Working America New Mexico: 25,000 New Members in Six Months

[Omaha Steve]

These are non-union people joining the fight for worker issues! Dues are voluntary.

http://blog.aflcio.org/2008/06/20/working-america-new-mexico-25000-new-members-in-six-months/

Don Manning, Labor 2008 state director for New Mexico, reports on the growth of Working America, the community affiliate of the AFL-CIO, in the state.


Working America in New Mexico celebrates 25,000 members.

If you were in Cherry Kline Park in Albuquerque last Friday, you’d have sensed the overwhelming pride and excitement among our Working America staff as they celebrated 25,000 new members.

Working America started in New Mexico in January with three employees. Since then, their ranks have swelled to more than a dozen employees and 25,000 members.

Patrick Pearson, a canvasser for Working America since March, told a heartfelt story about why he is motivated by Working America.

I visited one guy in a wheelchair. I had to kneel for him to sign the papers. He told me that a month ago he had been jet skiing and climbing mountains, and now he has multiple sclerosis. That could be me.

Pearson says the hardest cases are the ones that motivate him the most to give people a voice on issues like health care.

We all need health care. I might be healthy now, but tomorrow I might end up like that man, and I would want people fighting for my right to affordable health care.

Marlon Newson, a Working America canvasser since April, expressed similar sentiments. He spoke of members who have to choose between paying the rent and paying medical bills, and who are under constant threats from collection agencies.

FULL story at link.

http://www.workingamerica.org/