Working America: Mobilizing and Winning

by Seth Michaels, Sep 14, 2009

As AFL-CIO President John Sweeney noted yesterday, one of the most important developments in the union movement over the past few years is the introduction of Working America, the community affiliate of the AFL-CIO that organizes, educates and mobilizes people across the country who don’t have a union at work.

Today at the 2009 AFL-CIO Convention, union members honored Working America and thanked Working America staff for their tireless efforts to reach out and sign up—in less than six years—more than 3 million members, who are getting critical education on the issues that matter.

Working America regional director Jenn Jannon and assistant national field director Tahir Duckett led a delegation of Working America staff onto the convention stage and explained the great successes they’ve had across the country. Said Duckett:

Working America organizers fan out in working class neighborhoods across the country every single night.  And in those neighborhoods, we talk one on one to every household that doesn’t have the benefit of a union on the job, and we give them an alternative point of view on the economy—one that is not shaped by right-wingers or the corporate media.

We knocked on 3 million doors in 2008, and we can tell you without question that Working America is a pro-union America. We deliver an unabashedly pro-labor, populist message, and it works.

Two out of three people that we talk to join the AFL-CIO right there, that night, on their doorstep. And that’s how we’ve grown to 3 million members in just six years. This unique experience on the door changes people through and through.

One way we see that change is how they vote. Working America members, largely moderates and conservatives, vote just like you. And it’s because they have two things they didn’t have before: information provided by Working America and the AFL-CIO, and the sense of power that can only come through strength in numbers.

Jannon noted that Working America members have been a critical source of support for pro-worker legislation and policy:

This year, when the labor movement needed muscle in Arkansas on the Employee Free Choice Act, we were there, knocking on doors across the state, and gathering 12,000 handwritten letters for Blanche Lincoln, letters that said: “I don’t have a union, I’m struggling, and I need the Employee Free Choice Act.”

And when the Town Hall ruckus misrepresented how most working folks feel about health care reform, we sprang to action. We hit the doors in a dozen states, producing 25,000 letters, 10,000 phone messages, and attending over 40 town halls. And legislators heard us—even some Blue Dog leaders thanked us for being in their neighborhoods.

But this isn’t only about building power for our movement—it’s about giving working families a voice. Our members tell us that before we knocked on their door, nobody was talking to them about economic issues. They thank us for our work and tell us they’re ready to keep fighting.

AFL-CIO Secretary-Treasurer Richard Trumka praised Working America for getting millions of people across 25 states engaged and active.

Christine Trujillo, president of the New Mexico Federation of Labor, said Working America’s efforts led to big wins in races and on issues, because working people, even in conservative-leaning areas, were empowered and educated through their membership in Working America:

The New Mexico AFL-CIO stands taller now, with 60,000 new members…but our new strength is not just numbers.

Working America is a fast-growing and vital part of the union movement and a critical factor in turning around the country and empowering working people to improve their own lives.

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