Amy B. Dean

Mobilizing the Unorganized: Is "Working America" the Way Forward?

CreatinG a battleGroUnd Canvass ideas that laid the groundwork for Working America initially developed in the1980s out of a discussion about how federations like the AFL-CIO could reestablish themselves as bodies representing the interests of all working people in the country. Economists—including Harvard’s Richard Freeman—recommended developing an “associate membership” program, and the AFL-CIO’s Committee on the Evolution of Work propelled the idea with its 1985 report, “The Changing Situation of Workers and Their Unions.” Subsequently, through the 1990s and 2000s, labor leaders recognized that reversing a declining rate of overall unionization needed to be a priority; but they also recognized that labor needed to be able to establish a base of support that went beyond dues-paying members covered under collective bargaining agreements. mobilizinG the UnorGanized Is “Working America” the Way Forward?