Thank you!

Tuesday, November 4, 2008 will go down as possibly the most significant day in our nation's history. I want to take this opportunity to congratulate you for playing an important role in the historic victory we achieved.

Barack Obama brings new hope to America's working families, and our increased majority in the U.S. Senate means we can translate that hope into reality. So thank you for your hard work in educating and mobilizing voters.

Now, we move forward with the understanding that we have a responsibility, not only to ourselves and our families, but to all workers in this country, to see that the hope we have today becomes a reality in the future.

It is time to get back to work fighting for working families.

We are responsible for holding our elected leaders to the promises they made and providing public support for the tough legislative choices they will make on our behalf. The first challenge for Barack Obama, Joe Biden and the hundreds of great legislators we helped elect is to address the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression.

Hard-working families are losing jobs, homes, health care, retirement savings and hope. Hundreds of billions of dollars have been committed to rescuing Wall Street--but almost nothing has been done to rescue Main Street. People need help, and they need it now.

However, our economy cannot work for everyone unless we restore worker's freedom to bargain for a better life. To do that, we must enact the Employee Free Choice Act, which will:

• Level the playing field for corporations and workers who want to form and join unions;

• Strengthen penalties against companies that coerce or intimidate employees who support the union;
  

• Establish mediation and binding arbitration when the company and workers cannot agree on a first contract; and
  

• Enable employees to form unions when a majority signs authorization cards.

Instead of respecting workers' free choice about whether to form unions and bargain, corporations have formed multiple front groups to launch a massive campaign to defeat the Employee Free Choice Act. Those groups have pledged to spend hundreds of millions of dollars to attack and smear members of Congress who support the legislation.

Count on this being one of the largest, foulest propaganda campaigns in our history. This fight is their No. 1 priority, and it is ours as well.

We need your support. When Barack Obama is sworn in Jan. 20, 2009, we want to deliver 1 million signatures in support of the Employee Free Choice Act to the president and the new Congress. We need you to join our Million-Member Mobilization today.

America's unions--from the national level down to individual union members--are joining together to overcome the lies and distortions and win prompt passage of the Employee Free Choice Act to restore America's middle class.

Join the Million-Member Mobilization in support of the Employee Free Choice Act today.

America's entire union movement is committed to passing the Employee Free Choice Act in 2009. We will fight, just like we fought to win this election, to do so. Yes we can, and yes we will!

Thank you for all that you do.

In solidarity,

Frank Hurt
BCTGM International President