How serious are the leaders of my union about supporting Occupy Wall Street? I found the emphatic answer was in my inbox:

But Congress still isn’t listening to the 99%. Policies continue to fail the 99% and reward the rich at the expense of the rest of us.

Last Thursday, it happened again: Senate Republicans once again blocked progress for workers with a political maneuver, filibustering the Teachers and First Responders Back to Work Act. It didn’t get a vote at all. Justice for the 99% once again was delayed.

If Congress won’t represent the 99%, then we clearly need to put our anger into action and stand together. Let’s build a movement that is strong enough that our elected officials will have no choice but to start addressing the needs of the 99%.

If you can’t join protesters on the ground, one way to make your voice heard is to send a message of solidarity.

Your message of solidarity—which will be delivered by Working America—will go a long way to energize the protesters who are camping out in the rain and cold. And it only takes a moment to write.

It’s even better if you can join an Occupy event yourself. Since the protests are a truly organic movement, and aren’t organized by the AFL-CIO, we can’t tell you exactly what will be happening when you arrive. But what we can tell you is this: The more people who can stand in solidarity, the better. Once you join your local protest, you can find ways to get involved. Check out this map of protests.

We’ll continue to urge Congress to do what’s right on jobs, despite setbacks and obstacles.

But in addition to directly communicating with Congress, each of us has to do his or her part to change our national conversation if we’re going to move America forward.

One easy but powerful way to do that right now is to show support for activists who are keeping the Occupy movement going.

If you’re able, we hope you’ll also join an Occupy event in your area. And stay tuned for more ways to make your voice heard on and offline in the coming weeks.

Let’s keep standing together—we are the 99%.

In Solidarity,

Manny Herrmann

Online Mobilization Coordinator, AFL-CIO