How do we get to the 50 million (a majority) strong we need to enact the changes we need? Here’s the math: if 82.5 million people voted in 2010 and 131 million voted in 2008 (record turnout), then a voting electorate of 50 million organized progressives would shake up the status quo. We would be able to elect (and hold accountable) legislators who can remove the blocks to our democracy. Getting 50 million people to align and act on the same issues may seem daunting, but we know from experience that it is possible.
Success starts with relationships and shared activism.
Coalitions have long been a part of CWA history. In 1987, CWA founded Jobs with Justice, a national network of local coalitions for organizing, bargaining rights and secure sustainable jobs. More recently, CWA has formed coalitions with NAACP, the Sierra Club, Common Cause, and other allied groups in several states/districts/sectors/division. You may have already been building local partnerships with allies. Now, more than ever, we need a broad-reaching, long-term and localized program to develop and sustain active coalitions with like-minded membership-based groups for economic justice and democracy. To do that, we need to reach out to more progressive membership groups in our area to get to know one another and to start working together.
Each local or state council can create a narrative like the stories and examples in this book.
This is not a complete list of progressive organizations. Others are likely present in your communities.