by Monica Whitby—Pennsylvania
While canvassing on the issue of health care in Dupont, Pennsylvania, I encountered a very inspiring retired woman. She was surprised and excited to see a young woman like myself taking action on this issue—especially having the courage to go door-to-door. She explained that without her union, she would have not have been able to retire for many more years. She repeatedly thanked us for our work. I’m also glad to know that though my work, I will continue to help many others like her enjoy retirement.
Tags: membership, retirees, unions
by Jon Fox—Pennsylvania
Tonight I met a 46 year old mother of two who lived in Pittsburgh. She was laid off as a welder in 2001 and has been unable to find a suitable job to support her family. Her kids have some health care because of Medicaid, but she has none. If she gets sick, she has no protection.
This bothers me because I think of my own mom—if it weren’t for the health care my father’s union fought for, she would have not successfully survived two bouts of cancer.
Tags: Health Care, Jobs, layoffs, unions
by Jonathan Fox—Pennsylvania
A retired woman in Beaver Falls told me how she took an early retirement from the plant she worked at and now has to pay for health care out of pocket, but she can’t afford it. She gets $700 a month from her retirement and it would cost $400 a month for insurance. Her and her husband have health problems but can’t do anything about it.
My father has worked for a major phone company for 24 years and he has great insurance because his union fought for it. Their contract is up soon and the company says they are going after the workers’ health care. What happens when HE retires?
Tags: Health Care, retirees, unions
by Claire Pengelly—Pennsylvania
I talked with a woman about her grandmother who was once the president of her local chapter of the Ladies’ Garment Workers Union. She regularly picketed for similar issues that Working America stands for and gave all that she had to her union work. Of course the woman was passionate about our issues and was happy to support Working America.
Tags: membership, unions
by Cicily King—Ohio
While canvassing in Newark, OH, I signed up a woman who was disabled. Her husband is the bread winner of the family. While signing, she told me about how he worked a factory union job for 18 years and they closed down due to outsourcing. He now drives an hour each way to work in Columbus and provide for his family.
Tags: Jobs, outsourcing, unions
by Jonathan Middleton—Ohio
While canvassing tonight, I met a single father who works hard every day to support his children. He was formerly a Teamster, and still supports unions wholeheartedly. We talked for a while about jobs, the SCHIP program, and politics in general. He and his daughter wrote letters to Rep. Pryce thanking her for voting yes on SCHIP and urging her to continue voting to override President Bush’s veto.
As I was leaving, his daughter said that Working America should come to her high school and educate the children in the community on what is really going on in this country. I left that house with a smile on my face.
Tags: membership, SCHIP, unions
by Andy Hartwig—Pennsylvania
If anyone has canvassed New Jersey before, you know you might be headed for an adventure. As soon as the van was parked, the sky opened up and let loose a torrential downpour. I knew this was going to be quite a night to reconnect with Working America members about the upcoming state assembly races in New Jersey. The first several doors seemed completely fruitless. No lights on. No cars in the driveway. Just me and a soaked walk packet. I thought all was lost as I looked down at my next name—a retired union member approaching her 99th birthday. I knocked on the door expecting a younger person to let me know that they had moved in a few years ago after she had passed away. To my surprise, that very woman answered the door. She grabbed me and brought me in out of the rain. She insisted on putting my sweatshirt in the dryer and made me a cup of tea. We chatted for a few minutes about her days working for the state in Trenton, her time in AFSCME, and her role in negotiating a new contract after a state-wide strike. I probably spent a little too much time at her door, but my time with her made the downpour seem like a sunny day. My only hope is she lives another 98 years.
Tags: membership, seniors, unions
by Kim Andrews—Pennsylvania
Saturday, October 27, Working America staff attended the war protest in Philadelphia in order to show support for our troops as well as our immediate withdrawal from Iraq. The labor support at the rally was impressive, especially for a cold and rainy day, taking up three long blocks in the city. After lining the blocks from Penn Hospital to City Hall, the people marched the streets carrying signs all the way to Independence Mall. Signs ranged from economic and workers’ issues such as SCHIP to questions of morale and political accountability. I think it was really important for Working America as well as the rest of the labor movement to make their voice heard at such an important and powerful event.
Tags: unions
by Tim Robertson — Kentucky
The Working America office here in Louisville, KY, was fortunate enough to participate in the first labor walk of this election season. Highlighted speakers included the Secretary-Treasurer of the AFL-CIO, Richard Trumka, and the labor-endorsed candidate for governor of Kentucky, Steve Beshear. Both stopped in with our Working America delegation to shake hands and introduce themselves, which was quite an honor. State president Bill Londrigan announced our presence to the crowd, as well as our total of more than 39,000 new Working America members to a raucous ovation from the union members in attendance. It was a great time, and very inspiring to see how much our work is appreciated by everyone in the labor movement.
Paid for by AFL-CIO Committee on Political Education Treasury Fund.
Tags: taking action, unions
by Shane Gleason — Ohio
One night, my second door was a guy who was very happy that I was “a union man” fighting for health care. He gave me a pop which I saved for later.
Later on, a long string of doors were unsupportive; I couldn’t figure out how to fix it. As I sat down on the curb remembering the second guy, drinking the pop he gave me, I resolved to organize the rest of the night in his honor. Needless to say, I scarcely had another “no” all evening.
Tags: Health Care, unions
