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#Listen2Workers Trust is earned, not demanded. Log In Email * Password * Remember Me Forgot Your Password? Log In New to The Nation? Subscribe Print subscriber? Activate your online access Skip to content Skip to footer #Listen2Workers Magazine Newsletters Subscribe Log In Search Subscribe Donate Magazine Latest Archive Podcasts Newsletters Sections Politics World Economy Culture Books & the Arts The Nation About Events Contact Us Advertise Current Issue February 25, 2026 #Listen2Workers How winning people’s trust involves listening to their challenges, ambition, ideas and stories. Greg Kaufmann Share Copy Link Facebook X (Twitter) Bluesky Pocket Email Ad Policy Striking Kaiser Permanente nurses and healthcare workers in the rain outside the Anaheim hospital, on February 16, 2026.(Mindy Schauer / MediaNewsGroup / Orange County Register via Getty Images) Donald Trump is tanking in the polls. But that public dissatisfaction hasn’t translated into working-class people trusting Democrats to have their backs. When it comes to either party addressing their concerns about grocery bills, rent checks, pay stubs, retirement, their children’s education—the kinds of things keeping people up at night—working-class voters are still taking a “lesser of two evils” approach. Having spent the last 14 years reporting on, visiting, or advocating for working-class communities in every region, this status quo doesn’t surprise me. Traveling the country you will hear a consistent message: “They [politicians] don’t care about me”; or “They only come around at election time.” Above all else, winning people’s trust involves sitting down with them and listening—to their challenges, their ambitions, their ideas… their stories. It takes a certain intimacy to achieve that. That’s why in the wake of the 2024 election, when a stream of punditry and post-mortems asked how can Democrats reconnect with the working class?—a coalition of state and national organizations (including my current employer, EPIC)—launched the #Listen2Workers campaign. Current Issue March 2026 Issue The campaign is built on a simple premise: Bring workers together with elected officials—local, state, and federal—and have authentic conversations. Ask workers about their lives, what is most pressing, their ideas for change. Listen, and then have a back and forth (no speeches) about what the legislator is hearing—about policy ideas, commitments, remaining questions, how they can work together. Afterward, a coalition of organizations can help the legislator show their work—through social-media-friendly clips—so the public can see the commitment to working people in action, rather than political leaders simply talking about their commitment. If the party wants to shake the narrative among working-class people that they aren’t committed, they must show the evidence. It comes down to the old adage, Show, don’t tell—if you want it to stick. Recently, Georgia House minority leader Carolyn Hugley hosted a #Listen2Workers forum in Macon, moderated by Stacey Abrams. A group of about 25 racially diverse, union and, importantly, nonunion workers, from both urban and rural communities, talked about wages that …