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On the Campaign Front Lines: Union Activists Share Their Stories
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COME TOGETHER AND MOVE FORWARD
I was a child of the forties and fifties and my parents
told me how President Franklin Roosevelt saved their lives
from the depression and a world gone mad with
war.
I turned eighteen in
1960 and there were two giants walking this land. They
taught me about service and commitment.
One was rich one was poor, one was powerful and one was
meek, and one was white and one was black. They both paid
the ultimate price for their beliefs. But John Kennedy and
Martin Luther King lit a fire in my soul which has never
gone out.
Now some people say a liberal Democrat is a person with
no morals or beliefs. Well I’m a Christian and I have made
Jesus my Savior and I have been born again.
Now its time for us to be born again Democrats.
Born again to believe in a Living Wage.
Born again to believe in Medical Care for all
Americans.
Born again to believe in freedom for all Religions.
Born again to believe you shouldn’t give up our
Liberties for false security and call it a Patriot Act.
Born again to support our Troops but hold our
Governments feet to the fire when they use our Troops.
Now is the time for us grass root Democrats to rise up
and get involved in making the Democratic Party and
America great again.
William Cantrell
Co-Chairman
Democratic Alliance of Northwest Indiana
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William Cantrell, Porter, IN
Retired USW
United Steel, Paper and Forestry, Rubber, Manufacturing, Energy, Allied Industrial & Service Workers International Union
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Bill Clinton had lost his reelection bid by 500 votes here
in Orlando, Florida. This told me that this county was
pivitol in elections.
I asked my International (IUPAT) to help swing this area in
our favor. We started by knocking on the doors of all union
members - 20,000 of them and completed the task during the
Gore campaign. Al Gore was the first Democratic
Presidential nominee to win the Orlando area since FDR.
People really appreciated us coming to visit them and
informing them! Member to member, union to union. |
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Steve Hall, Orlando, FL
Business Rep
International Union of Painters and Allied Trades of the United States and Canada
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Union organizing is almost impossible in Wyoming, so we are
left with just the crooks and the suckers running things.
Still, I have been been able to hold signs near
intersections trying to get people to develop some smarts.
One typical sign says: Misery Makes GOP Crooks Rich.
Another says GOP Crooks Use Terror to Steal. |
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John Hanks, Laramie, WY
Retired Petty Clerk
Nothing
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As a Labor activist, my career advanced from engaged
member to recording secretary, steward, chief steward, and
finally president of my Glass, Molders, Pottery , Plastics
& Allied Workers Local 39-B. The presidential elections
of 2000 afforded me an opportunity to assist in U. S. Sen.
Chris Dodd's (D CT) reelection effort. While my duties
were rather circumscribed, to mostly updating and revising
supporter data banks, and on the big day helping voters to
the polls, it did earn me a few academic credits for my
upcoming BA in Labor Studies. More importantly, carrying
the message to our membership and the general public, on
which legislators had demonstrated an enthusiasm for those
issues and concerns which impacted us, assured that
friendly solons would occupy those Congressional positions. |
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J. R. Ellis, Bristol, CT
Driver
Glass, Molders, Pottery, Plastics and Allied Workers International Union
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Very nice stories, but how many union members actually
contribute their money to support labor's political
activities (such as paying for this website)--and--more
importantly--how many unions actually ASK their members to
contribute to their PACs? FYI--People also vote with
their dollars and one way to measure the strength of the
labor vote is by how many union members actually
contribute their money as well as their time to political
action. |
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Michael Grace, Brinklow, MD
sojourner
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This portion of this website is paid for by the AFL-CIO Committee on Political Education Political Contributions Committee, 815 16th St., N.W., Washington, D.C. 20006, with voluntary contributions from union members and their families, and is not authorized by any candidate or candidate’s committee. |
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