WNYLaborToday.com Editor’s Note: James Bertolone serves as president of the Rochester & Genesee Valley Area Labor Federation - an AFL-CIO Union Cities Area Labor Federation whose 300 affiliated Union Locals combine to represent 100,000 Union Members in the nearby Rochester & Finger Lakes Region.  Bertolone, who also serves as president of American Postal Workers Union Local 215, has been a frequent Labor Column contributor to WNYLaborToday.com over the course of time.

It already appears Republican leaders are misreading the election results.

This election was a clear mandate to fix the economy and create jobs.

Economic dissatisfaction was the driving force, according to a National AFL-CIO survey conducted on election night by Hart Research Associates in the Top 100 swing Congressional Districts.  

The election results are disappointing to the millions of Union Voters who supported Working Family Candidates.  

However, that disappointment pales beside the years of frustration Working People experienced as jobs move overseas, wages stagnate and corporations and CEO's pocket more of the profits.

President Obama inherited two wars and an economy teetering on the brink of the Great Depression.  Economists agree that less than two years isn't enough time to fix this economy, but two years is an eternity for those who've lost their jobs or their homes.

But this election was not a mandate for the Republican agenda.

Our election night survey in those swing districts shows voters overwhelmingly reject privatizing Social Security, raising the retirement age, oppose tax cuts for millionaires, reject abolishing the Department of Education or the minimum wage.

Fully 89% want to see tax credits for companies if they create jobs in the U.S. and an extraordinary 77% favor investing in rebuilding roads, bridges, schools and energy systems to create jobs and maintain our competitiveness with China, India and Germany.  

The AFL-CIO's grassroots campaign conducted during this election included 200,000 Union Volunteers who knocked on 8.5 million doors, passed out nearly 20 million leaflets and made tens of millions of phone calls.

Non-Union workers in our community affiliates were in 13 cities, nine states and 80 electoral races around the country knocking on 800,000 doors and making a half-million phone calls.

Sadly, we ran up against a flood of anonymous corporate spending through front groups that according to the Center for Responsive Politics provided almost three-quarters of all campaign contributions compared to 4.1% spent by Unions.  

Unlike corporations, Unions are required to report extensively on their political spending.

Nonetheless, the election is over and - again - Labor is pushing for the creation of good jobs, rebuilding America's Middle Class and shaping an economy that works for everyone.

We are calling on President Obama and Congress to work together to put America back to work.

The time for partisanship and obstructionism is over.

Too many Americans are hurting.