Hoffa, Burger Barnstorm in Michigan to Help Get Out the Pro-Worker Vote

CtW Union Activists Mobilize to Re-elect Granholm, Defeat Amendment 2

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE       
Monday, November 6, 2006  

CONTACT: TJ Michels
(202) 721-6061 direct

DETROIT - On the eve of Election Day, Change to Win Chair Anna Burger and Teamsters General President James P. Hoffa joined activists from affiliate unions during Governor Jennifer Granholm's 24-hour "Election Day Express" bus tour. Along the way, they listened to stories from workers who are helping elect candidates throughout Michigan who've stood up for good jobs with health care and a paycheck that supports a family.

They met with volunteers like Kevin Hutton, a Southfield father who has worked at Faygo Pop for 27 years and has a union contract that allows him to take leave to work full time on the election. Hutton took action this cycle to help defeat a divisive amendment that would allow universities and employers to discriminate against women and people of color.

"I've never paid attention to politics before, but this year I couldn't afford not to get involved," said the Teamsters Local 337 shop steward, reflecting the general mood of Americans united in their concerns about the economy and the war in Iraq. "My son is 20 and I'm worried about his future, so I've been talking to workers about how important it is to vote down Amendment 2 and support candidates who stand up for the issues that really matter to our families."

In Livonia, Burger, and Hoffa talked with workers at a Kroger distribution warehouse and Governor Jennifer Granholm, who intervened to protect hundreds of local union jobs from moving out of state. Backed by a community-based coalition, the governor worked with the company to find an alternative to outsourcing 500 jobs in a state hit hard in the global economy.

"Michigan is full of people who work hard every day to put food on the table, to offer their children a better life," said Burger. "We stand with Governor Granholm because time and again she fights to make work pay for ordinary Americans, not just corporate America."

Over 206,000 union members in Michigan belong to CtW unions, or roughly one-quarter of the state's unionized workers. Thousands of weekend volunteers, including 700 full-time activists, helped coordinate over 1 million pieces of mail, 1.3 million phone calls, and tens of thousands of worksite flyers throughout the state.

In Saginaw, where union activists have made over 5,000 member-to-member voter contacts in the region in the last few weeks alone, City Hall workers and members of SEIU Local 517M shared stories with Granholm, Hoffa and Burger about their GOTV efforts and recent work with city officials to protect funding for quality programs that serve Michigan's vulnerable residents.

"These workers understand the importance of job training and placement programs and other services vital to our communities in the changing economy," said Hoffa. "Michigan's working families need more elected leaders like Jennifer Granholm who will govern in the interest of Main Street, not Wall Street."

Members from CtW unions also support U.S. Sen. Debbie Stabenow and several pro-worker candidates in down ballot races in the Wolverine State. Nationwide, these activists committed significant resources to work with the entire labor movement in all 50 states, but additionally focused a deeper strategy in Michigan and other key states like Pennsylvania and Ohio to build the political power necessary to strengthen workers' voices at all levels of government.