For Immediate Release
Wednesday, October 27, 2004
AFSCME Turns Up the Heat in Ohio
Washington, DC —The American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME), which has 120,000 members in Ohio, is pulling out all the stops to turn out its members for Senator John Kerry and reach out to non-members.
AFSCME President Gerald W. McEntee is barnstorming battleground states and will be in Ohio on Thursday, October 28, to lead a GOTV rally for Senator John Kerry in Columbus. The rally is one of seven statewide labor rallies that day. McEntee chairs the AFL-CIO’s political committee.
AFSCME’s members are especially important this election. While union household members make up one out of every four voters, AFSCME members turn out and vote for the union’s endorsed candidates in higher numbers than Labor in general. For example, in 2000, 68 percent of AFSCME members voted for Al Gore compared to 62 percent of all union members.
Thirteen thousand Ohio AFSCME members are participating in election activities, such as knocking on doors and making phone calls. Thus far, AFSCME has registered 11,000 of its Ohio members to vote (100,000 are now registered) and is sending nearly 1,000,000 pieces of direct mail. AFSCME is also conducting extensive home and work site visits.
In addition, AFSCME is reaching out to 14,000 family child care providers in Ohio who are not members, many of whom are under-registered or infrequent voters. AFSCME’s nonpartisan turnout and mobilization drive is part of a larger effort to help 200,000 such providers across the country win union representation.
“AFSCME’s efforts will help put Ohio in the Kerry column on Election Day,” predicted AFSCME President Gerald W. McEntee. “Senator Kerry has been a longtime fighter for Ohio workers and their families. He has the right plans to end the squeeze on the middle class, create jobs and provide affordable health care.”
AFSCME, AFL-CIO, has 1.4 million members nationwide and is spending $48 million on political activities in 2004. AFSCME’s aggressive mobilization program will result in each member being contacted at least eight times through a combination of telephone calls, mail, and visits to homes and workplaces.
