A post–election interview with 1199SEIU President George Gresham

For more than a year, 1199SEIU was committed to re-electing President Barack Obama. With that re-election secured, we asked 1199SEIU President George Gresham for his assessment of the elections and what they mean for the future of our members.

Q. First off, what is the significance of the recent elections?



A. By re-electing President Obama, we dodged more than a bullet. We dodged an entire division of tanks ready to roll over workers’ rights, civil rights and women’s rights. And in addition to the president, we elected a new Congress, adding strong progressive voices like those of Senators-elect Elizabeth Warren in Massachusetts and Tammy Baldwin in Wisconsin. Anti-worker Tea Party Republicans and rightwing “blue dog” Democrats were defeated. In dozens of state and local referenda, voters supported labor rights, marriage equality, and immigrant rights.

Winning the future for our children and their children is at least now it is possible--though by no means guaranteed.

Q. A presidential election campaign is so massive, especially when combined with congressional elections. What role did 1199er actually play?



A. Tens of millions of people went to the polls to vote for progressive candidates and issues, and tens of thousands of volunteers worked hard to get them there. But nobody—I mean nobody—worked harder, longer or more effectively than our 1199 sisters and brothers. And everyone who was paying attention, from the White House on down, recognizes that this was so.

Thousands of you helped get out the vote. Hundreds of you volunteered to leave your families and your work to register and educate voters. The stories we have heard from you are heart-rending and inspiring. We’ve gotten reports, for example, from our Florida members about folks spending five and six hours in 80-85-degree weather standing in line, refusing to leave, waiting to vote--even one 102-year old voter and mothers with infants in their arms. Even after the election was called at 11:30 pm on election night, people remained in line to cast their votes up until 1 am the next day. The right to vote has been won over the centuries at the cost of great sacrifice and it is clear that our people are not prepared to sacrifice that right any time soon.

Q. So what has to happen now to secure the promises of the elections?



A. We—the labor movement and our allies and partners—have hopefully learned something from the mistake we made following the great 2008 election victory. We cannot sit around, proud of our victory, and leave it to the president to move us forward. We have to stay organized. Now the real campaign for working people begins. We have much more work to do. President Obama and Congress cannot secure our future. We must do that. We believe that Barack Obama is a good man and, with our strength and that of our partners, we aim to help him become a great president.

Q. What does that mean exactly?



A. This means mobilizing and organizing and building alliances that can turn the promises of this election into reality with



• Protecting and guaranteeing Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid;

• Securing comprehensive immigration reform;

• Making the wealthy and the corporations pay their fair share of taxes;

• Addressing catastrophic climate change with strict limits on fossil fuels and transition to safe and clean energy;

• Ending our distorted federal budget priorities where military spending accounts for fully half of all spending (more than the next 20 countries--including China and Russia--combined;

• Putting the hundreds of billions in new tax revenues and cuts in wasteful military expenditures towards job creation, rebuilding the infrastructure, expanding public education from pre-K through college.

And with Obamacare now assured, it will, if fully implemented, cover tens of millions of Americans currently without insurance. This may well require tens of thousands of new and retrained healthcare professionals and caregivers.

All of this may sound like a dream scenario and of course nothing is guaranteed. But all of this is possible and worth fighting and working for. We know you are ready for the struggles to come.