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Grassroots Issues Campaign Comes Up a Winner
CWA members mobilized in support of candidates and turned out large numbers at the polls Nov. 3, as union voters installed new friends of working families in the House, preserved a balance of power in the Senate and elected several pro-worker governors.
“Working family issues — the future of Social Security, education, health care and good jobs — carried the day,” said CWA President Morton Bahr. “The resignation of House Speaker Newt Gingrich clearly stemmed from a failure to provide a competing agenda of real concern to the voters.”
CWA Secretary-Treasurer Barbara Easterling reported that 16.8 million union household voters comprised 22 percent of the vote nationwide — just 1 percent shy of the union turnout for 1996, a presidential election year. They voted 71 percent for Democrats and 29 percent for Republicans.
“Your hard work contributed greatly to this tremendous victory,” said Easterling in a letter to CWA local presidents, “and all of us in CWA congratulate and thank you and your members.”
Democrats gained three seats, offsetting a loss of three, in the U.S. Senate, holding Republicans to a 55-45 majority. They gained five seats in the House, narrowing the Republican margin to just 12 seats. The ratio is now 211 Democrats, 223 Republicans and one Independent. Voters elected 13 new governors — five Democrats, seven Republicans and one Independent — handing Republicans a net loss of one. Spot checks across the country revealed:
Friends of Working Families
CWA locals in New York helped Charles Schumer (D) topple Sen. Alfonse D’Amato (R) and, with other unions, formed a third party to register labor’s political clout. Locals did phone banking from CWA District 1 headquarters at 80 Pine St., and put hundreds of volunteers on the street.
“It was the happiest day of my life, dumping D’Amato,” said Beth Boland, business agent for CWA Local 1110 in Queens. “Schumer’s been very, very good for unions for a long period of time,” said Boland, legislative/political co-chair with local AT&T Vice President John Feaster. She noted that Schumer has attended CWA’s legislative/political conference in Washington, D.C. and numerous union functions in the state. Working from Local 1110’s union hall, volunteers made phone calls to CWA members urging them to vote, while Local 1110 members leafleted on behalf of Schumer and Democratic gubernatorial candidate Peter Vallone.
CWA, United Auto Workers and Amalgamated Transit Union locals, as well as ACORN, an advocacy group for low-income workers, also pushed hard to get a Working Families Party officially recognized by the state of New York. As the CWA News went to press, incomplete recount figures already gave the Working Families Party more than the required 50,000 votes it needed to appear on the ballot the next four years.
Working Families candidates, said Joe McAleer, vice president of Local 1101, in the Bronx, “were basically, the same candidates the Democrats are supporting, but we want to show people we have some clout.” Local 1101 put 150 people on the street, poll watching and hand billing.
New York City Local 1180, said President Art Cheliotes, put 100 people in the field on Election Day and before, for Schumer, Vallone and the Working Families Party.
Other New York City locals active on behalf of candidates included 1105 and 1109.
Local 1168/Nurses United, in Buffalo, held three public hearings on quality health care and invited candidates running for state legislature, said Executive Vice President Patricia DeVinney. More than 200 people attended. The local set up a table in the lobby of Buffalo General and DeGraffe hospitals, where most members work. They advocated for Schumer, Vallone, the Working Families Party and health care reform. “We got about 40 people signed up for CWA-COPE in the process,” said DeVinney. “We were very proud of that.”
Rushing to Victory
A big congressional win in New Jersey: Democrat Rush Holt defeated Republican incumbent Mike Pappas in the 12th District. Local 1032 Treasurer Jimmy Tarlau, who is president of the Mercer County Central Labor Council, said about 150 CWA members from various locals joined others from the CLC on Election Day, getting out the vote. “We’d go to areas from a targeted list and remind people to vote, then we’d go back later and remind them again, door-to-door.”
During the campaign, Local 1032 mailed voters’ guides to 3,000 CWA members in the district, hitting Pappas hard for what Tarlau described as “the second worst labor record in Congress.”
Tarlau said Local 1033 President Rae Roeder took the lead on phone banking and members, after work, made calls from Local 1032’s union hall. Locked in a neck-and-neck race, they got last minute help from the media when TV news programs aired an embarrassing videotape of Pappas singing “Twinkle, twinkle, Kenneth Starr” on the House floor.
“Holt’s going to be a 95, 100 percent labor vote. It’s the first time we’ve had a Democrat in Congress in over 20 years,” Tarlau boasted.
Local 1037 Executive Vice President Hettie Rosenstein gave an account of other congressional victories in targeted campaigns: incumbents Frank Pallone (D) in the 6th District, William Pascrell (D) in the 8th and Steven Rothman (D) in the 9th. “We put about 50 people on the street for Pascrell, 12 people for Rothman and a half-dozen for Pallone,” Rosenstein said.
New Jersey Locals 1034 and 1040, said Tarlau, were also active in various state and local campaigns.
Changing the Guard
Pennsylvania locals including 13000, 13500 and 13550 succeeded in returning a number of incumbent congress-persons friendly to working families and, in an AFL-CIO targeted race, helping Democrat Joseph Hoeffel unseat Republican Jim Fox.
“We had 186 registered members in that district,” said Pat Maisano, secretary-treasurer of Local 13000, Philadelphia. “We did a mailing directly to their homes to make sure we could get them out to vote.”
Local 13000 volunteers put signs in their yards, phone-banked and worked the polls.
“This district is heavily Republican,” said Maisano. “For us, this is a huge, huge victory.”
Delaware locals 13100 and 13101 were successful in helping install a Democrat, Jack Markle, as state treasurer. Said Local 13101 President Bud Speakman, “On the local level, we also did well. We even got a couple of union guys in there.”
Locals in the Washington, D.C. suburbs and Baltimore combined their efforts with those of AFL-CIO central bodies to reelect Parris Glendening (D) governor of Maryland in what was predicted to be a close race with fiercely conservative Republican Ellen Sauerbrey, who tried to position herself as a centrist. Glendening beat Sauerbrey by 164,005 votes.
“If it wasn’t for labor coming out and correcting Sauerbrey’s message, she would have gotten over,” said Dennis Surrette, president of Local 2108, covering Prince George’s and Montgomery Counties. The local participated in several rallies for Glendening, hosting one along with United Food and Commercial Workers Local 400.
Further south, CWA locals including 2222, Annandale, and 2252, Oakton, worked closely with the Northern Virginia Central Labor Council, returning Democrat James Moran to his 8th District congressional seat, but failing in the 10th District to overturn incumbent Frank Wolf (R), backing candidate Cornell Brooks (D).
Incumbents and Newcomers
Midwestern congressional victories in-cluded Julia Carson (D-2nd), Indiana and Tammy Baldwin (D-10th), Wisconsin.
Billy Floyd, of Local 4900, Cleveland, Ohio, which also has jurisdiction over Indiana, is mobilization coordinator for that state. Incumbent Carson faced a formidable challenge from Republican Gary Hoffmiester. Floyd, Area Repre-sentative Regina Cheeseborough and Chief Steward Tony Rosicato stuffed envelopes along with Steelworkers, Auto Workers and other union members at the Marion County Central Labor Council offices.
“Carson won with 76 percent of the vote,” said Floyd. “The Democrats got out and beat the path in the streets. They attributed the victory to our phone banking, volunteerism and determination.”
Baldwin secured the support of CWA Local 4603 in Madison, Wis., when Pres. Gary Mullikin invited three candidates — one each month prior to the primary — to address the local’s membership.
“We realized we had to impress upon our members that this was an important election,” Mullikin said.
When Baldwin secured the Democratic nomination, local political/ legislative chair Audrey Ruiz DeChavez, a CWA retiree, got active on the campaign. The local — and CWA Local 4671, Sun Prairie — teamed with the South Central Federation of Labor in Madison for a get-out-the-vote campaign. Members also participated in a phone tree run by Madison Teachers Inc., the local teachers’ union. In addition, Ruiz DeChavez, who is involved with a local senior citizens’ coalition, provided rides to the polls for the elderly.
Regardless of the outcome, Wisconsin would have had its first woman congressperson — Baldwin’s opponent was Republican Josephine Musser. As it turns out, the state now has the first openly lesbian woman to win a congressional seat from any state.
Said Mullikin, “Madison’s a pretty liberal place. I think people look beyond that here. They look at what’s good for people.”
Winning the West
California locals played a big role in electing Gray Davis governor by 20 percentage points over Republican Dan Lungren, turning out record numbers of African American and Hispanic voters. Davis becomes California’s first Democratic governor in 16 years. His running mate for lieutenant governor, Cruz Bustamante, is the first Latino elected to a state office. An army of labor volunteers still intact from the spring campaign against Proposition 226, also helped reelect Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.), along with a rash of incumbent representatives and state legislators friendly to working families.
“In my local, alone, I had some 30 volunteers phone banking and precinct walking,” said Tom Ramirez, vice president of Local 9421, Sacramento, and legislative/political chair of the CWA Northern California/Nevada Council of Locals. CWA’s political effort throughout the rest of the state, said Ramirez, was chaired by Local 9417 retiree Sandy Carter, Coastal Valley Council of Locals, and Co-Chairs Kim Hammond of Local 9488 and Sue Greenwood of the Southern California Council.
Ramirez said his local worked with the Sacramento Central Labor Council and that, “In the June primary, we had 830 volunteers. We had over 1,000 for the general.” The Council had 250 people knocking on doors on Election Day, including 25 from Local 9415.
Oakland, Calif. Local 9415 Secretary-Treasurer Bill Harvey, whose local also has responsibility for Hawaii, is proud of an effort that helped secure the seats of incumbent Democrats in the Senate, House and Governor’s Mansion. Among the friends of labor reelected: Sen. Daniel Inouye, Reps. Patsy Mink and Neil Abercrombie and, in a hotly contested race, Gov. Ben Cayetano.
“We took Abercrombie to our work site,” said Harvey. “One hundred and fifty CWA members work at AT&T in Honolulu. He actually shook all 150 hands. That helped us generate some volunteers.”
Harvey worked directly on Mink’s campaign, with the local tied in with the Hawaii State AFL-CIO on all the races. Local 9415 members did phone banking and lined the highways as human billboards.
Reno, Nevada Local 9413 President John Doran, said his local helped incumbent Sen. Harry Reid (D) hold onto his seat and helped elect a new member of Congress, 1st District Rep. Shelley Berkley (D).
Other California locals that contributed to labor’s victories include 9400, Paramount, and 9509, San Diego.
After Three Decades
CWA locals across the state of Iowa got busy in cooperation with three AFL-CIO central bodies — Dubuque, Waterloo and Mesa City — to elect Tom Vilsack the first Democratic governor in 30 years.
Francis Giunta, president of CWA Local 7108 in Waterloo, worked as AFL-CIO “Labor ‘98” coordinator for the entire 2nd District — encompassing about 125 local unions in 21 counties spread across 165 miles.
“We had one of the best cooperative efforts of the labor movement here in Iowa for a long, long time,” Giunta said.
Local unions, including CWA 7107, 7108, 7109 and 7110, along with Steelworkers and Machinists, hand-billed in plants and incorporated campaign materials in newsletters, and members posted campaign signs in front yards. Vilsack’s stand on the issues, particularly funding for education, and his “Main Street” presence made him an easy choice for union voters. Two days after he was elected, Vilsack showed up at a rally for striking Steelworkers at the Titan Tire plant in Des Moines.
Sarah Downing, president of Local 7102 in Des Moines had no trouble finding volunteers for phone banking after Vilsack, earlier in the year, joined the picket line during CWA’s strike against U S West.
In addition to campaigning door-to-door for Vilsack and congressional candidates, members of Local 7103 in Sioux City, which represents public workers in Monona County made a dramatic change in the face of local politics. Local President Ken Mertes said they found two Democratic candidates — Richard Merritt and Stanley Skow — to run against incumbent Republicans and represent the Sheriff’s Department and road workers on the county board of supervisors. Local 7103 members joined Democratic Party volunteers. Both of the local’s candidates won their seats.
Frost on the Lone Star
Texas CWA members helped several embattled friends of working families gain reelection to Congress and, despite voters returning Gov. George W. Bush (R) and others to the executive branch, reelected a majority of pro-labor candidates to the state legislature, where Democrats outnumber Republicans 79-71.
Local 6215 Executive Vice President Carrol Magee — with her two dogs — starred in a TV ad on managed care on behalf of targeted Rep. Martin Frost (D). “The point,” she said, “was you can choose your veterinarian, but you can’t choose your doctor.”
Magee, who is also president of the Dallas Central Labor Council, said Local 6215 members attended press conferences supporting Frost, put out signs for him and participated in other get-out-the-vote activities, helping him defeat challenger Shawn Terry (R) by more than 15,000 votes.
“Gingrich came in here two weeks before the election with everything under the sun,” McGee said. “They put a million dollars into this campaign.”
“Martin is now the senior congressman from the South,” McGee said, pointing out that the former chair of the Democratic National Congressional Campaign Committee has been elected chair of the Democratic congressional caucus.
“The Republicans also went after state Speaker of the House Pete Laney (D),” said Dallas Local 6215 President J.D. Williams. “They didn’t get him. He was very appreciative, so we should be able to block some legislation.”
Several members of the Texas State Employees Union/Local 6186 ran their own campaigns — Gary Morrow (currently land commissioner) for governor, John Sharp (currently state comptroller) for lieutenant governor, Richard Raymond (state representative) for land commissioner and David Van Os (CWA attorney) for Texas Supreme Court.
Although none won, they sent a powerful message, said Local 6186 Organizing Coordinator Mike Gross: “People here are growing dissatisfied with the way people are running the state. Gov. Bush stays away from social issues. He wants to dismantle social services. It’s important that we have people who will stand up to him.”
Local 6186 member Will H. Rogers, who works in the attorney general’s office, developed a mobilization plan on behalf of candidates, utilizing members employed by about six state agencies. TSEU’s Austin Area Council obtained a list of all Travis County voters overlapping several congressional districts. More than 20 volunteers called 750 members whose voter registrations were not current with the union’s address list. They also mailed 400 letters from Local 6186 President Linda Herrera, with voter registration cards enclosed.
TSEU members employed by the Youth Commission, Workforce Commission and Human Services in Houston and Beaumont did block walking on behalf of various candidates, particularly Ken Yarborough (D), an incumbent in the state legislature, one of eight targeted by Republicans. Yarborough, long a supporter of the local, won 10,227-10,074, on a margin of just 53 votes.
Southern Hospitality
CWA members helped elect Democratic governors in Georgia, Alabama and South Carolina and were active in defeating conservative, one-term Sen. Lauch Faircloth (R-N.C.), installing Democrat John Edwards.
CWA Local 3607 worked closely with the Greensboro, N.C. Central Labor Council to help defeat Faircloth, even broadcasting reminders to vote over BellSouth’s employee pager network.
Local President Ray Riffe, Area Vice Presidents Tony Holland and Tom Coley and other members of the local’s legislative/political committee were out at one point until midnight, putting up campaign signs. Said Executive Vice President Mike King, “We sent a letter to every member asking them to vote on Election Day and vote for candidates friendly to working people.”
Other locals that campaigned for Edwards and for worker-friendly congressional candidates include 3611, Raleigh, and 3680, Fayetteville.
Locals 3263 and 3250, Norcross, and 3204, Atlanta, all worked with the Atlanta Central Labor Council to elect Democrat Roy Barnes to succeed Zell Miller (D) as Georgia’s governor. They also increased the number of Democratic representatives in the legislature, said Local 3263 Recording Secretary Denise McClure.
Local 3263 Area Vice President Marion Garvin and the local’s legislative/political committee chaired by Leona Perry, organized several evenings of phone banking from the union hall, and several volunteers drove voters to the polls on Election Day.
CWA locals in Alabama participated in labor’s successful effort to help Lt. Gov. Don Siegleman (D) unseat incumbent Gov. Fob James Jr. (R), striking a blow against social conservatism in that state. Locals 3908, Montgomery, 3902, Birmingham, and 3903, Decatur “did a fantastic job, unbelievably,” said CWA Representative Dennis Dearing, who served as liaison to the state AFL-CIO. Dearing forwarded Labor ’98 materials to the locals, enabling them to put out comparisons for their members.
In South Carolina, locals helped elect Jim Hodges (D) governor over incumbent David Beasley. Hodges campaigned on initiating a lottery to raise funds for improving education.
Columbia Local 3706 President Shirley Brazell said that for three months prior to the election, the local brought to membership meetings candidates including Hodges and incumbents Sen. Ernest Hollings (D) and Rep. Jim Clyburn (D-6th). The local, which represents members at BellSouth, AT&T, AllTel and several other companies, used its mobilization chart and sent out information to job stewards to distribute one-on-one to members. They also hand-billed members in the right-to-work-for-less state. For two days prior to the election, members wore “Working Women Vote” stickers on the job. Twenty stewards passed out information in their precincts and worked tables at shopping malls.
Overjoyed with Hodges’ victory, Brazell pointed out that “Hollings had a very, very tough race this time (against Republican Bob Inglis). It was labor that put him over the top.”
Hodges won with 55 percent of the vote; Hollings with 54 percent, and Clyburn with 77 percent.
Other Senate Races
Former Indiana Gov. Evan Bayh (D) defeated former Fort Wayne Mayor Paul Helmke (R). In Arkansas, former Rep. Blanche Lambert Lincoln (D) replaced retiring Sen. Dale Bumpers. However, CWA lost a good friend in the defeat of Sen. Carol Mosely-Braun (D-Ill.) by Republican millionaire Peter Fitzgerald. Former major league pitcher Jim Bunning (R) narrowly defeated House colleague Rep. Scott Baesler (D) for the seat vacated by retiring Democrat Sen. Wendell Ford. George Voinovich (R) won over Mary Boyle (D) for retiring Sen. John Glenn’s seat in Ohio.
“Working family issues — the future of Social Security, education, health care and good jobs — carried the day,” said CWA President Morton Bahr. “The resignation of House Speaker Newt Gingrich clearly stemmed from a failure to provide a competing agenda of real concern to the voters.”
CWA Secretary-Treasurer Barbara Easterling reported that 16.8 million union household voters comprised 22 percent of the vote nationwide — just 1 percent shy of the union turnout for 1996, a presidential election year. They voted 71 percent for Democrats and 29 percent for Republicans.
“Your hard work contributed greatly to this tremendous victory,” said Easterling in a letter to CWA local presidents, “and all of us in CWA congratulate and thank you and your members.”
Democrats gained three seats, offsetting a loss of three, in the U.S. Senate, holding Republicans to a 55-45 majority. They gained five seats in the House, narrowing the Republican margin to just 12 seats. The ratio is now 211 Democrats, 223 Republicans and one Independent. Voters elected 13 new governors — five Democrats, seven Republicans and one Independent — handing Republicans a net loss of one. Spot checks across the country revealed:
Friends of Working Families
CWA locals in New York helped Charles Schumer (D) topple Sen. Alfonse D’Amato (R) and, with other unions, formed a third party to register labor’s political clout. Locals did phone banking from CWA District 1 headquarters at 80 Pine St., and put hundreds of volunteers on the street.
“It was the happiest day of my life, dumping D’Amato,” said Beth Boland, business agent for CWA Local 1110 in Queens. “Schumer’s been very, very good for unions for a long period of time,” said Boland, legislative/political co-chair with local AT&T Vice President John Feaster. She noted that Schumer has attended CWA’s legislative/political conference in Washington, D.C. and numerous union functions in the state. Working from Local 1110’s union hall, volunteers made phone calls to CWA members urging them to vote, while Local 1110 members leafleted on behalf of Schumer and Democratic gubernatorial candidate Peter Vallone.
CWA, United Auto Workers and Amalgamated Transit Union locals, as well as ACORN, an advocacy group for low-income workers, also pushed hard to get a Working Families Party officially recognized by the state of New York. As the CWA News went to press, incomplete recount figures already gave the Working Families Party more than the required 50,000 votes it needed to appear on the ballot the next four years.
Working Families candidates, said Joe McAleer, vice president of Local 1101, in the Bronx, “were basically, the same candidates the Democrats are supporting, but we want to show people we have some clout.” Local 1101 put 150 people on the street, poll watching and hand billing.
New York City Local 1180, said President Art Cheliotes, put 100 people in the field on Election Day and before, for Schumer, Vallone and the Working Families Party.
Other New York City locals active on behalf of candidates included 1105 and 1109.
Local 1168/Nurses United, in Buffalo, held three public hearings on quality health care and invited candidates running for state legislature, said Executive Vice President Patricia DeVinney. More than 200 people attended. The local set up a table in the lobby of Buffalo General and DeGraffe hospitals, where most members work. They advocated for Schumer, Vallone, the Working Families Party and health care reform. “We got about 40 people signed up for CWA-COPE in the process,” said DeVinney. “We were very proud of that.”
Rushing to Victory
A big congressional win in New Jersey: Democrat Rush Holt defeated Republican incumbent Mike Pappas in the 12th District. Local 1032 Treasurer Jimmy Tarlau, who is president of the Mercer County Central Labor Council, said about 150 CWA members from various locals joined others from the CLC on Election Day, getting out the vote. “We’d go to areas from a targeted list and remind people to vote, then we’d go back later and remind them again, door-to-door.”
During the campaign, Local 1032 mailed voters’ guides to 3,000 CWA members in the district, hitting Pappas hard for what Tarlau described as “the second worst labor record in Congress.”
Tarlau said Local 1033 President Rae Roeder took the lead on phone banking and members, after work, made calls from Local 1032’s union hall. Locked in a neck-and-neck race, they got last minute help from the media when TV news programs aired an embarrassing videotape of Pappas singing “Twinkle, twinkle, Kenneth Starr” on the House floor.
“Holt’s going to be a 95, 100 percent labor vote. It’s the first time we’ve had a Democrat in Congress in over 20 years,” Tarlau boasted.
Local 1037 Executive Vice President Hettie Rosenstein gave an account of other congressional victories in targeted campaigns: incumbents Frank Pallone (D) in the 6th District, William Pascrell (D) in the 8th and Steven Rothman (D) in the 9th. “We put about 50 people on the street for Pascrell, 12 people for Rothman and a half-dozen for Pallone,” Rosenstein said.
New Jersey Locals 1034 and 1040, said Tarlau, were also active in various state and local campaigns.
Changing the Guard
Pennsylvania locals including 13000, 13500 and 13550 succeeded in returning a number of incumbent congress-persons friendly to working families and, in an AFL-CIO targeted race, helping Democrat Joseph Hoeffel unseat Republican Jim Fox.
“We had 186 registered members in that district,” said Pat Maisano, secretary-treasurer of Local 13000, Philadelphia. “We did a mailing directly to their homes to make sure we could get them out to vote.”
Local 13000 volunteers put signs in their yards, phone-banked and worked the polls.
“This district is heavily Republican,” said Maisano. “For us, this is a huge, huge victory.”
Delaware locals 13100 and 13101 were successful in helping install a Democrat, Jack Markle, as state treasurer. Said Local 13101 President Bud Speakman, “On the local level, we also did well. We even got a couple of union guys in there.”
Locals in the Washington, D.C. suburbs and Baltimore combined their efforts with those of AFL-CIO central bodies to reelect Parris Glendening (D) governor of Maryland in what was predicted to be a close race with fiercely conservative Republican Ellen Sauerbrey, who tried to position herself as a centrist. Glendening beat Sauerbrey by 164,005 votes.
“If it wasn’t for labor coming out and correcting Sauerbrey’s message, she would have gotten over,” said Dennis Surrette, president of Local 2108, covering Prince George’s and Montgomery Counties. The local participated in several rallies for Glendening, hosting one along with United Food and Commercial Workers Local 400.
Further south, CWA locals including 2222, Annandale, and 2252, Oakton, worked closely with the Northern Virginia Central Labor Council, returning Democrat James Moran to his 8th District congressional seat, but failing in the 10th District to overturn incumbent Frank Wolf (R), backing candidate Cornell Brooks (D).
Incumbents and Newcomers
Midwestern congressional victories in-cluded Julia Carson (D-2nd), Indiana and Tammy Baldwin (D-10th), Wisconsin.
Billy Floyd, of Local 4900, Cleveland, Ohio, which also has jurisdiction over Indiana, is mobilization coordinator for that state. Incumbent Carson faced a formidable challenge from Republican Gary Hoffmiester. Floyd, Area Repre-sentative Regina Cheeseborough and Chief Steward Tony Rosicato stuffed envelopes along with Steelworkers, Auto Workers and other union members at the Marion County Central Labor Council offices.
“Carson won with 76 percent of the vote,” said Floyd. “The Democrats got out and beat the path in the streets. They attributed the victory to our phone banking, volunteerism and determination.”
Baldwin secured the support of CWA Local 4603 in Madison, Wis., when Pres. Gary Mullikin invited three candidates — one each month prior to the primary — to address the local’s membership.
“We realized we had to impress upon our members that this was an important election,” Mullikin said.
When Baldwin secured the Democratic nomination, local political/ legislative chair Audrey Ruiz DeChavez, a CWA retiree, got active on the campaign. The local — and CWA Local 4671, Sun Prairie — teamed with the South Central Federation of Labor in Madison for a get-out-the-vote campaign. Members also participated in a phone tree run by Madison Teachers Inc., the local teachers’ union. In addition, Ruiz DeChavez, who is involved with a local senior citizens’ coalition, provided rides to the polls for the elderly.
Regardless of the outcome, Wisconsin would have had its first woman congressperson — Baldwin’s opponent was Republican Josephine Musser. As it turns out, the state now has the first openly lesbian woman to win a congressional seat from any state.
Said Mullikin, “Madison’s a pretty liberal place. I think people look beyond that here. They look at what’s good for people.”
Winning the West
California locals played a big role in electing Gray Davis governor by 20 percentage points over Republican Dan Lungren, turning out record numbers of African American and Hispanic voters. Davis becomes California’s first Democratic governor in 16 years. His running mate for lieutenant governor, Cruz Bustamante, is the first Latino elected to a state office. An army of labor volunteers still intact from the spring campaign against Proposition 226, also helped reelect Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.), along with a rash of incumbent representatives and state legislators friendly to working families.
“In my local, alone, I had some 30 volunteers phone banking and precinct walking,” said Tom Ramirez, vice president of Local 9421, Sacramento, and legislative/political chair of the CWA Northern California/Nevada Council of Locals. CWA’s political effort throughout the rest of the state, said Ramirez, was chaired by Local 9417 retiree Sandy Carter, Coastal Valley Council of Locals, and Co-Chairs Kim Hammond of Local 9488 and Sue Greenwood of the Southern California Council.
Ramirez said his local worked with the Sacramento Central Labor Council and that, “In the June primary, we had 830 volunteers. We had over 1,000 for the general.” The Council had 250 people knocking on doors on Election Day, including 25 from Local 9415.
Oakland, Calif. Local 9415 Secretary-Treasurer Bill Harvey, whose local also has responsibility for Hawaii, is proud of an effort that helped secure the seats of incumbent Democrats in the Senate, House and Governor’s Mansion. Among the friends of labor reelected: Sen. Daniel Inouye, Reps. Patsy Mink and Neil Abercrombie and, in a hotly contested race, Gov. Ben Cayetano.
“We took Abercrombie to our work site,” said Harvey. “One hundred and fifty CWA members work at AT&T in Honolulu. He actually shook all 150 hands. That helped us generate some volunteers.”
Harvey worked directly on Mink’s campaign, with the local tied in with the Hawaii State AFL-CIO on all the races. Local 9415 members did phone banking and lined the highways as human billboards.
Reno, Nevada Local 9413 President John Doran, said his local helped incumbent Sen. Harry Reid (D) hold onto his seat and helped elect a new member of Congress, 1st District Rep. Shelley Berkley (D).
Other California locals that contributed to labor’s victories include 9400, Paramount, and 9509, San Diego.
After Three Decades
CWA locals across the state of Iowa got busy in cooperation with three AFL-CIO central bodies — Dubuque, Waterloo and Mesa City — to elect Tom Vilsack the first Democratic governor in 30 years.
Francis Giunta, president of CWA Local 7108 in Waterloo, worked as AFL-CIO “Labor ‘98” coordinator for the entire 2nd District — encompassing about 125 local unions in 21 counties spread across 165 miles.
“We had one of the best cooperative efforts of the labor movement here in Iowa for a long, long time,” Giunta said.
Local unions, including CWA 7107, 7108, 7109 and 7110, along with Steelworkers and Machinists, hand-billed in plants and incorporated campaign materials in newsletters, and members posted campaign signs in front yards. Vilsack’s stand on the issues, particularly funding for education, and his “Main Street” presence made him an easy choice for union voters. Two days after he was elected, Vilsack showed up at a rally for striking Steelworkers at the Titan Tire plant in Des Moines.
Sarah Downing, president of Local 7102 in Des Moines had no trouble finding volunteers for phone banking after Vilsack, earlier in the year, joined the picket line during CWA’s strike against U S West.
In addition to campaigning door-to-door for Vilsack and congressional candidates, members of Local 7103 in Sioux City, which represents public workers in Monona County made a dramatic change in the face of local politics. Local President Ken Mertes said they found two Democratic candidates — Richard Merritt and Stanley Skow — to run against incumbent Republicans and represent the Sheriff’s Department and road workers on the county board of supervisors. Local 7103 members joined Democratic Party volunteers. Both of the local’s candidates won their seats.
Frost on the Lone Star
Texas CWA members helped several embattled friends of working families gain reelection to Congress and, despite voters returning Gov. George W. Bush (R) and others to the executive branch, reelected a majority of pro-labor candidates to the state legislature, where Democrats outnumber Republicans 79-71.
Local 6215 Executive Vice President Carrol Magee — with her two dogs — starred in a TV ad on managed care on behalf of targeted Rep. Martin Frost (D). “The point,” she said, “was you can choose your veterinarian, but you can’t choose your doctor.”
Magee, who is also president of the Dallas Central Labor Council, said Local 6215 members attended press conferences supporting Frost, put out signs for him and participated in other get-out-the-vote activities, helping him defeat challenger Shawn Terry (R) by more than 15,000 votes.
“Gingrich came in here two weeks before the election with everything under the sun,” McGee said. “They put a million dollars into this campaign.”
“Martin is now the senior congressman from the South,” McGee said, pointing out that the former chair of the Democratic National Congressional Campaign Committee has been elected chair of the Democratic congressional caucus.
“The Republicans also went after state Speaker of the House Pete Laney (D),” said Dallas Local 6215 President J.D. Williams. “They didn’t get him. He was very appreciative, so we should be able to block some legislation.”
Several members of the Texas State Employees Union/Local 6186 ran their own campaigns — Gary Morrow (currently land commissioner) for governor, John Sharp (currently state comptroller) for lieutenant governor, Richard Raymond (state representative) for land commissioner and David Van Os (CWA attorney) for Texas Supreme Court.
Although none won, they sent a powerful message, said Local 6186 Organizing Coordinator Mike Gross: “People here are growing dissatisfied with the way people are running the state. Gov. Bush stays away from social issues. He wants to dismantle social services. It’s important that we have people who will stand up to him.”
Local 6186 member Will H. Rogers, who works in the attorney general’s office, developed a mobilization plan on behalf of candidates, utilizing members employed by about six state agencies. TSEU’s Austin Area Council obtained a list of all Travis County voters overlapping several congressional districts. More than 20 volunteers called 750 members whose voter registrations were not current with the union’s address list. They also mailed 400 letters from Local 6186 President Linda Herrera, with voter registration cards enclosed.
TSEU members employed by the Youth Commission, Workforce Commission and Human Services in Houston and Beaumont did block walking on behalf of various candidates, particularly Ken Yarborough (D), an incumbent in the state legislature, one of eight targeted by Republicans. Yarborough, long a supporter of the local, won 10,227-10,074, on a margin of just 53 votes.
Southern Hospitality
CWA members helped elect Democratic governors in Georgia, Alabama and South Carolina and were active in defeating conservative, one-term Sen. Lauch Faircloth (R-N.C.), installing Democrat John Edwards.
CWA Local 3607 worked closely with the Greensboro, N.C. Central Labor Council to help defeat Faircloth, even broadcasting reminders to vote over BellSouth’s employee pager network.
Local President Ray Riffe, Area Vice Presidents Tony Holland and Tom Coley and other members of the local’s legislative/political committee were out at one point until midnight, putting up campaign signs. Said Executive Vice President Mike King, “We sent a letter to every member asking them to vote on Election Day and vote for candidates friendly to working people.”
Other locals that campaigned for Edwards and for worker-friendly congressional candidates include 3611, Raleigh, and 3680, Fayetteville.
Locals 3263 and 3250, Norcross, and 3204, Atlanta, all worked with the Atlanta Central Labor Council to elect Democrat Roy Barnes to succeed Zell Miller (D) as Georgia’s governor. They also increased the number of Democratic representatives in the legislature, said Local 3263 Recording Secretary Denise McClure.
Local 3263 Area Vice President Marion Garvin and the local’s legislative/political committee chaired by Leona Perry, organized several evenings of phone banking from the union hall, and several volunteers drove voters to the polls on Election Day.
CWA locals in Alabama participated in labor’s successful effort to help Lt. Gov. Don Siegleman (D) unseat incumbent Gov. Fob James Jr. (R), striking a blow against social conservatism in that state. Locals 3908, Montgomery, 3902, Birmingham, and 3903, Decatur “did a fantastic job, unbelievably,” said CWA Representative Dennis Dearing, who served as liaison to the state AFL-CIO. Dearing forwarded Labor ’98 materials to the locals, enabling them to put out comparisons for their members.
In South Carolina, locals helped elect Jim Hodges (D) governor over incumbent David Beasley. Hodges campaigned on initiating a lottery to raise funds for improving education.
Columbia Local 3706 President Shirley Brazell said that for three months prior to the election, the local brought to membership meetings candidates including Hodges and incumbents Sen. Ernest Hollings (D) and Rep. Jim Clyburn (D-6th). The local, which represents members at BellSouth, AT&T, AllTel and several other companies, used its mobilization chart and sent out information to job stewards to distribute one-on-one to members. They also hand-billed members in the right-to-work-for-less state. For two days prior to the election, members wore “Working Women Vote” stickers on the job. Twenty stewards passed out information in their precincts and worked tables at shopping malls.
Overjoyed with Hodges’ victory, Brazell pointed out that “Hollings had a very, very tough race this time (against Republican Bob Inglis). It was labor that put him over the top.”
Hodges won with 55 percent of the vote; Hollings with 54 percent, and Clyburn with 77 percent.
Other Senate Races
Former Indiana Gov. Evan Bayh (D) defeated former Fort Wayne Mayor Paul Helmke (R). In Arkansas, former Rep. Blanche Lambert Lincoln (D) replaced retiring Sen. Dale Bumpers. However, CWA lost a good friend in the defeat of Sen. Carol Mosely-Braun (D-Ill.) by Republican millionaire Peter Fitzgerald. Former major league pitcher Jim Bunning (R) narrowly defeated House colleague Rep. Scott Baesler (D) for the seat vacated by retiring Democrat Sen. Wendell Ford. George Voinovich (R) won over Mary Boyle (D) for retiring Sen. John Glenn’s seat in Ohio.