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From coast to coast, and armed with polls showing declining union support in key swing states for Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump, unionists mobilized for final, massive get-out-the-vote campaigns.
Their aim on Nov. 8: To elect pro-worker politicians up and down the ballot, headed by Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton.
Whether they succeed or not depends, to some extent, on factors outside their control, including the FBI director’s last-minute announcement that his agency was again probing Clinton’s private e-mails from the server she used while Secretary of State.
But in their campaigns and in union-sponsored TV, cable and radio ads, unionists stuck to the bread-and-butter issues – from pensions to the Supreme Court to the right to organize – and which candidates would be better for workers and which wouldn’t. Vignettes from the nationwide effort included:
• The Illinois AFL-CIO, in a state Clinton is expected to carry easily, scheduled phone banks in Chicago, its suburb of Lincolnshire, plus Aurora, Westmont, Rockford, Rock Island, Peoria, Fairview Heights, West Frankfort and two in the state capital, Springfield.
Illinois workers are campaigning not just for Clinton, but for down-ballot candidates, particularly in the state legislature, to oppose GOP Gov. Bruce Rauner, who has spent his first two years in office trying to destroy the state’s public worker unions.
The effort extends to trying to elect a Democratic majority in the U.S. Senate, said Machinists Midwest Regional Vice President Philip Gruber.
“We have a great opportunity here in the Midwest to deliver up to four Democratic seats: Russ Feingold in Wisconsin, Evan Bayh in Indiana, Jason Kander in Missouri and Tammy Duckworth right here in Illinois,” he said. Pre-election polls show Kander and Bayh are in too-close-to-call races, while Feingold and Duckworth handily lead GOP incumbents.
• In Minnesota, unions are focused on helping Congressman Rick Nolan keep his seat in the 8th District in the northeastern part of the state. “We’ve still got a lot of work to do, but things look much better than they did a few months ago,” Katie Humphrey, political coordinator for the area, told the Duluth Labor World.
Nolan is facing a challenge from GOP millionaire Stewart Mills.
• In swing state Ohio, Democratic Rep. Marcia Fudge of Cleveland joined members of Amalgamated Transit Union Local 268 to promote their free rides to the polls program. Local 268 is giving free rides to Cuyahoga County residents during early voting and on Election Day.
AFL-CIO Political Director Michael Podhorzer said support for GOP presidential nominee Donald Trump has declined among union voters. His initial appeal came from free media coverage, principally on cable, where he raged against the system, minorities and so-called “free trade” pacts, Podhorzer said.
“But then union members experienced something more. Yes, they’ve seen those rallies too. But because they are in unions, they also get the facts. With the facts in hand they realized Trump’s blue collar rhetoric is a con,” he said.
• Unions also took to the airwaves. In New Hampshire, a $1.5 million Service Employees ad buy targeted GOP Sen. Kelly Ayotte, in a neck-and-neck race against Democratic Gov. Maggie Hassan. The ad featured Ayotte’s flip-flop on backing Trump.
“Working families across the country are sick and tired of the tirade of hate and attack purported by Trump and his agenda of division,” said SEIU President Mary Kay Henry. “That’s why SEIU members have been out by the tens of thousands speaking to voters about the facts in this election. When voters hear the truth and the contrast they overwhelmingly choose Clinton over Trump.”
She predicted labor “would be decisive” in a Clinton victory.