AFSCME Urges Re-election of President Obama
Executive Board endorses, citing efforts on behalf of Main Street’s workers.
Pres. Barack Obama (Photo by Jay Mallin)
Executive Board endorses, citing efforts on behalf of Main Street’s workers.
AFSCME’s International Executive Board in December unanimously endorsed Barack Obama for a second term as President, citing his achievements on passing a law providing affordable health care for all, his determination to put Americans back to work and improve the economy, and his staunch support for collective bargaining rights.
The board acted after tens of thousands of AFSCME members indicated in a telephone poll that they wanted the union to endorse the President. AFSCME Pres. Gerald W. McEntee vowed to mobilize tens of thousands of AFSCME activists to get out the vote for President Obama in November. “President Obama is the only choice for the 99%,” McEntee said.
Addressing a Detroit, Mich., audience last fall, President Obama declared his support for workers’ rights: “As long as I’m in the White House, I’m going to stand up for collective bargaining.” He has done so repeatedly. For instance, he signed several executive orders to protect the rights of workers, including reversing a Bush administration decision limiting union representation on federally funded contracts, and reversing another Bush order allowing contractors to be reimbursed for the costs of blocking organizing drives.
Also in January, Obama thwarted an anti-union plan to put the National Labor Relations Board out of business by filibustering every nominee for vacant seats on the board. He filled the seats by a recess appointment of two Democrats and one Republican.
In his inaugural address in 2009, President Obama vowed to act, “not only to create new jobs, but to lay a new foundation for growth” through road construction and other infrastructure improvements. A month later, he pushed for Congress to approve the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, which was responsible for the creation of at least 2 million jobs nationwide in the first year alone.
“By re-electing President Obama, AFSCME members are standing up to those who demonize public workers and denigrate the services that they provide. They are opposing those who would take away their collective bargaining rights,” said AFSCME Sec.-Treas. Lee Saunders.
President Obama also fulfilled another inaugural promise when he signed the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act into law in March 2010. The law benefits millions of Americans by lowering the cost of prescription drugs for seniors, providing insurance coverage despite patients’ pre-existing conditions, and other benefits.
President Obama also is fighting for his American Jobs Act, which conservative lawmakers have so far blocked. The bill provided an infusion of funding to protect public sector jobs, to extend unemployment benefits, and to modernize public schools, community colleges and other infrastructure projects.
To learn more about President Obama’s plans to create jobs, go to: whitehouse.gov/economy/jobs.
