With key Senate and House races getting tighter and the union vote more vital than ever for Election Day, the labor movement is going full blast in the final days before Nov. 7 to communicate with and turn out members at the polls. Throughout the country, AFT affiliates are employing both innovative and traditional tactics—from one-on-one workplace conversations to targeted e-mail and text messaging campaigns—to educate and engage members on our critical issues.

The union also has joined with the AFL-CIO in an unprecedented campaign for member outreach and turnout focused on union-endorsed candidates (see our phone bank video clip on YouTube, right). Union members make up about 13 percent of the overall population but about 26 percent of voter turnout , so this contact is critical. Throughout the country, AFT members have joined other union colleagues at phone banks to talk directly to union members and retirees in battleground states.

In addition to gubernatorial races in 36 states and hundreds of down-ballot elections and referenda, the union vote could be critical in close Senate races in Missouri, New Jersey, Tennessee and Virginia, and in tight races for the U.S. House of Representatives that will determine which party will control the House.

This weekend the AFT will join union colleagues all over the country for rallies and door-to-door labor walks to take the union's message on issues directly to members (click here to find AFL-CIO events).

For information about the issues on which the AFT evaluates nonincumbents, go to http://www.aft.org/questionnaire, or see the AFT Voting Record for incumbents at http://www.aft.org/votes.  (11/2/06)