Phone Banks

Across the United States of America the AFL-CIO will be mobilizing its affiliates to participate in the World Day for Decent Work on October 7, 2008. This autumn the focus of the labor movement in the U.S. is to Turn Around America – through the election of Barack Obama our next President.

Already we have focused activities on membership education of key issues to working families including the need for the Employee Free Choice Act, Health Care for All and an Economy that Works for All. The AFL-CIO brought 30,000 members of America’s union movement together at more than 700 meetings to talk about the issues working families care about most. These meetings provided an issue frame through which leaders could engage rank and file members as we began to organize the largest mobilization in Federation history during the elections this Autumn.

As part of our efforts to enact the Employee Free Choice Act we have initiated a Million-Member Mobilization to engage at least one million union members and our allies in support of the freedom of workers to form unions and collectively bargain. To date we are three-quarters of the way towards our overall goal – 750,000.

On October 7, 2008 we will make a special emphasis on the multiple themes of the World Day for Decent Work as we continue our membership mobilization activities for Labor 2008. Specifically, we will organize member-to-member walks and phone banks so union members can talk with other union members about the issues so critical to working families. These activities will take place in cities across the United States. It is our hope that on October 7 – Thousands of union members will turn out and reach tens of thousands of additional members.