Squeaky Wheels Don't Become Flat Tires

By William Lucy

America these days is a nation of working families waiting for the other shoe to drop. Families are worrying about the future-whether they're going to have a job next week or next month or next year. And given what they've already seen, they have good reason to worry.

In recent years, powerful forces have been on the warpath, attacking unions, weakening OSHA, making it tougher to get or hold a job, to buy a home, or send a kid to college, and all too often they have succeeded. Despite a healthy econ-omy, despite productivity that is the envy of the world, despite record profits and gold-plated rewards to the people on top, life for working families gets tougher by the day.

Working people built this country. Their sweat and effort created more wealth than the world has ever seen, but now they are being told they have to settle for the short end of the stick. That's not right.

And that's why AFSCME is mounting an all-out, non-partisan effort to register voters and get them to the polls on Election Day. We're out to re-level the playing field; in fact, we want to change the way the game itself is played.

AFSCME has had registration drives before, but this time is different. The stakes are much, much higher. There are two competing visions of America, in one there is no minimum wage, no unions, no Medicare, no Social Security-there's nothing to satisfy the money hunger of the rich.

The other vision--the AFSCME vision--is an America of fairness and opportunity for every family, an America in which every man, woman and child can expect-and get-the dignity to which they are entitled.

This time we have to help working people understand how important it is for them to vote; it's a job for every member of the union, and I hope you join in the effort.

It won't be easy. Every candidate, whether running for town dog-catcher or President of the United States, knows that the more money people have, the more they're likely to vote. By the same token, the less money people have, the less likely they are to vote.

Let me give you a couple of examples. In the 1992 election for president, 74 percent of those making $50,000 a year or more voted. But of those making $15,000 or less, only 41 percent cast ballots. In the 1994 election that produced a right-wing Congress led by Newt Gingrich, 63.7 percent of those with family incomes of $75,000 or more made sure to vote, while only 33 percent of those making $15,000 or less got to the polls.

Now let's say that you're the politician. Between elections, which group are you going to spend most of your energies on--the people who voted, either for or against, or the people who didn't vote at all?

Why are people with a lot of money more likely to vote? Because they understand the connection between private wealth and public policy. They vote to protect their money. They vote for candidates, laws and policies that will help them keep what they have and get still more.

Many working families haven't made that connection. Come Election Day, they don't go to the polls because they're tired after working one or two jobs, they have to cook dinner and feed the kids, maybe they don't like or trust the candidates, maybe they think their vote doesn't make a difference.

We have to reach and convince people like this. We have to let them know that they have a stake--a huge stake--in public policy, and they can do something about it.

Tell them about laws that require employers to pay a living wage and decent benefits; taxes that don't force working people to pay for the tax breaks enjoyed by the rich; job-creating programs that help the unemployed get back on their feet; pension funds that can't be looted by employers; economic safety nets for those who are laid off; programs that help the public schools and that help people who want to go to college; programs that ease the burden of caring for elderly parents.

Above all, remind them that politicians read election returns like many people read the Bible. Those who vote get the attention. This time, working together, we can write a new chapter for the politicians to read.