5-25-06, 9:59am

Working families in Rochester, Minn., and Allentown, Pa., and the surrounding areas who want a powerful voice in critical political and legislative debates now can turn to the AFL-CIO’s community affiliate, Working America, to help make themselves heard. The grassroots group opens offices in both cities today.

Working America gives working families that lack the benefits of union membership the opportunity to join forces with the AFL-CIO’s 9 million members in the fight for good jobs, health care, retirement security and more.

Rochester, in southeastern Minnesota, is the state’s third largest city behind the “Twin Cities” of Minneapolis and St. Paul, where Working America launched its Minnesota operations in February. Some 125,000 Minnesotans are expected to sign up with Working America by the end of the year and play a major role in this year’s elections.

Along with the new Allentown office, Working America has operations in Philadelphia and Pittsburgh and expects to top 285,000 Pennsylvania members by the end of the year.

Launched in 2003, Working America is more than 1 million members strong and the nation’s fastest growing organization for working people. Working America members already have had significant impact in local and national political action—from mobilizing to pass a Seattle hospital levy that helped fund emergency responders and helping elect Tim Kaine as Virginia’s governor in 2005 to delivering more than 60,000 hand-written letters to U.S. senators urging them to oppose Social Security privatization.

Working America members set the group’s priorities by voting online. Last year, members tapped health care, good jobs and retirement security as their top three issues.

If you live in the Rochester area and want more information, call 507-292-1112. Allentown-area residents can call 610-797-1859.

Along with its national headquarters in Washington, D.C., and its Minnesota and Pennsylvania offices, Working America has locations in Ohio, Oregon and Washington State.