This just in from Jeff Johnson, President, Washington State Labor Council: September 29, 2014 VIA ELECTRONIC MAIL Dear Union Leaders: I want to share with you some of the great political efforts being made this election cycle by the Washington State Labor Council, AFL-CIO, our affiliates and community partners. But first I want to share with you a deep concern I have. Despite great intentions and generous financial contributions, it is not clear that, as a labor movement, we are doing enough to take back our State Senate and protect our House. We know the turnout for the primary was abysmal. It is clear that the winners of the general election will be those who get their base to vote. Labor’s base is our members and the wider working-class community. We don’t have a high enough union density in any legislative district to win on our own. We also know from polling that when we tell the story of our candidates over the opposition we change minds. Mail and TV commercials are necessary but talking to people is the best. Talking at the doors and the phones makes a difference. We phone bank twice a week and we have two “super walks” in each targeted legislative district -- see wslc.org/cope/LV-sched.htm. The math for winning, how many door-knocks and phone calls are necessary, is easy. The problem is we aren’t getting enough leaders, staff, or rank-and-file workers out to volunteer. Our walks are 70% under target and our phones are understaffed. Knowing that we change minds at the door and on the phones, and knowing that we are giving away votes by not getting out volunteers, is better now than realizing it on November 5. Knowing it now means we can pump up our efforts and reclaim votes. We can do this – we must do this. UFCW 21 has been focusing on member-to-member communication, particularly at the worksite, since 2012 with amazing results. With the help of two full-time field organizers and shop stewards they hard ID’d 74.5% of their members who are registered to vote in seven targeted legislative districts. Overall, their ID’s were 88% positive for our endorsed candidates; 30% of the ID’s were conducted at the worksite with members signing pledge-to-vote cards, and members also pulled off 120 phone bank shifts. Their members who were ID’d at the worksite were 41% more likely to vote in the primary than those who just received mail/email. UFCW 21 is increasing these efforts for the general election. This is a winning model for member engagement. Working America is banging down the doors of working class folks (mostly non-union workers) learning what issues matter the most to them and then connecting these issues back to our labor-endorsed candidates. I have had Working America in the 28th Legislative District since March 4th, where they had over 20,000 conversations at the doors, building up membership and learning issues. Since the primary, Working America has spent some time in the 30th LD and now is splitting their efforts between the 45th LD and the 28th LD, where they will have a total of 40,000 conversations at the doors about Tami Green and Matt Isenhower. Their work helps us grow our labor movement voting density in these districts where we have low density to begin with. This is another winning model. I know that other unions are experimenting with other ways to engage members and the wider community. Please let me know what you are doing and if you are willing to let me share your methods with others, I will. I also know that the large Independent Expenditure table has TV, mail, and often paid field in the targeted legislative districts. But we should not be lulled into thinking that these efforts alone will bring victory. These efforts don’t substitute for creating a real dialogue with our members or for creating an affinity with working class folks in the wider community. To win for working families we need to do all of these things. I would ask you to come join me on our labor-community walks and phone banks. The stakes are too high to lose on November 4th! In Solidarity, Jeffrey G. Johnson President JGJ:jh opeiu8/afl-cio
Posted on: Mon, 29 Sep 2014 20:36:03 +0000
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