What Victory in 2008 Means for Working Families

A MESSAGE FROM ROBERT J. HAYNES, MASSACHUSETTS AFL-CIO PRESIDENT

Wednesday Americans woke up in a new country. An unprecedented majority of Americans decided to take this country in a new direction, and thank goodness they did. After a long struggle, Americans finally chose a new direction that will make work pay again and rebuild the middle class and this country in the process. Barack Obama's victory on Tuesday was a victory for all working families. We worked hard to make history all over this nation, and we deserve the joy we feel in the aftermath of this amazing and historic victory.

Americans elected an African American to the presidency for the first time in our history, a truly significant moment in and of itself. But as monumental an accomplishment as that is, it is only one reason this was such an epic election. In electing Senator Barack Obama, voters issued an absolute repudiation of the vision for America that has sadly and devastatingly become reality after these last eight long years. The anti-union, anti-worker policies and attitudes in our nation's capitol that created the worst economic crisis in a generation, led to severe disparities in income, wealth, homeownership, access to health care, and the attainment of the American Dream, are at long last in the dusk of their existence.  A mere ten weeks from now, Barack Obama and the overwhelmingly pro-worker majorities in Congress will get to work to Turn Around America.

The prospects for a new focus on rebuilding the middle class, ensuring health care for all, reaffirming dignity in retirement, job creation and job security, instituting fair tax and trade policies, and pursuing a comprehensive, progressive policy agenda for the first time since the Great Society have arisen due to the unprecedented hard work and dedication of union leaders and members in the Labor 2008 program. THANK YOU for all the hours you gave to phonebanking, leafleting job sites, going door-to-door in New Hampshire and Maine and other battlegrounds, holding signs, attending rallies and events, and talking to friends, family and co-workers about how important this election was. Since May, our program of Labor to Labor communication and education picked up steam. First there were dozens of volunteers joining us in New Hampshire this past spring. Then as summer progressed dozens became one hundred, and as we marked our holiday, Labor Day, one hundred union volunteers became hundreds upon hundreds.

On Election Day, New Hampshire completed its revolutionary transition to "blue." Our neighboring battleground state to the north voted for Barack Obama overwhelmingly, elected Jeanne Shaheen to replace John Sununu in the U.S. Senate, and maintained Democratic control of both Houses in the state legislature. This success came about in large part because of the sea of thousands of Massachusetts union volunteers who joined our New Hampshire brothers and sisters from May straight through Election Day. This year more union volunteers gave more of their time than in any election in history. In the end our monumental efforts were worthy of this moment, and lived up to the watershed victory that they created. I could not be prouder of the Massachusetts AFL-CIO.

As proud and happy as we should be, labor's fight is not over. Victory is, in reality, only the beginning. The corporate right and free-market fundamentalists who brought us the current status quo will fight viciously against any gains we try to win for America's working families. We must continue to fight for change in America - change that will truly improve the lives and prospects of this nation's working families.

With Senator Barack Obama election's to our nation's highest office, we have gained a precious opportunity to make genuine progress for America. But as President-elect Obama said in his acceptance speech on Tuesday night: We have only earned the "chance" to achieve the change we seek. Just as his campaign hinged largely on the American Labor Movement, what happens over the course of Barack Obama's presidency is also up to us. We must work and fight hard to win health care for all in America, pass the Employee Free Choice Act and restore workers' rights, and create an economy that works for working families. It is our time now and there's a lot of work to be done.

Over the past year we have demonstrated the power of the Labor Movement's grassroots efforts and we must not stop. We cannot afford to sit back and wait and hope. We must do what we do best: Organize. I urge everyone of you to stay engaged, stay connected, work in your community, your labor union, and continue to contact your Senators, Representatives, and our new administration to keep the pressure on for real change. We are capable of great things when we organize - as we witnessed on Election Day. Now the onus is on us to keep it going.

I also want to say thank you for all your efforts in Massachusetts, both in handily defeating Question 1, the reckless proposal to eliminate the state income tax, as well as electing our endorsed candidates to the state legislature all across the Commonwealth. We won in nearly every single race in which we endorsed. No victory in Massachusetts was as convincing or as important as the more than 2 to 1 defeat of Question 1. The proposal was outrageous from the start, and thanks to each one of you volunteering your time and energy, Massachusetts voters overwhelmingly recognized that passing Question 1 would have been devastating to our communities and our families. In an undeniable rejection of the anti-government sentiments represented by the preposterous income tax repeal, 70 percent of the people in Massachusetts recognized that we cannot do without public services and that we must pay our fair share for them. With labor's collaborative efforts through the Coalition for Our Communities, Question 1 was defeated in every single city and town in the Commonwealth. Now we can try to shift the dialogue towards a conversation about public services and how important our public employees are. They are a vital part of what makes Massachusetts a wonderful place to live. Thank you again for all your work in Massachusetts as well.

In 2000, we knew that the stakes were so high that the election that year was universally accepted as the most important election in our lifetime. When we lost by a razor-thin margin, the next four years under President Bush made the stakes even higher in 2004. That year, once again, we were faced with the most important election in our lifetime. Again, we lost by a razor-thin margin, and the ensuing four years raised the stakes even higher.

Two successive "most important elections ever." Two successive crushing, razor-thin defeats. The Labor Movement and this nation had been knocked down. But as our Vice President-elect Joe Biden has said about this country: "When we get knocked down, we get back up, and we get back up together." In these most difficult times, the Labor Movement proved to be the backbone of this American resurgence.

Despite overwhelming challenges these past eight years, the Labor Movement never gave up and never gave in. We got stronger and we got better. And this time all our work, all our effort, all our passion, every phone call, every labor walk, every conversation with a colleague, every ounce of ourselves that we put into this election, finally paid off. We finally won the most important election of our lifetime. And I cannot thank you or congratulate you enough. Enjoy it for a few days. But remember that just as defeat in the past was not the end, this time victory is just the beginning.

In Solidarity,

Robert J. Haynes
President, Massachusetts AFL-CIO

P.S. Click HERE To see official results of our success in Massachusetts and click HERE to see official results of our success across America.

P.P.S. Click HERE to see photos from the labor walks and phone banks over the course of the last 10 days before the election and click HERE to visit the Massachusetts photo gallery and browse photos from all our labor walks this past year.