More than two million workers have lost their jobs in the last two years, and the sinking economy shows no signs of recovery. Meanwhile the corporate/right-wing agenda promises nothing but more hardship for America’s working families --- gutting overtime protections, privatizing Medicare and Social Security, cutting back on education, health care and homeland security programs for first responders.
The overwhelming majority of working Americans rejects this anti-worker, anti-family agenda, and is ready to fight to overturn it, but lacks a movement to make its voices heard. A coalition of working people broader than the organized union workforce is needed to engage and mobilize workers who are neither regular union members nor reside in union households, so that they, too, will have a voice that will be heard on legislative and political issues that concern them.
Working America, a neighborhood-based, membership organization affiliated with the labor movement as a national directly affiliated labor union, will give working Americans who do not belong to unions the platform and the tools to join together and have their voices heard.
Working America will have chapters in dozens of communities across the country. Working America canvassers will go door-to-door to educate, recruit members, and mobilize working families around important national, state, and local issues such as jobs, health care, and education.
Working America will not be employment-based or workplace-based in any way; nor will it deal with employers for the purposes of collective bargaining, grievance handling, or any other type of job-related representation; nor will its members receive any benefits or privileges associated with employment-based representation.
Working America will adopt appropriate protocols to protect against recruitment at homes of union members; and to ensure that independent unions are not permitted to join the organization or to affiliate their members with it.
To implement this program, in accordance with Articles III, Section 4 and XV, Section 1 of the AFL-CIO Constitution, the Executive Council delegates to the President the authority to issue to Working America a charter for a national directly affiliated local union (DALU) of associate members, on a provisional basis, subject to review in no more than three years, and to issue by-laws and interim rules governing this DALU, including an initial dues structure for the organization. Per capita tax to the AFL-CIO need not conform to the amounts applicable to regular DALU members under Article XVI of the Constitution.