...AARP ‘anxiety index’
(From Page 22)
P HOTOS BY R USSELL S ANDERS
Hugs from union ‘thugs
By JACKIE TORTORA
National AFL-CIO
Forget the kissing booth. A hug from a “union thug” is
so much better.
On July 28, the Oregon AFL-CIO set up three “Hug a
Thug” tables at Jamison Square, Laurelhurst Park, and Irv-
ing Park, all in Portland, where passersby were treated to
hugs from Letter Carrier Willie Groshell and members of
Theatrical Stage Employees Leah Okin and Patrick Lan-
ders.
Anti-union politicians and pundits love to call hard-
working union members “union thugs,” so the Oregon
AFL-CIO went out in the community to dispel this myth
by reminding people these so-called “thugs” are firefight-
ers, teachers, nurses, postal workers and dozens of other
workers we interact with every day.
Groshell, Okin and Landers gave 14 hugs, spoke with
AUGUST 17, 2012
dozens of people and handed out “Work Connects Us All”
postcards and bookmarks, spreading the word about the
good work unions do.
Intrepid hug recipients posed for a picture and received
a sticker that read, “I Hugged a Thug.”
“The conversations we had were high-value, including
one union skeptic who had a previous negative experience
but was interested in what we had to say,” said Elana
Guiney, legislative and communications director for Ore-
gon AFL-CIO. “Many people we spoke with had no previ-
ous union contact.”
Guiney said the union volunteers were able to reach the
young, urban demographic which is often skeptical about
what unions have to offer. “We initiated peer-to-peer con-
versations about the value unions bring to people,” she
said.
NORTHWEST LABOR PRESS
economic downturn (77 percent). Al-
most half (49 percent) of these voters
disapprove of President Obama’s job
performance, and more than eight-in-10
(81 percent) disapprove of Congress.
As of now, voters 50-plus evenly are
split in their presidential vote preference
(45 percent for President Obama, 45
percent for Mitt Romney, and 10 per-
cent not sure).
The concerns of 50-plus voters high-
light the importance of Social Security
and Medicare as election issues. They
think the next president and Congress
need to strengthen Social Security (91
percent) and Medicare (88 percent).
They also overwhelmingly (91 percent)
think that these issues are too big for ei-
ther party to fix alone and require Re-
publicans and Democrats to come to-
gether.
Voters 50-plus are looking to the
candidates for more information on
these key issues. These voters over-
whelmingly think the candidates have
not done a good job of explaining their
plans on Social Security (67 percent)
and Medicare (63 percent). Moving for-
ward, these voters — across party lines
— say that getting more information on
the candidates’ plans on Social Security
(72 percent) and Medicare (70 percent)
will help them determine their vote on
election day.
“The message from voters 50-plus
is clear,” added LeaMond. “In a razor-
tight election, candidates have a major
opportunity to reach key voters by
speaking about their plans on Social Se-
curity and Medicare — and they are
making a huge gamble if they ignore
them.”
For complete results of AARP voter
surveys, go online at www.aarp.org/vot-
ers50plus.
Motorcycle poker
run fundraiser for
Guide Dogs Aug. 25
The 6th annual Guide Dogs Dash
motorcycle poker run will be held Sat-
urday, Aug. 25. The event, sponsored
by Machinists Lodge 63, will start and
finish at Machinists District W24 Hall,
25 Cornell Ave., Gladstone. Registra-
tion is at 9 a.m. Registration is $25 per
rider and $10 per passenger and in-
cludes a T-shirt, barbecue, and raffle
prizes. All proceeds go to Guide Dogs
of America.
For more info, go on line to www.
iamll63.org or at www.iamw24. org.
PAGE 25