In Order to Form a More Perfect Union
The 1998 election was about...electing officials
who will work for working men and women
and their unions, not against them.
By Gerald W. McEntee
The pundits and talking heads on TV are still trying to figure out what happened on Election Day. They have spent countless hours analyzing every single election result, crunching numbers and statistics, pondering the nation’s future without Newt, and wondering what this means for the President.
But no matter how hard they try, they seem to have missed the point. This election was not about scandal. It was not about Newt. It was not about the GOP or any other political party.
The 1998 election was about you. It was about the issues that are important to America’s families. It was about electing officials who will work for working men and women and their unions, not against them.
One of the numbers that seems to surprise the pundits and outrage the Radical Right is that over 22 percent of those who voted were either union members or from union households. All across the country, AFSCME and the Labor movement mobilized a record number of grassroots activists and swept anti-worker politicians out of office and elected pro-worker candidates to take their place.
In fact, four things happened when union members and their families went to the polls in such large numbers on Nov. 3, 1998.
First, we as union members (and as parents and grandparents and concerned citizens) voted to protect ourselves, our way of life.
For too long we have been under attack by those who would protect the interests of the mega-rich over our interests. We have seen attempts to not only stifle, but altogether kill the minimum wage. Politicians have tried to take away the workplace safety and health protections that we depend on just so employers can save a couple of dollars. We have seen lawmakers grasp for quick fixes — like privatization — to problems for which there are no easy answers.
The second thing union members achieved by voting the way we did was to protect and strengthen our unions.
I have written in this column many times about the attacks we continue to face. Whether it is an effort to undermine our ability to organize new workers or speak our minds in an election, we have always managed to stay one step ahead of our opponents. However, the message we sent to them this fall is that the attacks must stop.
The fact that Labor, for the second election in a row, accounted for almost one quarter of those who voted sent the signal not only to our opponents, but also to our allies, that we are a force to be reckoned with — in the boardroom, in the workplace and at the ballot box — in this country.
Third, by casting our votes in such large numbers, Labor served to strengthen our country.
I think that almost every person in our union would agree that our country is not served by radicalism — on either side of the political spectrum. By not giving Trent Lott a filibuster-proof Senate, and by further cutting down the GOP majority in the House, Labor sent a message to Congress that they need to stop trying to force Right-Wing radicalism on our country and get down to doing the work that the people want done: passing a Patients’ Bill of Rights, protecting and preserving Social Security and Medicare, and improving education and the environment.
Simply put, we want them to pass laws that benefit working families.
The fourth thing that happened on Election Day was that Labor set the table for 2000.
To be sure, Labor will be one of the most powerful voting blocs in the United States on Nov. 7, 2000. If we keep up our momentum, we can make sure that pro-union candidates are elected all the way from the White House to city hall.
We have set the stage for a clean sweep in 2000. A sweep that would ensure that the concerns of working men and women would be at the top of the agenda, not at the bottom.
I ask you to join me in working over the next two years to make this a reality — for your country, for your union and for yourselves.
