For Immediate Release
Tuesday, August 25, 1998
Strong Support by Vice President Gore Brings AFSCME Delegates To Their Feet
Honolulu, Hawaii —Vice President Al Gore today brought some 5,000 AFSCME delegates and guests to their feet with his strong support for union organizing and a working family agenda. The Vice President set the tone for his address early in his remarks when he said that as a young man, he was taught "some basic, fundamental values -- if you work hard, you deserve a good paycheck; if you get sick, you deserve good health care; if you put in a lot of years of loyal service [with an employer] you deserve a secure pension. And if you want the job done right, you should look for the union label."
Vice President Gore said that working families were "better off because of President Bill Clinton’s leadership. I’m proud to work with the President on an agenda that helps working families in America," he said, adding that "now is the time to move forward on the business at hand in this country, and AFSCME is leading the way, state by state, minute by minute. You are helping all Americans understand a basic truth -- that the right to organize is a fundamental American right that can never be blocked, can never be stopped, can never be taken away."
The Vice President commended AFSCME for its commitment to member education and grassroots political action, but warned that "our opponents want to silence America’s working families, rescind their right to organize, and restrict their right to speak out. They call it ‘paycheck protection’ -- but it’s paycheck deception." But two months ago, he added, "thanks to your leadership and hard work, against all odds, together we crushed Prop. 226 in California."
Gore challenged the delegates to channel their energy into advancing labor’s pro-worker, pro-family agenda. "We must invest more in education to give everyone the tools they need in order to succeed in this new economy," he said. "We need a common sense increase to the minimum wage, and with your help we must also pass a Patients’ Bill of Rights so that medical decisions are made by doctors and nurses and not by budgetary bean counters."
Regarding this last, Gore commended AFSCME President Gerald W. McEntee for working to expose the truth about "that phony Republican bill of rights recently passed by Congress -- that wasn’t a bill of rights, that was a bill of goods... and there’s a difference between a Bill of Rights and a bill of goods."
"We must build on the successes of a re-energized labor movement. We must use that grassroots energy and activism to take back the Congress this November," Gore said, but concluded by warning that the outcome of any election is often determined by "how hard we’re willing to fight, and how strongly we believe in what we’re fighting for. On the other side, they have some extremist ideas, but they are extremely committed, too. They work hard, and as a result they sometimes win elections they have no business winning. The simple challenge I want to leave you with is this: Are you willing to match, and more than match the intensity of right-wing extremists on the other side?"
"You have the ability to shape the future. If you bring the same strength and commitment to the battles that lie just ahead, as what we saw in the effort to defeat California’s Prop. 226, we will prevail. The future of working families depends on your ability to continue building on that momentum and continue winning in the battles that lie just ahead."
