Labor leaders in Maine, North Carolina, and Texas have launched an ambitious initiative called the “Contract with Working America.” Its central idea is direct: use deep canvassing to learn what working families actually think, then turn those conversations into a concrete plan of action.

The outreach relies on extensive, in depth conversations rather than policy crafted from above. It has already reached hundreds of thousands of union members and people outside unions, giving organizers a broad base of worker concerns.

Braxton Winston, president of the North Carolina AFL-CIO, described how the process challenged easy assumptions. “Deep canvassing allowed us to affirm and adjust what we thought we knew, rather than just assuming. It helped us reach out to a part of our membership that often doesn’t vote with us.”

The resulting contracts include familiar progressive policies, but their legitimacy comes from how they were created. The priorities reflect the stated concerns of ordinary workers rather than the preferences of policy experts operating from the top.

“The labor movement needs to lead and we need to have a broader moral vision that connects to a better life for working people,” said Matt Schlobohm, executive director of the Maine AFL-CIO. “That theory of change informs this whole project.”

The organizers found that many working class people ranked corruption ahead of even the cost of living. The Texas contract calls for shifting political power from wealthy elites and special interests to working families, while making rich people and major corporations pay their fair share.

Other Texas priorities address gas and drug prices, affordable and reliable health care, paid sick days, family and medical leave, and child care costs. Derrick Osobase of the Communications Workers of America, an executive board member of the Texas AFL-CIO, said workers see a system dominated by corporate power.

“People are expressing real-life hardships,” Osobase said. “The folks we listen to on the doors feel that necessary change can’t be done because the system is captured by big business.”

In Maine, the “Contract with Maine’s Working Class” places health care, housing, wages, energy, and child care among its leading concerns. Labor leaders see that agenda as a foundation for union organizing and political support for candidates aligned with workers.

The political connection is already visible. Democratic Senate candidate James Talarico and gubernatorial contender Gina Hinojosa signed the Texas version, while Democratic Senate nominee Troy Jackson announced a “Pledge to Working Mainers” on Labor Day drawing from the contract.

“These are people we are mobilizing not just to go and vote but to be a part of changing their economic conditions,” Osobase said. “We are going to be back to those folks. The process feeds into organizing and building a coalition.”

The three states are especially notable because each has a low percentage of unionized workers. North Carolina and Texas have right to work laws, while Maine once had a larger labor movement but suffered from deindustrialization.

Even so, organized labor has demonstrated influence beyond its membership numbers. After Graham Platner suddenly exited Maine’s Senate race, the AFL-CIO and its affiliates quickly organized behind longtime ally Troy Jackson and helped secure his nomination by an overwhelming margin.

Maine labor leaders do not view political alliances as a substitute for organizing. “We have to define an agenda created by us,” Schlobohm said. “If we don’t define this, somebody else will. The framework of a contract is key because union members understand contracts.”

Winston acknowledged that this kind of expansive listening is not labor’s usual practice. “The core of labor is collectively bargained contracts, not this kind of outreach and active listening.”

Private sector unions have led the effort across all three states, including UNITE HERE, CWA, and the UAW, along with the SEIU and AFT. Organizers also see an opportunity to reconnect with union members who backed Donald Trump because they believed neither party establishment served them.

A movement directed by workers could also counter corporate Democrats pushing the party toward the center. Schlobohm offered a blunter path forward: “People learn through action,” and “we need to listen to people and devise polarizing campaigns around pocketbook issues. That’s how we revive class formation.”