rssMore on Organizing the Unemployed
Monday, August 02, 2010 at 3:35 pm
- 5 Comments
Last week, I wrote a story on nascent movements to organize the unemployed, a group already connected via enormous online networks and politically fired-up after the eight-month battle in Congress over federally extended unemployment insurance benefits. For those labor groups and online organizations helping the unemployed flex their political muscle in the November elections, it looks like a focus on voter turnover might do the most good.
Essentially, the unemployed form an enormous political constituency — more than 30 million Americans have been out of a job at some point during the recession — but they have tended to be disenfranchised. Labor groups and grassroots movements hoping to change that — pressing the unemployed to do everything from calling Senate offices to showing up at Republican town halls to voting.
Generally, the unemployed do not have high turnout rates. Dylan Matthews brings the data, showing that 65.9 percent of registered workers with jobs vote, compared with 54.7 percent of the unemployed. On top of that, workers with jobs are much more likely to be registered to vote, compared with the unemployed. (All in all, the higher your income, the more likely you are to head to the polls. More than one unemployed person I’ve spoken or emailed with has said they would canvass and vote if they could afford the gas for their cars.)
But labor groups like Working America, local political groups and the unemployed netroots are working to register the unemployed to vote and to offer rides, childcare and eldercare for jobless workers to get them voting. Of course, these sort of get-out-the-vote efforts are commonplace. They are also very effective.
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5 Comments
Comment posted August 2, 2010 @ 8:12 pm
I'm 55 years old and have never voted. I'm also a 99'er. I'm voting this fall to drive out every Rep in office. That they go on another vacation (paid for by my hard work) and leave so many in such a bad way – and they are not even ashamed has become to much to take. Everyone should vote this time. There is no one who hasn't seen the coldness of these people.
Comment posted August 2, 2010 @ 8:17 pm
This is a nice story. However, I do not see any links to people who actually are trying to organize the unemployed. Outside of becoming a follower on tweet or a fan on MyFace. Am I the only one who thinks this is wrong?
Christopher
Christopher Hobe Morrison
cmorrison5_at_hvc.rr.com
Comment posted August 3, 2010 @ 2:11 am
go here for more info…
http://minnesotaindependent.com/61896/the-unemp…
they have some groups/places to go…
go voters!!
Comment posted August 3, 2010 @ 8:38 am
If your 55 and never voted and been unemployed for two years,well you can not live of the gov for the rest of your life and besides Harry Reid took your 20 billion and gave it to the teachers unions today and cut your food stamps to pay for it
Comment posted April 26, 2011 @ 1:54 pm
Nobody owes you a job. You have to be of value and contribute to providing or producing something of value. With so much production – textiles, electronics, industrial machinery, etc – being moved to lower labor cost areas overseas, there are less “real” jobs available here. This has been going on for decades. The global economy objective will result in standards of living trending lower in some countries (US, Europe) while trending higher in others.
We are now competing with others around the world who, contrary to popular opinion, are just as capable as Americans…and we have given them the opportunity. Politicians can’t fix that, so stop believing their BS. The solution is within the American individual, as it always is.
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