Without a significant effort among politicians to work out a bipartisan jobs plan, union organizers are more charged than ever with the task of bringing together unemployed workers. Problematic for organizers is that many of the “unemployed” do not wish to identify themselves as such. In her article, “Can labor organize the unemployed?,” writer Jenny Brown looks into what organized labor is doing to help the unemployed in the early stages of the election cycle.

Wrenching testimonies from laid-off workers are overflowing the Internet, crying out from the pages of policy reports, and popping up in commercial media. But unions are still grappling with how to organize the unemployed, including their own ex-members, into a political force.

Department of Labor figures for December showed 13.1 million unemployed and actively looking for work, almost half of them for more than six months. Another 8.1 million were working part-time involuntarily, and 2.5 million were too discouraged to look for work.

The partisanship that has tainted Congressional attempts at a workable jobs plan has led the nation to turn against its lawmakers like never before. Congressional approval ratings have recently sunk to 10 percent, an outright abomination. Republicans have begun to make the 2012 election into a hack job referendum on social issues putting Democrats in a position to remind the American voter that the economy is the most pressing issue for over 20 million unemployed and partially employed people. This reality-based message should contrast starkly with the social crusading of the modern GOP.

In battleground states that elected Republican majorities in 2010 despite traditionally trending blue, organizing the unemployed could be vital going into November. Democrats will undoubtedly remind voters of how they have been affected by the obstructionist agenda of Republicans in the U.S. House. According to U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics unemployment numbers, some of those states might include Nevada (12.6%), California (11.1%), Florida (9.9%), North Carolina (9.9), Michigan (9.3%), Ohio (8.1%), Pennsylvania (7.6%), and Wisconsin (7.1%). All of these states’ delegates went to Barack Obama in 2008 yet in 2012 only California and North Carolina have Democrats in the Governor’s office. These states are where the election will be decided.

Interestingly, according to Brown’s article, many unemployed people feel shame about their status rendering it a difficult organizational starting point:

Jobs with Justice chapters have been experimenting with organizing the unemployed, but at a recent conference activists expressed frustration. The model of “unemployed” as an identity group (like race or sex) hasn’t worked, many said.

“The isolation and shame is really tough,” said laid-off Chicago electrician Carole Ramsden. “Especially union members, you have a lot of pride of working at your job, and all of a sudden you lose that.” When she was laid off three years ago, 2,000 members of her local were ahead of her on the list waiting for work.

Some unions are dipping into their own paychecks to help the unemployed:

Some unions have reacted with help for laid-off members. The Transport Workers in New York City voted to pay $5 in extra dues for six months to maintain health insurance for unemployed members. Many of them are now back at work.

A Sheet Metal Workers local in Philadelphia voted several extensions for supplements to unemployment benefits for their members, and in April they voted overwhelmingly to divert an additional 50 cents per hour worked from their welfare fund to support those who’ve run out of unemployment benefits.

By identifying the demographic whose support is most likely to decide the fate of the 2012 election, both political parties and organized labor organizations gain a strategic advantage in terms of message targeting. Ironically, it is the very demographic everybody wants to see disappear.

Read Jenny Brown’s entire piece HERE.