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Union participation can impact upcoming elections
The Pennsylvania Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen (BLET) have launched a "get out the vote" program. In the first stage of the program, already in progress, the BLET will encourage their members register to vote in the upcoming election. The second stage of their plan will encourage friends, family, neighbors and co-workers to also register to vote. Ken Kertesz, Chairman of the PA Legislative Board of the BLET said, "We expect to have a more organized impact on the 2008 elections." Labor unions nationwide have already started demonstrating their potential influence on this year's presidential race. In the states that have already conducted their primaries, labor unions deployed paid staffers and volunteers to knock on doors and get out the vote for their chosen candidates. The PA BLET plans to organize a similar movement in the weeks leading up to the April 22 Pennsylvania primary and the Nov. 4 general election. The goal for VOTE Change '08 is to register transportation workers living in Pennsylvania, their families, friends and co-workers. The PA BLET is organized into 21 Local Divisions across the Commonwealth. Kertesz, along with the Pa. Legislative Board, plan to train division representatives on how to make sure all labor union members are registered to vote. Their webpage, www.pslb-blet.org, has a link to the official state voting Web site so that members can easily register others. "We plan to work with other Pennsylvania labor unions to make this effort a success," Kertesz said. "By deploying new strategies to use their money, unions have regained their position as the single-strongest force in elections." During the previous two elections, the amount of money that unions spent to increase voter turnout rose by 50 percent, according to the Center for Responsive Politics. A recent story in the Wall Street Journal reported that union officials' efforts may be paying off by the recent successful endeavors conducted in the primary states. A get out the vote program is one of the fastest-growing elements of the labor spending. Unions spent $70 million getting members to vote in 2004 and 2006. That's up 145 percent from $28.8 million in the two previous elections, according to the center's figures. The money is spent to persuade members to back the union's candidates and then make sure they vote. A Washington-based polling firm, Peter D. Hart Research Associates, found that nearly three out of every four voters who belonged to an AFL-CIO-affiliated union voted for the candidates endorsed by their union in 2006. About the BLET Pennsylvania Legislative Board of the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen (BLET) represents some 1,300 locomotive engineers and trainmen of Class I Freight Railroads: Norfolk Southern, Canadian Pacific, Canadian National and CSXT, as well as passenger trains AMTRAK and SEPTA. The BLE merged with the International Brotherhood of Teamsters in 2004. The PA BLET is a member of the PA AFL-CIO. More information on the PA BLET can be found by going to its Web site at: www.pslb-blet.org. For more information regarding this news release, please contact Jamie Fulginiti at 717-975-2148 or jfulginiti@hersheyphilbin.com. Sources: "Labor Makes Big Come Back in '08 Races" |
