congressional districts based on Census 2000, a process that could leave poor and minority voters under represented.
“A lot of people will tell you ‘This is the most important election of a lifetime,’” Rep. Patrick Kennedy (D-R.I.) said in a fiery speech that brought the crowd to its feet. “This is the most important election of a lifetime.”
CWA a Respected Political Force
Linda Chavez-Thompson, executive vice president of the AFL-CIO, said CWA members have a reputation among lawmakers for being strong and effective lobbyists for working families.
“All across this country, there’s not a single leader who doesn’t know who CWA is,” she said. “CWA is known as a premier union that takes care of business, legislatively and politically.”
Joe Andrew, chairman of the Democratic National Committee, said the Gore campaign is on a roll thanks to efforts of union members and their families, but said there’s much more work to do. “The way we’ll win is with the people in this room talking to your friends, your family, your colleagues, lighting a fire under them, making them understand how crucial this is,” Andrew said. “The Republicans have tidal waves of cash. But we’ve got heart and soul and sweat and the ability to organize.”
CWA members also heard from Ida Castro, chair of the Equal Opportunity Employment Commission, Tad Devine, senior media coordinator for the Gore campaign, Steve Rosenthal, political director of the AFL-CIO, Rep. Mel Watt (D-N.C.), who discussed political redistricting, and Rep. Fortney “Pete” Stark (D-Calif.), who talked about the proposed Medicare prescription drug benefit.
A government that puts working families first is within reach, speakers said, but it won’t happen without ample effort and energy from union members and people who share their vision.
“Let’s make November 2000 a turning point in our history: A day when working families finally stood up to the monied interests, the anti-union baiters and the union haters. A day when Americans returned to the values of community spirit and caring for others,”
— CWA President Morton Bahr