Dan O’Malley–Ohio
We had a great week organizing customers and employees of the Sandusky, OH Wal-Mart
around education reform. We heard the same thing we’ve been hearing all around the community: schools in towns like Sandusky are hurting badly, with recently announced layoffs the latest piece of evidence.
Of course, at Wal-Mart, we heard that message more loudly and clearly than anywhere else we’ve been. After all, this is a corporation that, while running up annual profits in the tens of billions, gives its new employees special forms to help them prove their poverty status for the purpose of public assistance.
I’m going to bet most Wal-Mart workers with whom we spoke are sending their kids to public schools.
Tags: education, Ohio
by Matthew Hall—Minnesota
One day I was canvassing and encountered a member that was really excited to see me. She invited me in to meet her elderly mother. We talked for a couple of minutes and she informed me that she was on Minnesota Care and was worried about funding for the program with all the state budget cuts. Her and her mother decided to sign down as members and pay $5 in dues. Just then the door bell rang. She went to answer it but no one was there. She then informed me that her father had died last year and before he had died he had vowed to fix the broken doorbell but had never got around to it. The door bell had worked only twice since then. Once when they were having Easter dinner and the other time right then. I took this as a sign that her father approved of what were doing and wanted to show his encouragement.
Dan O’Malley—Ohio
General Motors plants across the country all stood on the dartboard last week, each hoping to not be affected by a sweeping round of closings. The GM stamping plant in Mansfield, Ohio was not so lucky.
“Things are getting really bad out here,” a GM retiree told me on Tuesday. “I really don’t see how we’ll survive it.”
The man estimated the Mansfield plant had 3,600 employees when he retired from there in 1991. Today it employs just over 500. In a year it will be completely closed.
Cities like Mansfield and neighboring Ontario were once sustained by the good-paying jobs and secure benefits its residents earned at General Motors. For decades, Ohio stood on the shoulders of such working men and women throughout the state. Now, more and more hardworking Ohioans are finding themselves turning to unemployment assistance, their will to work unmatched by opportunity.
Just a few miles from the GM plant is Richland Mall, once a bustling commercial center with a diverse array of high-end shops. The mall is now a small collection of discount clothiers and other stores struggling to stay afloat. At 2 p.m., the food court is completely empty, save for a single teenage worker at Nicky T’s Grille who wipes clean the counter while waiting for customers. At the end of the mall is a large, vacant, dilapidated building that once housed the now-defunct Lazarus Department Store.
Signs off the entrance to Richland Mall direct passers-by to visit the Red Farms development, a newly-constructed community of homes that “combines country living with urban appeal.” A short drive proves Red Farms to be just two nice but modest houses, built a few years ago. One resident tells me that when the housing crisis hit, demand for the new homes plummeted, and the development was eventually stopped. Overgrown grass and a smattering of utility boxes are all that are to be found where a thriving new community of families once promised to be.
As if jobs, commerce, and home ownership weren’t enough to worry about in such an economy, residents of Mansfield are worried about how it all will affect their local schools. The results are likely to be devastating, because in Ohio, funding levels for public education are tied directly to property values in the local community. And with the city’s manufacturing plant, commercial center, and neighborhoods turning more and more into ghost towns, property values and money for education are sure to plummet as well.
Tags: education, jobs, Ohio
Greg Lyons—Ohio
In Lima I spoke with an elderly woman who was reluctant to join because she was distrustful of people coming to her door. I could see she wasn’t comfortable so I politely thanked her and went on my way.
Later that night I was on her street doing call backs, she saw me, called me over and became a member. She said of I were that committed I must be working on something important. I know that being polite earlier in the night had impressed her and gave me the opportunity to later sign her up as a member.
Tags: membership
Rebecca Hawkins—Ohio
The other night I met a woman on turf whose husband had been laid off from his auto manufacturing job. He has not been able to find steady work and has been working for a temp agency in a desperate attempt to support his family. The woman related to me that she often doesn’t have enough money to feed her children. I asked if she was registered to vote; she said no. She then asked for a voter registration form because she finally realized she could help to make a change by voting.
Tags: children, voting
by Joe Bonenfant—Ohio
The other day I was canvassing in Hamilton, Ohio. I came to a house on the corner of two main streets on my turf. 2 small children were playing in the front yard. I asked to speak with one of their parents. An older woman came out to speak with me. I gave her my rap and I noticed she didn’t have any hair. When I asked which issue was most important I knew she was going to say health care.
She explained to me how she was in the middle of chemotherapy. There were better procedures to treat her breast cancer but the insurance company said they were “experimental.” I told her to stay strong and wished her and her children a blessed evening. This story was so important because when I was only three, the same thing happened to my mom. She suffered through chemo and as a result, early menopause. This put a tremendous strain on our family dynamic. I was reminded of myself in her two children. People like this, who are going through hard times but can still help their fellow man, are the reason I love this job so much.
Tags: children, health care
by Patricia Penton—Ohio
I asked a man what issue was most important to him and he eagerly replied, “Keeping our jobs here!” I was so excited I told him that that was one of our most important issues. He went on to explain that he was in jeopardy of losing his job in the manufacturing business and sincerely thanked me for being out in his neighborhood that evening.
Tags: jobs
by Donald Pettyjohn—Ohio
While canvassing in Middletown, I met a husband and wife who were taking care of their son and his wife. The son had been locked out of his manufacturing company and lost his job and developed a rare disease since and couldn’t work. The son’s wife was battling breast cancer and also couldn’t work. The parents were retired and the father was also battling cancer. They couldn’t pay to help their son and his wife and everything else. They had to take out a mortgage on their home and file bankruptcy as well. The mother was weeping as she continued and I couldn’t help but think of all the similar stories I’ve heard since I started canvassing five moths ago and the other peoples’ doorsteps I stood on watching them weep and pour their hearts out to a complete stranger and it hit me how widespread the problem really is. You’re not supposed to take your work home with you but I can’t help it sometimes. I’m just thankful Working America gives me a chance to give these people some hope that someone is doing something about it! Go Working America! Let’s change this country one doorstep at a time!
Tags: complete stranger hearts pour weep problem widespread watching
by Octavio Armendariz—Ohio
I was canvassing in the area of Lakewood. I had been having a rough night because I kept running into very negative people. However I went up to a door and knocked, and this really nice lady answered the door. I gave her my rap and she seemed very interested. What amazed me most was her three kids who all signed the band-aid petition. But what really got me was their involvement. As I asked what issues mattered most to them, her daughter–who must have only been thirteen if that–started to comment on how important good jobs were. The other two younger kids also gave their input on the economy and health care. I thought to myself: “Maybe there is hope for the younger generation!”
Tags: jobs, membership, youth
by Becky Angelo—Ohio
I talked to a woman in Akron area, who is retired from a company who has sold out to another company who is outsourcing. The way they are doing it is that if a current employee refuses to train people from India they are bringing in they will be fired no questions asked. They are also getting rid of a few employees at a time instead of all at once. This isn’t all. All former employee’s that are retired are losing their health care insurance starting jan 09.
Tags: health care, jobs, outsourcing
