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Washington, D.C.—In states around the country, thousands of National Treasury Employees Union (NTEU) member-volunteers will work in a coordinated effort on Saturday, Oct. 23, seeking to elect John Kerry as president of the United States and put into Congress candidates who understand and support issues of importance to federal workers. Here is just a sample of the activities:

• In multiple Ohio cities—Cleveland, Columbus, Cincinnati and elsewhere—NTEU members will be working phone banks, canvassing voters and leafleting;

• NTEU members from El Paso, Texas, will be attending a Kerry campaign event in Las Cruces, New Mexico.

• In addition to canvassing and working phone banks in Parkersburg, West Virginia, NTEU members will be taking part in a mock election day with the Kerry campaign to ensure the effectiveness of their upcoming get-out-the-vote effort;

• In Kansas City—on both the Kansas and Missouri sides of the state border—NTEU members also are planning to canvass and staff phone banks in Kerry campaign offices;

• Meanwhile, in Philadelphia, members of two NTEU chapters will be handing out literature supporting Sen. Kerry.

• Along with their efforts on the presidential race, NTEU members also will be doing volunteer work on numerous congressional races across the country;

• In California, as many as 40 members from up to eight NTEU chapters will participate in a bus trip to Nevada to work on behalf of Sen. Kerry in that key state; and in Fresno, NTEU members will take part in a political rally;

“Along with our election day get-out-vote effort, this coordinated drive on Saturday is an integral part of one of our union’s largest-ever political efforts,” said NTEU President Colleen M. Kelley.

“Every federal employee knows the critical importance this year of electing officeholders who understand issues like fair pay for federal workers, adequate funding for their agencies, and the need to keep the work of the government in the hands of federal employees,” she added.

NTEU members have been busy throughout this campaign season. At least two long-time members are using extensive accumulated vacation time to work for the election of Sen. Kerry and other pro-federal employee candidates in states other than where they reside. Still others have used annual leave and weekends to volunteer in campaigns in their home states.

With a nationwide bargaining unit of some 150,000 federal workers in 30 departments and agencies, NTEU is well positioned in a considerable number of states to have an impact this election day, President Kelley said.

“Our members nationwide are clear on the reality that so much of what impacts their work lives—and as a result, their personal lives as well—depends on electing to federal office people who understand and value the contributions that federal workers make every day to our nation,” the union president said. “That’s what this effort is all about.”