More than 2,000 union members knocked on 250,000 doors, handed out more than 3 million worksite flyers and placed over 100,000 phone calls, according to the Minnesota AFL-CIO website. Their work played a role in presidential candidate Barack Obama\'s historic win and victories in many legislative and local contests.
"We had unprecedented numbers of volunteers for our get-out-the-vote efforts," said Russell Hess, co-director of Minnesota Labor 2008. While he feels good about the work they did, Hess said he can\'t help feeling "if each local union could have convinced one more person to support Franken, we wouldn\'t be having this recount."
While most AFL-CIO and Change to Win unions backed DFL challenger Al Franken, a few labor organizations – notably the Carpenters and Pipe Trades – endorsed Republican incumbent Norm Coleman. After all the results were turned in, Coleman led Franken by only 206 votes. An official recount begins this week and could take a month, Secretary of State Mark Ritchie said.
St. Paul Regional Labor Federation President Shar Knutson acknowledged that many Minnesotans will not be eager to see this election season prolonged, but what\'s most important, she added, is that the state gets the tally right.
"The Senate race is too close to call," Knutson said. "Minnesota law requires an automatic recount for these situations, and it is our duty to count all the votes. It\'s the American way and a Minnesota tradition."
Scores of union volunteers, recruited by the Franken campaign, will be involved in watching the recount, said Liz McLoone, field representative for the Southeast Area Labor Council, based in Rochester.
"We need Al Franken to be in the Senate to work in partnership with representatives like Tim Walz to support working families," McLoone said. "Senator Coleman has disappointed us time and time again."
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| Russell Hess (left) and Brian Winkler co-directed Minnesota\'s Labor 2008 election effort. Minneapolis Labor Review photo |
Gains in the Minnesota House
Unions helped the DFL Party gain two more seats in the Minnesota House, but the party fell short of getting a "veto-proof" majority that would enable lawmakers to override any veto by Republican Gov. Tim Pawlenty.
"Our goal was to have a veto-proof majority in the House, but everyone was realistic that that was going to be tough to achieve," Hess said.
In the races for the U.S. House of Representatives, labor helped re-elect Keith Ellison, Betty McCollum, Jim Oberstar, Collin Peterson and Tim Walz. They were disappointed by the re-election of Republicans Michele Bachmann and John Kline and the election of Republican Erik Paulsen to the 3rd District seat vacated by Jim Ramstad.
Independence Party candidates made the difference in the Bachmann and Paulsen races and definitely affected the U.S. Senate race, said Mark Froemke, president of the West Area Labor Council that spans the western half of Minnesota.
"The Independence Party got a better number than I would have expected in this area," he said. The negativity of the campaign commercials in the final days of the U.S. Senate race also had an effect.
Around the state, labor-endorsed candidates won many legislative and local races.
"We had a couple disappointing losses but we were really successful," said Bill McCarthy, president of the Minneapolis Regional Labor Federation.
In the Duluth area, area unions got involved in 24 races, including the U.S. Senate election, labor leaders said. Of the 23 local races, they won all but won – a hard-fought battle by St. Louis County Commissioner Bill Kron to keep his seat.
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| Chad McKenna and Rosie Loeffler-Kemp conduct a get-out-the-vote training session (above) in Duluth, while volunteers staff a phone bank (below) at the IAM office in Bloomington. Photos by Duluth Labor World and Minneapolis Labor Review |
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High union turnout
Nationally, union members voted at a much higher rate than other voters. Although only 12 percent of Americans are represented by unions, union members made up of 21 percent of those voting nationwide. In Minnesota, union membership is about 18 percent and turnout among union voters was high, Hess said. Labor 2008 staff will be examining information from exit polling in the next couple weeks to measure the impact of union voters in Minnesota, he said.
Across the state, the economy was a key issue. So was health care, said Wayne Fleischhacker, staff representative for the East Central Area Labor Council that includes St. Cloud and Brainerd.
"Most union people have employer-paid health care and (Republican candidate John) McCain wanted to tax our health care," he said. "That made a lot of difference for folks in my area."
Nationally, 67 percent of union members supported Obama at the polls. Hess said the number is probably about the same for Minnesota.
Froemke said Obama won every county along Minnesota\'s western border except one and also several counties in North Dakota, a traditionally red state that did go to McCain.
"I think this vote was about much more than the economy," he said. "I think it was much deeper. America wanted a change."
What next?
In addition to watching the recount – and keeping their fingers crossed for Franken – unions will be preparing to push forward a pro-labor agenda in the 2009 sessions of Congress and the Minnesota Legislature. Priorities will include reviving the economy, creating good-paying jobs, providing universal health care, passing fair trade policies and improving opportunities for workers to join unions.
At the federal level, labor is united behind the Employee Free Choice Act, legislation to strengthen workers\' rights to join unions.
"Now we\'re going to put together a plan and strategy to use the power we exhibited through the electoral political system to pass good policies that help working people," said Hess.
This article includes information from the Duluth Labor World, Minneapolis Labor Review and St. Paul Union Advocate.
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More than 2,000 union members knocked on 250,000 doors, handed out more than 3 million worksite flyers and placed over 100,000 phone calls, according to the Minnesota AFL-CIO website. Their work played a role in presidential candidate Barack Obama\’s historic win and victories in many legislative and local contests.
"We had unprecedented numbers of volunteers for our get-out-the-vote efforts," said Russell Hess, co-director of Minnesota Labor 2008. While he feels good about the work they did, Hess said he can\’t help feeling "if each local union could have convinced one more person to support Franken, we wouldn\’t be having this recount."
While most AFL-CIO and Change to Win unions backed DFL challenger Al Franken, a few labor organizations – notably the Carpenters and Pipe Trades – endorsed Republican incumbent Norm Coleman. After all the results were turned in, Coleman led Franken by only 206 votes. An official recount begins this week and could take a month, Secretary of State Mark Ritchie said.
St. Paul Regional Labor Federation President Shar Knutson acknowledged that many Minnesotans will not be eager to see this election season prolonged, but what\’s most important, she added, is that the state gets the tally right.
"The Senate race is too close to call," Knutson said. "Minnesota law requires an automatic recount for these situations, and it is our duty to count all the votes. It\’s the American way and a Minnesota tradition."
Scores of union volunteers, recruited by the Franken campaign, will be involved in watching the recount, said Liz McLoone, field representative for the Southeast Area Labor Council, based in Rochester.
"We need Al Franken to be in the Senate to work in partnership with representatives like Tim Walz to support working families," McLoone said. "Senator Coleman has disappointed us time and time again."
|
| Russell Hess (left) and Brian Winkler co-directed Minnesota\’s Labor 2008 election effort.
Minneapolis Labor Review photo |
Gains in the Minnesota House
Unions helped the DFL Party gain two more seats in the Minnesota House, but the party fell short of getting a "veto-proof" majority that would enable lawmakers to override any veto by Republican Gov. Tim Pawlenty.
"Our goal was to have a veto-proof majority in the House, but everyone was realistic that that was going to be tough to achieve," Hess said.
In the races for the U.S. House of Representatives, labor helped re-elect Keith Ellison, Betty McCollum, Jim Oberstar, Collin Peterson and Tim Walz. They were disappointed by the re-election of Republicans Michele Bachmann and John Kline and the election of Republican Erik Paulsen to the 3rd District seat vacated by Jim Ramstad.
Independence Party candidates made the difference in the Bachmann and Paulsen races and definitely affected the U.S. Senate race, said Mark Froemke, president of the West Area Labor Council that spans the western half of Minnesota.
"The Independence Party got a better number than I would have expected in this area," he said. The negativity of the campaign commercials in the final days of the U.S. Senate race also had an effect.
Around the state, labor-endorsed candidates won many legislative and local races.
"We had a couple disappointing losses but we were really successful," said Bill McCarthy, president of the Minneapolis Regional Labor Federation.
In the Duluth area, area unions got involved in 24 races, including the U.S. Senate election, labor leaders said. Of the 23 local races, they won all but won – a hard-fought battle by St. Louis County Commissioner Bill Kron to keep his seat.
|
| Chad McKenna and Rosie Loeffler-Kemp conduct a get-out-the-vote training session (above) in Duluth, while volunteers staff a phone bank (below) at the IAM office in Bloomington.
Photos by Duluth Labor World and Minneapolis Labor Review |
|
High union turnout
Nationally, union members voted at a much higher rate than other voters. Although only 12 percent of Americans are represented by unions, union members made up of 21 percent of those voting nationwide. In Minnesota, union membership is about 18 percent and turnout among union voters was high, Hess said. Labor 2008 staff will be examining information from exit polling in the next couple weeks to measure the impact of union voters in Minnesota, he said.
Across the state, the economy was a key issue. So was health care, said Wayne Fleischhacker, staff representative for the East Central Area Labor Council that includes St. Cloud and Brainerd.
"Most union people have employer-paid health care and (Republican candidate John) McCain wanted to tax our health care," he said. "That made a lot of difference for folks in my area."
Nationally, 67 percent of union members supported Obama at the polls. Hess said the number is probably about the same for Minnesota.
Froemke said Obama won every county along Minnesota\’s western border except one and also several counties in North Dakota, a traditionally red state that did go to McCain.
"I think this vote was about much more than the economy," he said. "I think it was much deeper. America wanted a change."
What next?
In addition to watching the recount – and keeping their fingers crossed for Franken – unions will be preparing to push forward a pro-labor agenda in the 2009 sessions of Congress and the Minnesota Legislature. Priorities will include reviving the economy, creating good-paying jobs, providing universal health care, passing fair trade policies and improving opportunities for workers to join unions.
At the federal level, labor is united behind the Employee Free Choice Act, legislation to strengthen workers\’ rights to join unions.
"Now we\’re going to put together a plan and strategy to use the power we exhibited through the electoral political system to pass good policies that help working people," said Hess.
This article includes information from the Duluth Labor World, Minneapolis Labor Review and St. Paul Union Advocate.