Thousands of neighborhood walks and phone banks. Tens of thousands of union and Working America volunteers. Millions of voters contacted. Volunteers and staff with the AFL-CIO’s Labor 2006 program and Working America are pulling out all the stops to get out the working family vote Nov. 7.

And it’s making a big difference. Working family candidates are letting voters know they will work for change on our issues, and they’re making strong showings even in districts that previously voted to re-elect President George W. Bush.

Right now we’re going head-to-head with the last-ditch mobilization efforts by Republican leaders, who are trying to make up for six years of wreaking havoc on America’s workers with a three-day, “72-Hour Program.” Whatever they do in the last 72 hours before the election, it can’t erase six years of corruption, scandal and anti-working family legislation and policies. We will win on Election Day not because our get-out-the-vote program is bigger. We’ll win because America’s working families are fed up and want change—and we’re making sure they turn that desire for change into votes.

Until the polls close Nov. 7, we can’t let up. We have to keep reminding friends, neighbors, family and co-workers that by working together and voting together we can change America’s course. We can elect leaders who will raise the minimum wage, make health care more affordable and retirement more secure, remove the financial roadblocks that bar young people from college education and restore our freedom to form unions.

We can’t let up after the polls close either. Whatever results we wake up to Nov. 8, a great deal of work will remain before us. It’s not enough to elect candidates; once candidates are elected, we have to hold them accountable. Our constitution says members of Congress are supposed to work for us. After the election, we have to make sure they do.

Starting Nov. 8, we will make sure the new Congress has heard us.

If you’re not already part of the solution to a Congress that has been rubber-stamping President Bush’s anti-working-family policies, there’s still time to get involved.

Many of the races that will determine control of the U.S. House and Senate will be extremely close. Every vote you can turn out is vital. And everything you do to make your voice heard after the election will be just as important.