Political activities
The AFL-CIO was a major component of the New Deal Coalition that dominated politics into the mid-1960s.[9] Although it has lost membership, finances, and political clout since 1970, it remains a major player on the liberal side of national politics, with a great deal of activity in lobbying, grassroots organizing, coordinating with other liberal organizations, fund-raising, and recruiting and supporting candidates around the country.[10]
In recent years the AFL-CIO has concentrated its political efforts on lobbying in Washington and the state capitals, and on “GOTV” (get-out-the-vote) campaigns in major elections. For example, in the 2010 midterm elections, it sent 28.6 million pieces of mail. Members received a “slate card” with a list of union endorsements matched to the member’s congressional district, along with a “personalized” letter from President Obama emphasizing the importance of voting. In addition, 100,000 volunteers went door-to-door to promote endorsed candidates to 13 million union voters in 32 states.
While they may have been useful in the past, the structure of businesses have changed and Unions are outdated.
Yeah, we got one of those pieces of mail telling us who to vote for. We did use it, to make sure we were not accidently voting for a union idiot. Anyone whose name was on that paper was off as a candidate for us. I’ll bet we were not the only ones either. Mr de IL was only in the union because he had to be, since we live in Illinois.