Union Ramps Up Massive Campaign to Keep Obama's Feet to the Fire

[Joanne98]

This week, SEIU, one of the most aggressive -- and progressive -- labor unions in the country, announced the launch of what Anna Burger, the organization's international treasurer-secretary, promised to be "the greatest grassroots accountability campaign that had ever been seen in America." In a press call, Burger promised that the organization would invest a massive 30 percent of its annual budget for the "Change That Works" campaign, money she said would be used to " sure that elected officials live up to their promises to working families."

The union reportedly spent $80 million during the election and claims that its members knocked on 3.5 million doors and placed over 16 million calls to sway voters to back pro-labor candidates during the election. According to a press release, "More than 3,000 SEIU members, staff and local leaders voluntarily took time off the job to work full time on the 2008 election cycle."

Now they're trying to make sure that the investment of time and resources was worth it. SEIU President Andy Stern said, "After 25 years of market worshipping, deregulating, privatizing, trickle-down economics, American workers have ended up working more, earning less; they've seen the middle class erode and the gap between the rich and the rest of the population grow larger every day.

"Winning an election only provides an opportunity for change," Stern said and promised that the campaign would be focused on "organizing, mobilizing and getting the involvement of people in communities in every part of our country."

The union's agenda is both simple and substantive. The campaign -- described by Stern as the largest legislative plan of any single organization in recent history -- has three primary goals:

The passage of a significant economic-recovery program, with infrastructure investments and aid to states and municipalities whose revenues have been decimated by the economic crunch.
Passage of a universal health care bill that conforms to the broad set of principles for reform SEIU laid out last year.
Passage of the Employee Free Choice Act, a bill that would make it harder for employers to intimidate -- or fire -- workers trying to organize a union.
All of these initiatives echo calls heard from the broader progressive movement for some time.

http://www.alternet.org/workplace/118459/union_ramps_up_massive_campaign_to_keep_obama%27s_feet_to_the_fire/

[Vincardog]

1. FKNARight

[Juche]

2. Great stuff

Unions put $450 million and millions of volunteer hours into this election cycle electing progressives and democratic candidates. I'm really proud of what our labor unions did in the 2008 election cycle. You can sign up with the AFL-CIO or SEIU to get updates on what is going on or how you can help.

http://www.seiu.org/

http://www.aflcio.org/network/

http://www.changetowin.org/

[Snotcicles]

3. Cool, it ain't like labor hasn't been used before. ( right Bill? ) nt