AFL-CIO hits 1998 election campaign trail

By Tim Wheeler

This article was reprinted from the January 31, 1998 issue of the People's Weekly World. For subscription information see below. All rights reserved - may be used with PWW credits.

WASHINGTON - Speaking at a "State of America's Unions" news conference Jan. 26, AFL-CIO President John Sweeney demanded that President Clinton and Congress enact legislation to provide health care for the uninsured, raise the minimum wage and crack down on corporate violators of equal pay laws.

Sweeney convened the news conference at AFL-CIO headquarters to unveil a "Working Families Agenda" one day before President Clinton's "State of the Union" message to Congress. The agenda, which will be at the heart of the federation's 1998 election program, is based on an AFL-CIO survey of 1,002 people from the general public and 622 union members.

"Our focus will be on educating our members, mobilizing them and holding candidates accountable," Sweeney told the crowded session. "We'll do a lot of what we did in 1996, capitalizing on the grass-roots effort we mobilized in that election."

Sweeney said the survey, conducted by Peter D. Hart Research Associates, revealed a "broad concern" that, despite an economic boom, working people have been left behind with stagnating pay and a growing chasm between the rich and middle- and low-income working people.

The nation's capital is convulsed with the Clinton sex scandal, and a reporter asked Sweeney to comment on "entrapment tactics," spying and dirty tricks that targeted not only the White House but also the Teamsters, the Laborers and the AFL-CIO.

"I wonder about the scope of the investigations and the tactics used," Sweeney said. "I wonder where the authority comes for these investigations."

Another veteran Washington labor reporter cited warnings that ultra-rightists are attempting to whip up "another McCarthy era" targeting labor and its allies.

"I think it's a serious concern," Sweeney replied. "These probes are going beyond the mission they were assigned to investigate. The tactics are questionable. There is more and more of this kind of activity. The question is: How far do we go and how low do we get?"

Sweeney denounced Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott's so- called "Paycheck Protection Act" which Lott threatens to attach to the McCain-Feingold campaign finance reform bill. It would effectively bar the labor movement from using union funds for political activity.

"We're taking all of these matters very seriously," Sweeney said. "They basically are coming from the opponents of the Working Families Agenda, from those who tried to cut back on so many of the programs that working families depend on, such as Medicare and Social Security."

Sweeney charged that big business and enemies of labor are seeking revenge for labor's recent victories on the picketlines, at the ballot box and the defeat of Fast Track trade authority last November.

"Predictably, that success has brought reaction and retribution from those who profit by limiting citizen participation in the decisions that shape our national agenda and out individual lives," he said. "Our response? We're determined to raise the voice of working families by picking up energy, intensifying our work on behalf of a working families agenda."

Contrary to the right-wing line that people believe that "government is too big" and has no role in solving people's problem, the Hart Poll showed 51 percent of the people believe "government should play an active role in solving America's problems." The AFL-CIO poll also showed that a large majority of voters believe that the government "serves business, not the interests of working people" and "pays too much attention to wealthy special interests."

Sweeney said the polls show that working people want solutions. "They expect better from their employers and their government, no matter what the distractions, no matter what the politics."

Asked to comment on the economic crisis in Asia, Sweeney said the AFL-CIO opposes the International Monetary Fund's approach. "Our concern is for the workers in those countries, that the pain not be placed on the workers alone," he said.