America's union movement represents 10 million "working men and women of every race and ethnicity and from every walk of life." In the 2004 presidential election, union household members cast 25 percent of the votes—and first-term Illinois Sen. Barack Obama is working aggressively to secure this powerful voting bloc in 2008. Watch the video.
More than 700 union members and their families crowded into the War Memorial in Trenton, N.J., Monday to listen to Obama speak on the issues most important to them and to have an opportunity to voice their concerns to the senator. The New Jersey chapter of the American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO) hosted the town-hall meeting, which drew people from across the state and was part of the "Working Families Vote 2008" campaign.
Entering to "Ain't No Stopping Us Now," which has become a trademark song of his campaign, Obama began with a historic anecdote that no doubt resonated in some way with each individual in the hall—and with every American family, union or not.
In 1968, 1,300 primarily black sanitation workers went on strike in Memphis, Tenn., to protest low wages and abhorrent working conditions. The Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. traveled to Memphis to support the workers, and on April 3, he issued his famous "I've Been to the Mountaintop" speech—the last civil-rights speech King gave before being assassinated on April 4 at the Lorraine Motel in Memphis. Coretta Scott King returned days later to march with the workers, who won the right to unionize.
"That's the legacy that all of you here inherit today, what they made real in Memphis, you make real today," said Obama, amid deafening applause. "It's a challenging time for labor and for the country—all across America, I meet people expressing anxiety about the future," said Obama, noting that new rules exist in today's tech-driven global economy. "Who's going to stand up for them in this new world?"
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Here are some of the key points Obama addressed in the hour-long meeting:
Education: A Newark, N.J., woman's question about whether Obama supported school vouchers landed him in hot water for a minute after he professed support for charters over vouchers. Obama quickly recovered, opting to explain his broad educational agenda. He talked about designing innovative solutions to cope with today's educational challenges, but did not mention getting rid of the SATs.
"You can't improve schools by slogans; we can't say No Child Left Behind and then leave the money behind," Obama said, noting that the legislation, which is up for re-authorization this year, won't get his vote unless certain changes are made, such as improved access, metrics, availability of high-quality teachers and spending choices.
"When I'm president, I'm going to spend some time talking to parents," he added, and was met with resounding applause. "Education is not a passive activity. Parents can't just send their kids to school and never check in with the teachers."
Universal Healthcare: After listening to the story of a single mother of four children and a member of AFSCME 1199J, who shells out 20 percent of her bimonthly paycheck for healthcare costs, Obama said he would implement a universal-healthcare system in this country by the end of his first term as president. There are 35 million people throughout the country—1 million in New Jersey alone—who work for companies that won't supply healthcare, he said, citing daunting statistics about the $2-trillion-per-year national cost of healthcare, which is 50 percent more than any other country.
"Every four years people make promises," said Obama. "The only way to make a real difference—because you've got powerful interests on the other side that want to maintain the status quo—is if we build a movement, if we have millions of voices stating at every level of government that ... we will vote on the basis of whether you're committed [to some form of universal healthcare], so by the time you're president we've got ... support and it will happen and we won't just talk about it."
Right to Organize: A casino-card dealer at Caesar's Hotel and Casino in Atlantic City, who is fighting with more than 900 other employees to win their first contract after 82 percent voted to unionize, asked: "What would you do to make a worker such as myself not have to endure these feelings of intimidation and harassment when we're trying to organize and stand up for our rights?"
Obama assured attendees that signing the Employee Free Choice Act, now supported by a bipartisan coalition in Congress and under veto threat by President Bush, would be one of his first priorities as president. The bill would empower union workers by heightening penalties for employers that fail to comply with labor laws, allowing employees to join unions by signing cards authorizing representation and providing arbitration in first-contract disputes. Read more about the bill.
He also wants to change the structure of the National Labor Relations Board, which weighs in on arbitration and legal compliance, to better reflect the constituent it was designed to protect.
Free Trade: A steelworker asked, "If you were president, how could you ensure fair-trade policy to protect American jobs and worker rights?"
"We can't stop companies from moving overseas, but we can stop giving them tax breaks. Good corporate citizens are the ones we should reward, and then we can compete and help ordinary workers benefit from globalization of trade," Obama said. He talked about investing in a national infrastructure to support economic development, building bridges (both literal and figurative), enhancing access to broadband, spending more on teacher's salaries and public schools and employing trade deals that honor labor and environmental standards. "We must stop providing tax breaks to workers overseas and invest right here in America," he said.
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