Blog Post by SEIU Secretary-Treasurer Anna Burger
September 16, 2007

Politics changes peoples’ lives.

That was the message over and over today as close to 2,000 SEIU members from 35 states gathered together in person – and thousands more joined online – for our Member Political Action Conference.

One by one, workers shared their stories of the profound impact politics has had on their jobs and their families…how funding for government health care programs like SCHIP made a difference for a child they love…or how a governor’s executive order gave workers making less than the minimum wage a chance to create a better future for their families…

As I listened to them speak, I knew that there were millions more working people around the country with their own stories.  In some cases, like some that we heard today, politics has been a positive force, but when it comes to the occupant of the White House, all too often the concerns and struggles of everyday workers have been ignored. 

That’s why we created our Walk A Day In My Shoes campaign.  The first of its kind in a presidential election, the program focuses the election away from the glitz and the glamour, and back where it belongs – on the people this whole political process is supposed to be about.

Six presidential candidates took hours out of their busy campaign schedules to spend time with one worker.  One worker.  They talked to them, met their families and co-workers, and tried to do just a part of the work that our members do every day. 

Tonight, for the first time, our members who had a presidential candidate walk a day in their shoes are coming together over dinner to share their experiences.  I’ll be there – I can’t wait to hear more about what they learned from it.  Tomorrow, they’ll be reunited with the presidential candidate when they introduce them at the conference. 

The message tomorrow, like today, will be that politics can change peoples’ lives, as long as people are at the center of it.  Politics can only be a force for good when working people are involved at all levels in bringing about change.

That’s what our members have been doing every day since this presidential election began.  That’s what’s led to SEIU having the strongest and most effective political program in this country.  And that’s what will ensure that we finally elect a pro-worker president to the White House next November.