When Ohio voters were presented with a ballot initiative that would limit collective bargaining rights for public employees, the AFL-CIO launched a major campaign to defeat the initiative. The AFL-CIO reached out to over 300,000 members using Broadnet’s TeleForum™ platform, and more than 118,000 participated in the event.

Objective.

In an effort to discuss the repeal of Senate Bill 5 in Ohio, the AFL-CIO held an interactive TeleForum^™ event on July 21, 2011. The AFL-CIO dialed out to over 300,000 members during the call and featured guest hosts Richard Trumka, President of the AFL-CIO, Tim Burga, President of the Ohio AFL-CIO, Dr. Rugola, Executive Director of the OAPSE AFSCME, and Barbara Easterling, the President of the ARA. All four hosts took live questions from the participants, asked an interactive polling question, and discussed their plan to rally the labor community to vote No on Issue 2.

Solution.

AFL-CIO relied on Broadnet’s TeleForum^™ technology to reach out to their list of 304,000 members. Content included how to mobilize a movement against Senate Bill 5, which leaders explained is a law that threatens a worker’s right to collectively bargain. Issue 2 would prohibit the negotiation of working conditions, hours, and benefits. President Trumka spoke to over 64,930 attendees on the call, with a record breaking 7,660 attendees concurrently on the TeleForum^™ call. He urged them to contact their members of Congress about the potentially devastating effects of SB5 on the labor movement and working families. Over 327 participants indicated they would like to ask a question and 17 attendees were able to ask their question live on the call.

Throughout the TeleForum^™ event, the hosts created a call to action by asking participants an interactive poll question. The poll asked those on the line if they would agree to volunteer for the labor cause. An impressive 1,589 participants voted “yes” to the poll and volunteering. AFL-CIO was then able to follow up with participants using Broadnet’s comprehensive TeleForum^™ report to contact those who voted in the poll.

Result.

AFL-CIO’s TeleForum^™ call created an important conversation between the president of the labor movement and the working families across Ohio he supports. From the discourse created by their guest hosts, to the call to action poll, live question and answer session, and personal testimonials, the AFL-CIO was able to garner involvement, awareness and engagement for the repeal of Issue 2.

 

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