For Immediate Release
Thursday, February 22, 1996
AFL-CIO Launches Unprecedented Political Effort for 1996
Bal Harbour, FL —At the AFL-CIO Executive Council meeting, AFL-CIO President John Sweeney and AFSCME President Gerald W. McEntee -- chair of the Federation's new political action committee -- announced the launching of an unprecedented political action campaign for 1996. The effort, called the Labor '96 program, is a grassroots mobilization and education effort aimed at informing Americans on the issues facing voters in 1996.
The overall budget for the Labor '96 program is $35 million, with funding by the Federation and its affiliates. $15 million to $20 million of the budget is targeted for media outreach.
AFSCME President Gerald W. McEntee praised the AFL-CIO effort, and reaffirmed the support of the 1.3 million member union AFSCME.
"By mounting this effort, the AFL-CIO is committing more money, staff, media and materials to the education of working Americans than ever before in the history of organized labor," McEntee said. "AFSCME has been a strong leader in this effort, and now -- with the support of the AFL-CIO -- we 're ready to pull out all the stops in our campaign to inform Americans about the issues that affect their lives."
Labor '96 will be a multi-faceted program, consisting of the following elements:
- Grassroots mobilization and education - including lobbying, letter-writing, phone campaigns, public events, issue education, and phone centers to assist education and mobilization efforts;
- Media - Paid and free media aimed at educating Americans about issues of primary importance to working families;
- Voter registration and non-partisan GOTV - Early voter registration, and extensive non-partisan Get-Out-The-Vote efforts;
- Intensive Training - A national labor political training center will be established to develop political organizing skills for Labor '96 participants. 3,000 staff and union volunteers will be trained and deployed in the fall GOTV campaign.
"We're proud to be a part of this history-making effort," McEntee concluded, "and we're confident that our efforts, and the efforts of the AFL-CIO, will go a long way toward revitalizing the political process throughout 1996."
