American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations

D. Michael Langford

UWUA

As we work together on the important upcoming elections this November, we need your
leadership and action right away in two critically important parts of the Labor 2010 program:

1. Participation in the Executive Council Labor 2010 Battleground State teams, and
2. Release staff in the Battleground States.

Many Executive Council Members and Union Officers have participated in these Battleground
State Teams in past Labor political cycles, so you know that Battleground State teams are composed of
General Board and International Union Officers with significant membership in, or strong ties to, their
assigned state(s). The team members take lead responsibility within each of the battleground states to
help advance the individual state political plans and deal with any problems or concerns that arise. By
serving on one of the Labor 2010 Battleground State Teams, you will help us conununicate with and
mobilize union members to fight for their families, their jobs and their union. I hope that you will serve
on at least two Battleground state teams and that you will use the Labor 2008 Battleground State Team
list (attached) as a guide in selecting your state(s). Tammy McDaniel (tmcdanie(aflcio.org, 202-639-
6276) will be following up with your office and your union’s political director in the coming week on this
effort, and we plan to have a fuller discussion of the Battleground State teams and activities at the
Executive Council Meeting in August.

For Labor 2010, we are asking each Battleground State Team member to:

• Participate in the Worksite Weeks of Action scheduled for 2 weeks in July if possible, and 2
weeks in August (information attached).
• Convene a conference call with your union’s leaders in your assigned state(s) between now and
August 1 to encourage your members to participate in this summer’s worksite and walk program;
• Send a letter to your locals in ALL of the battleground states outlining the Labor 2010 program
and asking them to participate fully in the program. A draft letter is attached for your review and
use.
• Identify Local Union Coordinators for every one of your locals in those battleground states, and
ensure those Local Union Coordinators are fully engaged in the Labor 2010 program.
We’ll also have additional activities and requests through Labor Day and then critical
persuasion!GOTV efforts straight through to Election Day, coordinating with AFL-CIO state and local
labor bodies in the battleground states. We welcome your suggestions for unique or additional
mobilizations, mail and program activities.

But none of these activities will take place without staff in the field, and that leads me to the
second request. We need release staffNOW in every single battleground state, to help lead the Labor
2010 program in zones, in local unions and across every battleground state. There is no better way to
move union members than one-to-one contact at the worksite, on doors and on the phones. And that
massive effort needs release staff from every union to lead, coordinate, and implement this work in every
zone. Sharon Cornu, Labor 2010 Field Director (scomu(aflcio.org, 202-508-6990), has detailed
requests from every state for release staff. We are working with your union’s political director on those
requests, and I hope that you will direct your staff to work closely with Sharon to release as many staff as
soon as possible to work on the Labor 2010 effort in these key states.
As you know, we’re directing the Labor 2010 program this year to maximize every resource at
every level, and I can assure you that the valuable staff resources your union can release to the Labor
2010 program will be well utilized and supervised. We’re all working under the same budgetary
constraints, and that’s why I’m so appreciative of the strong support many unions have already
demonstrated by releasing staff early to the Labor 2010 program: NATCA and UWUA have already
released more than 20 staff, with commitments for an additional 30; those staff are leading program in key
states and zones across the country.

If you have any questions about the Labor 2010 program, please don’t hesitate to contact me or
Karen Ackerman, AFL-CIO Political Director (kackerma(a;aflcio.org, 202-637-5116).

I look forward to working with you over the next weeks and months as we join our brothers and
sisters around the country in every battleground state in standing up and fighting for working families this
November. We’ve faced tough battles before and won. With your leadership, we’ll do it again.

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