Union pushing working-family agenda

[Omaha Steve]

http://www.fairfaxtimes.com/news/2007/oct/10/union-pushing-working-family-agenda/

Fairfax County
By Frank Mustac
Source: Fairfax County Times
WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 10 2007

AFL-CIO Executive Vice President Arlene Holt Baker joined nearly 100 union volunteers to walk the streets of Annandale on Saturday knocking on doors encouraging rank-and-file members who live in the area to vote on Election Day, Nov. 6.

AFL-CIO is the American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations, the largest federation of unions in the United States.


Arlene Holt Baker, executive vice president of the AFL-CIO, in Annandale on Saturday, Oct. 6, addresses activists. -- Courtesy Photo


“In total we had over 80 union volunteers,” Holt Baker said on Tuesday via phone. “I think we knocked on more than 800 doors.”

The purpose of the event held Oct. 6, she said, was to let working families know where candidates in the 2007 Virginia elections stand on key issues like jobs, health care and retirement security.

“Our members are concerned about the economy because the economy is not working for them,” Holt Baker said, adding that there are dozens of candidates running for local and state office in Northern Virginia who are what she described as “working family-friendly.”

One of them, she said, is the Democratic candidate for state senate representing the 34th District, Chap Petersen, who attended the event.

Working people, Holt Baker said, are ready to mobilize to elect leaders who will fight for quality health care, good jobs, and the right to join and form unions.

“Working family candidates are going to be victorious,” she said. “Stayed tuned in 2008.”