The CWA News | Building a Political Movement: Holding Elected Leaders Accountable

CWA members are working to hold our elected leaders accountable for walking away from their promises to support middle class and working families.

In Arkansas, working families came very close to making Lt. Gov. Bill Halter the Democratic nominee for the U.S. Senate, forcing a run-off election for the Senate seat held by Blanche Lincoln. CWA locals and members in Arkansas and District 6 did a tremendous amount of work and sent a powerful message to elected officials: “We will hold you accountable for your votes and for the choices you make on the issues that matter most to working families.”

Blanche Lincoln learned that by abandoning workers and doing the bidding of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and Big Business interests, she was in for the fight of her political life. That’s exactly what happened in Arkansas, said Mike Koller, president of the Arkansas Council of CWA Unions.

The nine CWA and IUE-CWA locals in the state plus union retiree groups mobilized early to support Halter. CWAers generated and distributed 21,000 work site leaflets, 18,900 pieces of mail and 3,076 phone calls for the primary and run-off.

Separately, through CWA’s independent campaign, there were 245,632 calls made and 62,858 door knocks, plus a huge get-out-the-vote effort on Election Day. Some 330 canvassers worked out of offices in Jonesboro, Ft. Smith, Fayetteville, Texarkana and El Dorado.