Union Member Vote Drove Shift in Balance of Power
November 08, 2006
 

Union voters drove home a victory for working family friendly candidates in yesterday’s historic election, in which voters nationwide rejected the status quo.  Election day exit polling and an independent national election-night survey released by the AFL-CIO today show that union members accounted for four-fifths of the Democratic victory margin.

High turnout among union members turned a win into a sweep with 74 percent of union voters supporting union-endorsed candidates in the House and 76 percent supporting Democratic candidates in Senate races - - a whopping 50 point margin for working family candidates.  Non-union voters supported the Democratic House candidates by a two-point margin.  Union households accounted for roughly 1 out of 4 voters.

“We’re very proud and excited to see from the numbers this morning that union voters drove a wave that elected a pro-working families majority in the House and very likely in the Senate,” said AFL-CIO President John Sweeney.  “The leaders in control of Congress neglected the needs of working Americans while catering to corrupt special interests, and working people said ‘no more’.”

Sixty-nine percent of union members said they disapprove of President Bush’s job performance, according to an election night survey conducted for the AFL-CIO by Peter D. Hart Research Associates, Inc.  The war in Iraq and the economy and jobs were union voters’ top tier issues.

“We knew that our challenge at the AFL-CIO was to provide the organizing to transform the frustration and anger into political power,” said Sweeney.  “We responded with the biggest, most energetic grassroots program in our history, and it worked.”  Sweeney said the AFL-CIO program was “by far” the largest voter turn out effort on the progressive side.

Ninety-two percent of union members in battleground states said they heard from their union this election cycle.

The AFL-CIO’s program reached out to 13.4 million voters in 32 battleground states.  It reached union members, members of union households, retirees and members of Working America, the AFL-CIO’s community affiliate for workers who don’t have a union.

More than 205,000 union members volunteered for the AFL-CIO’s political program this year.  Union members knocked on more than 8.25 million doors, made 30 million phone calls and passed out more than 14 million leaflets at workplaces and in neighborhoods.  The AFL-CIO’s program sent out more than 20 million pieces of mail to union households, not including those sent by affiliate unions.

The AFL-CIO’s “Final Four” program in the final four days of the election proved to be a powerful counter to the RNC’s 72-hour program.  The AFL-CIO turned out 187,000 volunteers, made nearly 8 million phone calls and knocked on 3.5 million doors in the final four days.

Working America, the AFL-CIO’s community affiliate, played a central role, reaching out to 1.7 million members.  Working America put special emphasis on Ohio, Pennsylvania and Minnesota, where it hired canvassers, mostly students, for the final four days.  The program was effective in moving voters: Working America was able to increase the vote for Rep. Sherrod Brown among its members to 72 percent from 53 percent through the fall, for example.  Sixty-two percent of Working America members who had not voted in 2002 turned out to vote this year.

The AFL-CIO concentrated heavily on turning out “drop-off” voters - - voters who usually don’t turn out in mid-term elections.  The program reached these voters as many as 25 times through a schedule of worksite contacts, phone calls, mail and home visits.  The AFL-CIO reached out to 496,000 drop-off voters in Ohio alone.

Of the 79% of the union drop-off voters who said they voted, 76% cast a Democratic ballot both for the Senate and the House, according to election night polling. Drop-off voters cited as their top two motivations for turning out: “send a message that we need a change” (43 %) and “support candidates who support working people” (37%).

Sweeney said immediate priorities for Congress should include passing a higher minimum wage, giving Medicare the power to negotiate for lower drug prices, ending rewards for companies for sending our jobs overseas, restoring college funding and giving workers the freedom to organize and bargain.  Long-term goals include health care reform, laws supporting retirement security and bringing our troops home from Iraq.

The AFL-CIO helped lead campaigns to pass the six minimum wage ballot initiatives that swept through Missouri, Ohio, Nevada, Colorado, Arizona and Montana. Together with ACORN, the AFL-CIO spearheaded many of the community coalitions that gathered the necessary signatures for the ballot initiatives, then educated voters and turned them out to vote.

The AFL-CIO’s voter protection program turned out hundreds of volunteers in 23 communities in 6 battleground states to educate citizens about their voting rights and help prevent the kinds of voting rights violations that marred the 2000 presidential election.  The program focused on communities in Michigan, Missouri, Nevada, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Washington and partnered closely with community groups and lawyers to provide election day support.

The AFL-CIO is the nation’s largest umbrella organization of unions, representing 10 million working men and women nationwide, and reaching out to 13.4 million voters in union households.

Contact: Steve Smith