Union families have a tremendous amount to be proud of from their participation in Labor 2000. America's working families played a critical role in this election.

From the first union volunteers who rallied voters for Iowa's January caucuses to the last AFL-CIO Labor 2000 volunteers making Election Day get-out-the-vote phone calls, working families mobilized the biggest "people-powered" election campaign in our history. An estimated 100,000 union members volunteered their time at work sites, phone banks and precinct walks.

The union vote on Nov. 7 comprised 26 percent of the total electorate, up from 23 percent in the last presidential election and 19 percent in 1992.

Union members voted overwhelmingly for labor-endorsed candidates, making the critical difference in state after state. In Michigan, for example, 43 percent of all voters were members of union households. One out of every three votes cast in Pennsylvania was made by a voter living in a union household.

I was out there in city after city over the last several weeks and I was so proud of what I saw. Union members put their hearts into this election. I walked with many of them as they visited their neighbors, knocked on doors, talked to one another about leaflets, and made phone call after phone call to get the word out.

Union households turned out in unprecedented numbers around the nation and they voted for Al Gore by a margin of 63 percent. Union members stood behind Gore because he is on the right side of the issues that are central to our lives; issues like children's future, a financially secure old-age, health care for the sick, and a free and fair voice at work.

Union voters supported key victorious Senate and House candidates while defeating anti-labor office-holders, won the state Senate in Colorado, defeated two "paycheck deception" ballot initiatives that attacked the voice of working families in politics in Oregon, and defeated voucher initiatives in California and Michigan.

Clearly, labor has reestablished credibility with our members. Unions see their union as a trustworthy source of information to help them make sense of where the candidates stand on issues of importance to them.

For union members, working family issues were paramount in their voting decisions. In fact, post-election polls show that a majority of Americans agree with a working families agenda. They want Social Security protected and Medicare strengthened, not turned over to HMOs. They want prescription drug benefits for seniors, as well as investments in education, health care and infrastructure.

Nov. 7 made clear that union members exercised the unmatched power we hold as a united political force in this nation. This incredibly ambitious mobilization effort during this election cycle gives us a glimpse of what we can do in the future through sustained grassroots mobilization and organizing, and by continuing to bring people together to rebuild their communities and improve their lives.