Working familes have an enormous stake in the 2000 elections, as control
of the White House, the U.S. House of Representatives, the U.S. Senate,
governorships and state legislatures will be determined. Issues of
great consequence hang in the balance: strengthening Social Security and
Medicare, health care reform, education, fair trade and many other crucial
working family issues.
Our challenge in 2000 will
be to combine the strongest elements of Labor '96 and Labor '98, and to
build on our efforts to hold our elected representatives, accountable on
the issues that affect the lives of working people every day. Like
Labor '98, Labor 2000 must engage union members and mobilize them as never
before to evaluate and elect pro-worker candidates. Like Labor '96,
Labor 2000 must rally all working Americans to demand progress on Social
Security, Medicare, health care, education, trade and other basic issues.
Labor 2000 must be bigger
and stronger than any previous efforts. It will not be enough to
mobilize union members in elections or even three months before elections;we
must create an unprecedented level of participation around the enactment
of a working families' policy agenda year-round, between elections.
To meet this challenge, Labor 2000 will include:
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Workplace Mobilization We will continue to strengthen and expand
our network of workplace coordinators who provide union members with vital
information about issues affecting working families.
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Worker Mobilization We will use our workplace mobilization network
as well as mail, phones and home visits to educate and turn out union members.
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Issue Advocacy We will continue to use every avanue, including free
and paid media, to articulate the issues of greatest concern to working
families.
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Union Member Registration In the last two years, we have added more
than 1.2 million union members to the voter rolls. In the next two
years, we plan to register another 2.8 million members of union households.
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Coalition Building We will continue to build progressive coalitions
and advocacy on behalf of workers.
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Non-partisan Registration and Get-Out-the-Vote. We will continue
to support the efforts of organizations to register and turn out voters
in the Latino, African American and Asian Pacific American communities.
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Union Activists' Political Training The National Labor Political
Training Center will continue its campaign training for union activists.
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2000 in 2000 In 1998, we made progress toward our goal of
putting 2,000 union members on the ballot in the year 2000. Over
the next two years we will make a substantial effort to recruit, train,
and assist union members running for office.