The Other Elections

By Gerald W. McEntee

Every four years, the presidential election takes precedence in our national consciousness — from nightly newscasts to office water-cooler conversations. The decision of who will be our next President has a tremendous impact on working families, and AFSCME will be making its voice heard strongly from now until Election Day, Nov. 7.

In the fanfare surrounding the presidential contest, congressional races that also greatly affect AFSCME members could get overlooked if we are not careful.

The 2000 elections for the U.S. House of Representa-tives offer a significant opportunity to create a pro-worker majority in Congress for the first time in several election cycles. It is crucial that we seize this opportun-ity to move forward on behalf of working families across America.

There are 32 open seats in the House this year. Each of these should be considered up for grabs, fair game for making a pro-worker gain.

AFSCME has already identified worthy candidates in many key districts. By supporting pro-worker members already in Congress and by helping elect others to their ranks, we hope to achieve a new majority.

No one thinks this will be easy. Big Business and corporate interests have already targeted many of these seats, but we are ready for the challenge.

Throughout the year, we will be informing members about candidates and issues in their districts. And once again, we will be relying on our Green Machine of activists to make the winning difference in campaigns.

Can gaining such a majority actually translate into noticeable improvements for America’s working families? You bet it can.

A glance at AFSCME’s legislative priorities shows how much is at stake for working families in the congressional elections.

One of the most important issues that members of the 107th Congress will address is Social Security. It is imperative that we strengthen this crucial program, to keep it solvent for generations to come, and to protect it from those who seek to privatize this safety net.

The forces behind the campaign to privatize Social Security are the same corporate think tanks and right-wing ideologues funding “paycheck deception” legislation. In addition, Wall Street investment firms are spending tens of millions of dollars to lobby for private accounts because they would make out like bandits, earning billions in transaction fees if privatization were adopted. Clearly, this is an issue where a pro-worker majority in the House can make a difference.

Managed care reform, another critical topic, would benefit from a new majority. Currently, three-quarters of all working families are enrolled in some form of managed care. It is important that we pass a Patients’ Bill of Rights with tough whistle-blower protections for health care workers.

Although we were able to help enact a strong bill in the House this term, the Senate passed a significantly weaker version. But the anti-worker leadership in the House and Senate has stacked the conference committee, set to reconcile these versions, with members who oppose pro-worker provisions. Furthermore, pro-business leaders insist that the patient protections not be applied to many families including public sector workers.

With new leadership, we could count on pro-worker members gaining seats on vital conference committees. We could then be confident that our issues would not be shortchanged in deals made behind closed doors.

The Medicare prescription drug benefit is another area in which we could make real progress. A recently released Democratic plan extends prescription benefits to all participants, regardless of income. In contrast, the plan supported by current congressional leadership extends this benefit only to the lowest-income seniors. Others are left to pay out of pocket or scramble to buy coverage, if they can afford it.

In the last session, we also came close to passing legislation on pay equity, education, worker safety and environmental protections. Wins in the important open seats could tip the balance in favor of working families.

So the next time someone asks you, “Who are you supporting in this year’s election?” answer, “Which election?” and then tell them about the House races. Do your part to let relatives, friends and co-workers know that for working families, there is more than one important race in 2000.