Wisconsin State AFL-CIO Political Action

It is our commitment to launch a year-round political and organizing campaign to beat back corporate anti-worker policies, and defeat the elected officials who support them. The foremost goal of Labor 2008 is to win power for workers – not simply win elections for politicians.

To that end, the state has been divided into four “Zones” -- Zone Coordinators have been hired and are on the ground to assist Locals and Central Labor Councils in building and implementing an effective and ongoing member-to-member communication plan.

Contact your Labor 2008 Zone Coordinator today

and find out how you can help build power for Wisconsin's working families!

LABOR 2008

ZONE CONTACT INFORMATION

(As of 06/23/08)

Zone 1: Milwaukee/SE WI

Zone Coordinator: Steve Kwaterski

E-mail: skwaters@labor2008.org

Cell: (414) 719-5190

Office: (414) 476-2896; Fax: (414) 476-3759

Address: c/o National AFL-CIO, 6333 W. Blue Mound Rd., Milwaukee, WI 53213

Counties: Kenosha, Milwaukee, Ozaukee, Racine, Walworth, Washington, Waukesha

Zone 2: Madison/South Central WI

Zone Coordinator: Brian Tanner

Email: b tanner@labor2008.org

Cell: (608) 338-6117

Office: (608) 257-2210 Fax: (608) 257-2258

Address: c/o Prog. WI, 203 S. Paterson St., Suite 400, Madison, WI 53703

Counties: Adams, Columbia, Dane, Dodge, Grant, Green, Green Lake, Iowa, Jefferson, Juneau, Lafayette, Marathon, Marquette, Portage, Richland, Rock, Sauk, Waushara, Wood

Zone 3: Western WI

Zone Coordinator: Phil Freedman

E-mail: p freedma@labor2008.org

Cell: (715) 563-4172

Office: (715) 831-3353 Fax: (715) 831-3353

Address: c/o Labor 2008, 2233 Birch St., Eau Claire, WI 54703

Counties: Ashland, Barron, Bayfield, Buffalo, Burnett, Chippewa, Clark, Crawford, Douglas, Dunn, Eau Claire, Iron, Jackson, La Crosse, Lincoln, Monroe, Oneida, Pepin, Pierce, Polk, Price, Rusk, St. Croix, Sawyer, Taylor, Trempealeau, Vernon, Vilas, Washburn

Zone 4 Green Bay/Fox Valley/NE WI

Zone Coordinator: Tom Coon

E-mail: tcoon@labor2008.org

Cell: (920) 562-6326

Office: (920) 445-0049

Address: c/o CWA Local 4620, 1570 Elizabeth St., Green Bay, WI 54302

Counties: Brown, Calumet, Door, Florence, Fond du Lac, Forest, Kewaunee, Langlade, Manitowoc, Marinette, Menomonee, Oconto, Outagamie, Shawano, Sheboygan, Waupaca, Winnebago

Internal Media Director

Wisconsin Labor 2008: Casie Yoder

E-mail: cyoder @labor2008.org

Cell: (262) 617-1924

Office: (414) 476-2896; Fax: (414) 476-3759

Address: c/o Wisconsin State AFL-CIO, 6333 W. Blue Mound Rd., Milwaukee, WI 53213

LABOR 2008

STATE CONTACTS:

Sara J. Rogers, Exec. Vice President Sue Ledbetter, Senior Field Rep.

WI State AFL-CIO                                                                                                National AFL-CIO

6333 W. Blue Mound Rd.                                                                                   6333 W. Blue Mound Rd.

Milwaukee, WI 53213                                                                                        Milwaukee, WI 53213

(414) 771-0700, ext. 12                                                                                      (414) 476-2896

(414) 218-1381 (cell)                                                                                          (414) 526-3781 (cell)

srogers@wisaflcio.org                                                                                       sledbett@aflcio.org

Wisconsin State AFL-CIO Announces Endorsements in

Congressional And State Legislative Races

Wisconsin State AFL-CIO COPE Endorsement Process

The Wisconsin State AFL-CIO requires a two-thirds majority of the COPE Board (which consists of the State AFL-CIO Executive Board and eight Congressional District representatives) in order to make an endorsement. Votes by the COPE Board must be cast in person at a COPE meeting -- written or proxy votes are not permitted.

The State AFL-CIO sends an extensive candidate questionnaire and campaign profile to all state legislative candidates; and the Board also conducts interviews with Congressional and Statewide candidates. Central Labor Councils are asked to interview state legislative candidates within their jurisdiction, and forward a recommendation for endorsement for the COPE Board to consider along with other electoral criteria (see below).

The State AFL-CIO COPE is the body that makes the actual endorsement. Central Labor Councils may endorse in local races only (i.e., school board, city council, county board, etc.). Any changes made to the endorsement list can then only be made at the State AFL-CIO biennial convention.

Wisconsin State AFL-CIO COPE Endorsement Criteria

In addition to candidate interviews and candidate questionnaire responses, the following is a list of criteria that the Wisconsin State AFL-CIO uses in its endorsement deliberations:

I Accountability

- Candidate Questionnaire and Campaign Profile

- Candidate Interviews

- Candidate’s past relationship with labor (including union membership)

II Organizational Interests

- Ability for labor or make a difference in the campaign outcome

- Union density and capacity in district – both current and potential growth

- Resources needed or ability to leverage resources from our involvement

- Visibility of labor and our issues in the race

- Importance of candidate to our legislative agenda

III Candidate Quality

- Agrees with AFL-CIO on most of our key issues – and their willingness to be out-front on our issues, e.g., supporting the right to organize

- Personal willingness to work hard/overall effectiveness

- Interest in having labor’s support

IV Winnability

- District make-up/voting history and patterns

- Assessment of candidate’s campaign organization

- Candidate status, i.e., incumbent, challenger or open seat

- Other political factors, e.g., vulnerability of opponent

Government Resources

The Wisconsin Legislature State Senators and Representatives Web Pages including E-mail addresses. Bill tracking, Legislative Information, Statutes & Constitution, Support Agencies, General Information and Legislative Links.
State of Wisconsin State of Wisconsin Legislative Services, Lobbying Regulation, Officers, Commissions/Departments and their web sites..
The United States Senate Links to Senators' offices and also includes bills, calendars, notices of committee hearings, and a daily digest of Senate action (usually with a one day delay)
U.S. House of Representatives Member Offices, schedule of hearings, "real time" reports on floor action, a schedule for the week and other current information.
GPO Access. Updated for the 107th Congress, an Internet Guide To The U.S. Congress.
A Guide To The U.S. Congress Also updated for the 107th Congress. The site includes a page for each U.S. Senator and Congressman. All committee assignments are listed as well. The site provides a guide for contacting your Senator or Congressman and an e-mail form for doing so.
THOMAS Full text of legislation, all versions of House & Senate bills are searchable by keywords or by number. Full text of the Congressional Record from 1994. This site has links to other useful government information and historical documents.
Wisconsin Blue Book The Blue Book (also available in hard back from your State Legislator) contains biographies of all state legislators, all sorts of information about state agencies, election data, members of Committees and Commissions, and lots of data about the state and its economy.
FirstGov This site is the basic portal to all government websites.

Political Action Resources

Project Vote Smart A virtual library of information on more than 11,000 elected officeholders and candidates, from the president and members of Congress to governors and state legislators. Candidate information includes biographies, campaign finances, issue positions and voting records. Go to www.vote-smart.org
Congressional Votes The Do-It-Yourself Congressional Investigation Kit from the Center for Responsive Politics is the place to start your own investigation of how political action committees, lobbyists and special interest groups affect the outcome of congressional votes. A http://www.opensecrets.org/diykit/, you can choose a hot topic, from health care to gun control. You'll find out how much was spent on individual congressional members to ensure they voted the way special interests wanted them to vote. The Center for Responsive Politics calls it, "A consumer guide to who's giving the money, who's getting it and how it affects your pocketbook."
Campaign for America's Future America's Future is an activist think tank working to revitalize a progressive agenda. Issues include Social Security and Medicare, fair trade, economic development in the interest of working people, and other core issues.
Feminist Activist Resources on the Net Incorporating a broad range of social, political, and economic feminist issues and news. Excellent guide to other related web sites.
People for the American Way Information on the right wing and the "radical religious right."
Public Citizen was originally founded by Ralph Nader. Their site contains hard-hitting reports, information and updates on international trade issues (Global Trade Watch), campaign finance reform and corporate welfare (Congress Watch), and health care issues (Health Research Group).
Social Security Network Information on Social Security and the reform debate are available on the Century Foundation Social Security Network Website.
Wisconsin Democracy Campaign The focus of WDC is campaign finance reform. Their website contains the most extensive database available of campaign contributions (a joint project with Wisconsin Citizen Action) and lists "big money" contributors. Also included are reports on campaign finance issues and updates on campaign finance legislative proposals.
Wisconsin Citizen Action Wisconsin Citizen Action (WCA) is the state's largest public interest citizen organization, which often works with the Wisconsin State AFL-CIO on priority issues. Check their website for membership information and updates on issues such as campaign finance reform, health care, and protecting the family farm.
Wisconsin Center for Pluralism The mission of the Wisconsin Research Center (WRC) is to collect and organize information reflecting views on public policy issues so that it is readily available and easily used by the public.