The president and charter member of the AFT retiree chapter at William Paterson University in Wayne, N.J., squeezed into the Senate chamber with dozens of other AFT members and community activists to cheer on Democratic Sens. Edward Kennedy of Massachusetts, and Hillary Rodham Clinton and Charles Schumer of New York, as they vowed to raise the federal minimum wage from $5.15 to $7.25 an hour.

AFL-CIO president John Sweeney entrusted the senators with the job, noting that since members of Congress last raised the minimum wage a decade ago, they have given themselves nine pay raises, which is “nothing short of immoral,” while the minimum wage bumps along at its lowest value in 51 years. “Brothers and sisters,” Sweeney said, “it’s time to bring everyone up.”

Singling out school paraprofessionals among the men and women who work hard at the most difficult jobs in America, Kennedy promised to restore fairness to the workforce: “Anyone who works 40 hours a week 52 weeks a year in the richest country in the world should not live in poverty.”

Clinton said she’s heard enough excuses about why Congress can’t give America a raise. No minimum wage, no more congressional raises, she said. “Are we ready to let justice roll?” she asked. “We may not be tanned and rested, but we’re ready. We’ve been working for this day, and now it’s coming.”

AFT e-Activist Grier, a retired Army colonel and member of the AFT since 1980, moved outside of Washington, D.C., after retiring from WPU. That location makes it easy for him to come into the nation’s capital, he says, whenever there’s a rally or event taking place that he cares about. Now that the majorities in the House and Senate have turned over, “labor has an opportunity to make headway with federal legislation and we must increase vigilance.”

That was all Coleman needed to hear.

Today, you can hear her excitement as she talks about the topics she plans to address in upcoming meetings with Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.), and U.S. Reps. Artur Davis (D-Ala.) and Spencer Bachus (R-Ala.). “I’d love to discuss funding for career technical education, and NCLB … how narrowing the curriculum means ignoring huge groups.”

Coleman applauds the program’s emphasis on meeting with representatives from both sides of the aisle. There are many pragmatists in both parties, she believes, and they want to know how legislation is really working in their communities.

Joining Coleman on her local’s ACE committee is Janice Grady, a teacher at Chalkville Elementary in Birmingham. She knows firsthand the power of offering just the right story to elected officials—the telling anecdote that illustrates a problem from the frontlines.

Grady was among a group of teachers who met with Sessions last year before reauthorization of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). Their reports from the field made a big impression on Capitol Hill and helped win stronger provisions on student codes of conduct in the new law.

“A lot of things look different on paper than what really happens in the classroom, and [Congress] needs to know that,” explains Grady.

Coleman knows there are hundreds of teachers, faculty and other AFT members around the country who are “on the fence” right now: They like the ACE idea but wonder where they’d find the time. Or if a face-to-face meeting with a big-name politician would be intimidating. Or if they are “expert” enough on the issues. For those members, Coleman stresses that there are points on big issues in government that can only be made by the people doing the work. “If we are silent, how will they ever hear?”