Unions' Phone-Bankers Invested Big in Obama; UFT, CLC Turned Out Vote

Bustling lines snaked around corridors in the United Federation of Teachers headquarters Nov. 4, with buzzing crowds holding printouts of phone lists, making cell phone calls on their own dime for Barack Obama.

The Chief-Leader/Adrienne Haywood-James REACH OUT AND VOTE: Volunteers at the phone bank operated by Service Employees International Union Local 32BJ were part of the large labor effort to ensure maximum voter turnout for Barack Obama on Election Day, as well as for favored candidates in local races.

Every phone line at the UFT was already tied up, with volunteers who got there earlier calling Ohio, Pennsylvania, New Hampshire, Florida, Colorado and other battleground states as the union helped in the push to get a Democrat elected to the White House for the first time since 1996.

'Wonderful Enthusiasm'

Michael Mulgrew, the union's vice president of Career and Technical High Schools who is generally regarded as the de facto deputy to UFT/American Federation of Teachers President Randi Weingarten, seemed as astonished as anyone else at what he was seeing.

The Chief-Leader/Adrienne Haywood-James SPILLING OUT INTO THE HALLWAYS: United Federation of Teachers Brooklyn Borough Representative Howard Schoor (left) and UFT Chief Operating Officer Michael Mulgrew discuss the overwhelming participation of union members in the get-out-the-vote effort, while behind them volunteers who were pushed into the hallways by the crowd work the phones. Mr. Mulgrew estimated the union accounted for more than 90,000 calls to get people to the polls.

"We've made over 90,000 phone calls ... the number of volunteers, every night, every one of our phone banks is full, every borough office has overflow people making phone calls ... the enthusiasm is wonderful," he said, stopping to pose with campaign workers by a cardboard cut-out of Mr. Obama. "Our biggest problem is that we can't get enough phone lines. Even in Staten Island we went so far as to just get cell phones and hand them out."

Mr. Mulgrew remarked that he'd never seen such fervor during an election season before, with the union's campaign machinery operating at capacity for more than a month. "[After] all those years of hearing everyone say, 'Well, look at Election Day, nobody votes anyway,' for once we can say, 'we're voting.'"

The UFT's efforts to get out the vote were replicated by other labor unions in the city, with the AFL-CIO New York City Central Labor Council spearheading phone banks at unions such as Communication Workers of America Local 1180, Transport Workers Union Local 100, and Service Employees International Union Local 32BJ.

'Hundreds of Thousands of Calls'

"We're making literally hundreds of thousands of calls to battleground states," said CLC Executive Director Ed Ott in a phone interview. "It's hundreds and hundreds of people on phones. Some people go to work, go do something else, other people fill their place. The phones are staying full throughout the day."

Mr. Ott had the same sense of something in the air this Election Day, noting that the union members' zeal for this campaign was unequaled in his memory. "Hopefully we'll win something tonight," he said. "People really feel it. We've not had a grass-roots reaction like this in a long time."

At Local 32BJ headquarters, more than 100 volunteers were calling voters in swing states, urging them to go out and cast their ballot, with hundreds more on the ground in the area, working on local and national races. Some had been sent to Pennsylvania, where a tight race between Senator Obama and Republican John McCain was expected.

Others were dispatched within the city, with the majority in Queens, trying to turn the tide in favor of City Councilman Joseph P. Addabbo, Jr., whom polls showed deadlocked with incumbent State Sen. Serphin R. Maltese, in a race that was a crucial part of the Democrats' effort to take total control of the upper house of the Legislature for the first time in four decades.

'An Historic Election'

"We had about three or four hundred people here going out to buses in the morning," said Camille Rivera, assistant political director at Local 32BJ. "This is an historic election for us, and we're just so happy and proud to be a part of it. Our members are super-excited ... we had one member here at 4:30 in the morning ... right now it's raining in Pennsylvania, and they're out there in the rain; they've got no ponchos."

She said that phone bank workers were calling voters who were already identified as supporters of Senator Obama. "They're calling them and saying, 'OK, we just want to make sure that you come out and vote today,'" she explained.

Union members at the banks were unabashed in their enthusiasm for Mr. Obama. "We're here because we want some changes," said Sandra Henao, a political action organizer. She said that people they were calling were mostly confirming that they had already voted. "They tell us, 'We're voting for Obama.' Almost 90 percent Obama; we don't even have to say to them, 'You know what? We need a change.'"

Sonia Perez, who works as an office cleaner, said that she could sense exhilaration about the race amongst voters she was calling. "Everybody is so excited today. We're making a difference. This is the best election since I've lived in this country," said the 40-year resident of the U.S.

More Than Union Dues

Although the scene at Local 32BJ seemed somewhat sedate compared to the organized chaos of the UFT headquarters, that was perhaps because the Obama campaign was renting out space in 52 Broadway, with its own volunteers working side-by-side with union volunteers. The sense of purpose held by volunteers in both buildings was equal, however: the historic nature of the campaign, rather than a sense of union obligation, brought them to the phones.

The unions trumpeted their workers' efforts following Mr. Obama's convincing victory, along with local triumphs such as Mr. Addabbo's surprisingly large 15-point margin and Brian X. Foley's State Senate win in Suffolk County, which tipped State Senate control to the Democrats.

Speaking as AFT President, Ms. Weingarten credited her members' work for "[making] a decisive difference in these elections, not only in choosing the next president, but in giving him a Congress to work with that will champion the concerns of working people."

"The labor movement is proud to have supported candidates who are committed to economic fairness and restoring civil liberties for all Americans," said CLC spokeswoman Carolyn Daly in a statement. "We are filled with pride for each and every union member who chose to be a huge part of this new spirit of patriotism, democracy and empowerment of the people. There is much work to do with all of our nation's current challenges, but now we have the tools and renewed optimism to get it done."