Working America
Working America seeks to educate, organize and mobilize working class people around the country to support progressive policies and vote Democratic. Along with its 501(c)(3) arm, Working America Education Fund — both affiliated with the AFL-CIO — the group uses door-to-door outreach and other strategies to engage workers in a sustained and meaningful way. It has contacted millions of voters in recent elections and has built a clear track record of success.
Why This Work is Important
Democrats must do better among working class voters. Democrats have long struggled to win majority support in working class communities, with the party’s demographics increasingly skewing more affluent and educated. Focused investments are needed to engage these voters in new and effective ways — especially given signs that more nonwhite working class voters are trending right. A majority of voters in key battleground states do not have a college degree.
Organizing is rooted in everyday issues and taking on winnable fights. Working America conducts grassroots organizing with localized goals and appeals. These sorts of issues are much more appealing to the average person than national politics, as they focus on winnable political fights that are both directly relevant to their lives and often appear nonpartisan. These issues include raising the minimum wage locally, resisting state Right to Work laws in the states, and winning other tangible worker benefits in various industries. When workers see tangible progress from their political engagement, it helps to build trust and a sense of empowerment.
Why Donors Should Consider Working America
Working America has had electoral and policy success. In the 87 competitive elections in which the organization has been involved since November 2016, Working America claims a win rate of 76%. It supported minimum wage hike victories in Albuquerque, Greensboro, Minneapolis, Portland and Seattle and opposed Right to Work in Missouri, New Mexico, Kentucky and West Virginia. It’s also played an important role in turning out Democratic voters in key battleground states in recent elections.
Giving to Working America is cost-effective. Analysis by Focus for Democracy, a group that uses rigorous, metrics-based research to evaluate electoral giving options, has found that Working America offers great value to donors. In 2022, FFD called Working America “one of the most effective ways to produce net Democratic votes in the key battleground states, by a long shot.”
Working America’s goals are specific but still ambitious. Working America’s goals include universal pre-K education, a $15 minimum wage, an end to Right to Work law, and expanding healthcare for all Americans. It has programs to help members secure prepaid debit cards, find affordable legal services and get discounts on cell phones and car rentals. It also ran a successful program getting Black workers connected to unemployment insurance in the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic. All of these are achievable goals that encourage buy-in from members while demonstrating that the organization gets results.
Organizing efforts are built for the long term. The Working America Education Fund builds lasting relationships with voters through consistent contact and direct outreach. The group produces detailed, highly specified, state-level reports to ensure organizers are educating voters, countering right-wing disinformation, and focusing on the right issues that will appeal to people. Coupling this work with tangible political victories and material improvements is a great recipe for bringing more people into the progressive fold.
Conclusion
Working America is engaging working people at a crucial time. While the right is invested in culture wars and grievance politics, Working America can direct working class voters to the left by engaging them in winnable battles that will noticeably improve their lives. Investing in this type of organizing over the long term can reap significant benefits for the working class and Democratic Party.