by Angel Gober—Pennsylvania
I knocked on a door three times. No answer. I left to go to the next house when I heard people at the first home getting their mail. Naturally, I went back and I apologized for not giving them enough time to answer the door, and I proceeded into my rap. This man told me, “I’m a registered Conservative Republican!”.
I said, “Ok, that’s great. Well, I’m a registered Democrat, but that doesn’t mean that we can’t agree that our economy is a disaster. That’s what Working America is about. We’re a non-profit organization fighting for working people and reiterees!”
He invited me in, and I sat down with him and his wife. We talked about how our politicians are getting rich w/our tax dollars and have free healthcare. After a few minutes, I felt that they trusted me. The wife signed down and told me that she didn’t have $5 for dues. She told me, “Before you knocked on our door, we were making a list of all of the creditors that we owe.”
She said that her husband couldn’t find work for six months, and he finally landed a job, but their wages, combined are still not enough to cover their cost of living.
I felt this woman become very insecure and vulnerable. It was amazing to know that at first they were hard-core conservative, and they turned into your everyday struggling family worrying, like so many, how they were going to survive.
I left feeling very confident that this family had a real change of heart.
Tags: health care, jobs, wages
by Kara Kukovich—Pennsylvania
I was canvassing in Bethlehem when I came across a woman sittin on her porch. When I told her who I was, she got excited and eager to sign on. She said she always signs anything in support of the AFL-CIO because her (deceased) father was such a big supporter and member of the union. She began telling me the story of how her dad worked at a local steel company and was killed in August of 1984 when the roofing rafters fell through - something the union had been trying to get fixed because of the imposing danger. Her family got paid $200-400 for her dad’s death.
Tags: , union
by Jackie Lima—Pennsylvania
Wednesday, July 30, 2008 was “Rally Day.” The “A-team” was fired up and ready to go! Across the street from Congressman Charlie Dent’s office in Bethlehem, PA, we outfitted ourselves with crutches, bandages, whistles and a megaphone. We carried clothes lines of Working America health care petition signatures from the 15th Congressional District encircling the lawn and sidewalk in front of Rep. Dent’s office building. We chanted: “What do we want?” “Health Care!” “When do we want it?” “Now!” “Charlie Dent - health care is bent!” Posters read “Honk for health care reform!” and passers by honked in support. The press and the police stopped by to see what was going on. Several workers from the office building came out also. Two of them were not registered to vote and true-to-form were given voter registration forms by WA canvassers. One of them addressed the crowd through the megaphone to have her voice and story heard. PA State Director, Jenn Jannon and Allentown’s Canvass Director, Jennifer Hofelich spoke to us about the critical need for health care in America. Congressman Dent was given a “Get Well” card and pieces of the petition signed by Working America members from his district - letting him know that his constituents DO CARE ABOUT THIS ISSUE!
Tags: health care
by Rose Bonesso—Pennsylvania
As the office manager in Pittsburgh, I rarely get the opportunity to talk to the people whose lives’ are being affected daily by a struggling economy and inadequate health care the way our Organizers do. Last week; however, I answered the phone and spoke to a woman who had been canvassed the prior evening. She said that she spent most of her adult life thinking that Unions were the “problem”, but after talking with one of our Organizers, she felt differently. She opened about her own workplace where she had always made a good living in commission sales, but now, the corporation was demanding more and more and offering less and less in terms of pay, benefits and incentives. She said she was about 10 years away from retirement, and wanted to try and organize a Union!!
She went from being anti-Union to establishing herself as a Union organizer!
It’s always amazing to me the real, tangible difference that our organizers are making out in the field every single day.
Tags: economy, health care, union
by David Weston—Pennsylvania
One woman was outraged at the rising price of gas. “I was just talking about this!” she told me. She reminded me that, “if this was the 70’s, we’d be out protesting and demonstrating with signs in hand!”.
I let her know that her mentality was exactly the reason that I was out in the community building up that support. I realized the universality of the Working America message and the outrage of average Americans at the state of the economy. She and I both knew that if our politicians maintained the status quo, people would stand up and fight back, especially with their ballots at the polls.
Tags: economy, gas
by Kara Kukovich—Pennsylvania
I was canvassing in Alburtis, PA when a woman answered the door. I had been to her house earlier and met her son. I told her we were fighting job outsourcing. She said, “I know. My husband was one of them.” She told me how her husband was working and that shortly after 9-11-2001, he lost his job because of outsourcing. “Wow. That must have been a hard time for your family,” I said. “Yeah, she replied, it was.”
Tags: membership
by Arthur Benson—Pennsylvania
I came to the door of a soon-to-be-member and met an elderly couple. They were bedding in a cluttered living room with most necessities at arm’s length. The husband informed me that they were ineligible for any form of government assistance due to bureaucratic red-tape. He was in good humor and described their situation as their “nursing home.” He confided in me his concern for their welfare and being unable to provide transportation for his wife’s doctor’s appointments. He is afraid he might fall while assisting her to his car.
Tags: membership, seniors
by Jay Rosen—Pennsylvania
Today I had the distinct pleasure of meeting a wonderful couple. He works in construction and his wife is a hair-stylist. Their passion for our cause is so profound and we talked for at least 10 minutes. They are struggling as many people that I have come across in this line of work. They asked me to sit with them, gave me some bottled water and paid their dues as well. It was a fruitful endeavor as I also signed up three other people that were visiting them. Meeting people like these helped make our mission worthwhile and meaningful.
Tags: membership, taking action
by Wes Gadsden—Pennsylvania
I canvassed a great lady who had worked for a local hospital for 30 years. When she got ill and has to take off a few months of work, she was denied Family Medical Leave. Needless to say she will lose her job, her pension, health care and she’s sick. Why is this happening in a country that is so rich that we can build bridges and buildings in other countries? We need to clean our own backyard before we can clean someone else’s!
Tags: family medical leave, health care
by David Delanoy—Pennsylvania
While I was out canvassing, I met an older man who lost his job to outsourcing. He had tears in his eyes as he told me about the steel mill that he had loved and lost. I told him how we were fighting back and his face list up with excitement. He jumped at the chance to do anything he could to help. It made me feel good to know that I had made his day. As I left he asked to shake my hand and he told me to “keep up the good work!”
Tags: jobs, membership, taking action
