April 4: An 'Amazing Day' from Coast to Coast

Thousands of Events Bolster Fight for Workers' Rights, Economic Justice

CWA Local 2204 members rally April 4 in Abingdon, Va.

Below: CWA members gather for speeches inside Indiana's statehouse April 4.

Embracing the April 4 movement proposed by CWA just a few weeks earlier, hundreds of thousands of people across the country made their voices heard Monday in their workplaces, their communities and outside businesses and government buildings in the intensifying national fight for workers' rights and economic justice.

"April 4th was an amazing day, from Puerto Rico to Hawaii, and we can all be proud of our union," CWA President Larry Cohen said. "Elected officials and employers are on notice that we will resist their attacks on our bargaining rights and our standard of living. Unorganized workers are more aware that they can organize and that we and other unions will be there with them."

Cohen proposed to the AFL-CIO Executive Council in early March that unions and progressive allies plan events for April 4, the anniversary of Martin Luther King, Jr.'s murder in Memphis. King was there to stand with hundreds of striking sanitation workers who were fighting for dignity, safe working conditions and bargaining rights.

CWA locals organized more than 300 community events and another 300 at worksites, where members wore red and "Stand Up for Workers' Rights" stickers, passed out literature and had lunchtime gatherings, among other activities.

Many April 4 events got good local media coverage that mentioned CWA and even quoted some members. Speaking in Maryland Heights, Mo., about CWA-represented child welfare workers, Local 6355's Richard von Glahn said, "Our members make anywhere from $22,000 to $31,000 a year. They protect children from child abuse. They're not the bad guys."

In New Jersey, CWA Local 1038 President Paul Alexander told reporters, "The struggle of 43 years ago is not entirely different from the struggle people are looking at today. What was taking place in Memphis was sanitation workers fighting for the right to negotiate a contract and to bargain. We're being stripped of our collective bargaining rights as we speak."

The list below is a sampling of events that CWA members helped plan and participate in around the country. Many videos have been posted on YouTube.com and are easily found by searching for "April 4" and "CWA." Hundreds of photos from across the country are posted on CWA's Flickr page. Click here to view them.

In Youngstown, Ohio, members of CWA Local 4300 rallied in front of Child Protective Services to remind everyone what's at stake.

In New York City, more than 5,000 CWAers and members from 35 other unions and allies rallied at City Hall.

In Washington, D.C., CWA President Larry Cohen helps lead an April 4 march toward a Koch Brothers building, where protesters decried the union-busting billionaires.

In Phoenix, Arizona, Local 7019 organized a "redeem the dream" evening rally.

In Newark, N.J., CWA locals organized a march and rally for Jobs, Peace, Justice and Equality, joined by NAACP Chair Ben Jealous, who also spoke at the Washington, D.C., rally.

In Louisville, Ky., union members from CWA, AFSCME, IUE-CWA, Firefighters and other unions held a huge "block party for public workers," drawing union members, people of faith, civil and human rights activists and other allies. Click here for a video, including a performance by the Grammy-nominated Nappy Roots.

In Colorado Springs, Colo., Local 7708 members held a candlelight vigil.

In Seattle, Wash., Local 7800 members and community supporters rallied at Martin Luther King Memorial Park.

At many public events, participants brought food for churches and food banks to distribute. Members of Local 9416 in Stockton, Calif., also brought gently used work shoes for a local church to distribute.

CWAers also used April 4 to draw attention to the fight for bargaining rights at T-Mobile. Members handbilled at 18 T-Mobile call centers across the country, including Oakland, Maine, Wichita, Kan., and Thornton, Colo.

In Richmond, Va., members of Local 2201 stood at noon, whether they worked at Verizon, AT&T, Ben Franklin, Avaya, SuperMedia, Progress Index or other employers. Members also marched into work together. Then, with a giant workers' rights float, members leafleted workers at the Richmond T-Mobile call center.

In Frisco, Texas, near Dallas, members of Local 6215 set up shifts for 11 hours of leafleting outside the T-Mobile call center.

In Salt Lake City, CWA members take part in a huge "We Are One" protest outside Utah's statehouse.

Below: A tiny demonstrator in San Francisco joins thousands of CWA members who turned out for April 4 rallies in cities throughout California.

In Fort Lauderdale, Fla, Local 3104 organized a rally outside their city's T-Mobile call center.

At workplaces nationwide, CWA members planned a variety of actions. Some stood up on the job, every hour at some workplaces. Some marched into work together and tens of thousands wore red, as well as stickers, black ribbons and armbands. A sampling:

In Rocky Gap, Va., Local 2276 members wore red.

In Beaumont, Texas, Local 6139 members wore red and leafleted the worksite.

In Springfield, Mo., Local 6132 members rallied, then marched into work together.

In Salt Lake City, Utah, Local 7704 members held a "Sea of Red" day.

In Fairmont, W.Va., Local 2004 members held a plant gate rally.

In Detroit, CWA members stood up on the hour, all wearing red, and technicians marched into work together.

In Allentown, Penn., CWA members and a coalition of allies hosted an honored guest, Jesse Epps, at a news conference about the fight for working families. Epps was on the hotel balcony in Memphis with King when the fatal shots were fired. A story in The Morning Call described how Epps talked about the barrage of attacks on other state workers and expressed his fear that America is not living up to King's ideals.

"You do not have the right to permit anyone to take us back to yesterday," Epps said. "When we got our road map — the Constitution — what does it tell us? 'We the people, in order to form a more perfect...'"

"Union!" the crowd shouted back.