About to Take the Stage in Denver (By John J. Sweeney)

[Omaha Steve]

Dear Friend,

I’m backstage at the Democratic National Convention with fellow union members Dan Luevano from IBEW, Steve Skvara, a USW retiree, and Annette Lewis from AFSCME and her 11-year-old son, Marcus. I wanted to write you a quick note to share with you what we’re experiencing here on the ground in Denver.

In a few minutes, we will take the stage together and address thousands of Democratic Party delegates from around the country, including more than 1,000 union members or union household members, not to mention a live national television audience.

We’ve been invited to speak because Barack Obama has made a commitment to us, and more importantly to you, to help improve our economy, give workers a free choice to join a union and ensure that everyone has the quality health care they deserve.

It has been a rough eight years for America’s workers, but thanks to your hard work and that of others, we have an opportunity to change that. Barack Obama and Joe Biden understand how important a strong labor movement is to the health and welfare of the middle class. Because of that, the Democratic Party platform is one of the most pro-worker platforms in recent memory.

Due to his commitment to America’s workers, I’m proud of the effort the AFL-CIO is making to help elect Barack Obama the next president of the United States, and I’m even more proud of all the hard work that each and everyone of you has done and will do to make this a reality.

Together, we can create the better America that Dan, Steve, Annette, Marcus—and all of us—deserve. A country whose heart is as big as the hearts of its people. A country that lifts up our families here at home and lights up the world with our vision and values.

Thank you for everything you do.

In Solidarity,

John Sweeney

P.S. As a study in contrasts, when the Republicans hold their convention in Minneapolis next week, there won’t be any labor leaders that I’m aware of addressing their delegates. And even more galling, their opening session is on Labor Day. If that’s not a slap in the face to America’s workers, I’m not sure what one is.

P.P.S. We’re expected to be on stage around 7:30 p.m. EST this evening, so if you have a chance, please check it out. In case you can’t, here is the text of my speech as prepared for delivery.

John J. Sweeney
President, AFL-CIO
Remarks to the Democratic National Convention
Denver, Colorado
August 26, 2008

All over America, children like Marcus Lewis are riding their bikes, starting sixth grade and dreaming of breaking Olympic records—or just finding a good job and raising a family. But unless we turn our country around, they’re not going to make it, not even into the middle class.

Marcus’s mom, Annette, is a single mother who worked hard to get her children where they are today. She works full time and is struggling to send her 18-year-old daughter to college. But after the rent and the bills, there’s hardly enough left over for food.

Dan Luevano is an electrician who worked for a construction company for 10 years, six of them without a raise. When he told his boss he’d be voting for a union so he could bargain for a better life, he was fired.

Steve Skvara is a retired steelworker who learned about unfair trade the hard way—when the giant company where he’d worked went bankrupt, cut his pension by a third, and eliminated his family’s health care.

These are good people, strong people. They work hard and believe in their country, their faith and the future. They can’t afford four more years like the last eight. They need change, and that’s why they all support Barack Obama for President of the United States.

They deserve a better America—an America where every worker can count on a good job, where every family has health care, where every senior enjoys a decent retirement.

They deserve an America that works for everyone, where all workers have a free choice to join unions, to collectively bargain, to lift up their communities and our economy and build a better life for their children.

Whatever happened to the promise of a better America? What happened was that the Bush administration—with the support of Senator McCain—broke that promise, undermined our values and turned our economy into a threshing machine for big business.

Brothers and sisters, this is our chance to create much-needed change for young people like Marcus and rebuild this country we love. We can create the better America that Annette, Steve and Dan—and all of us—deserve. A country whose heart is as big as the hearts of its people. A country that lifts up our families here at home and lights up the world with our vision and values.

On behalf of America’s unions, with 28 million voters in union households, we will win for Barack Obama and Joe Biden, and we will create a better America. Thank you and God bless America.

Paid for by the AFL-CIO Committee on Political Education Political Contributions Committee, www.aflcio.org, and not authorized by any candidate or candidate's committee.