CWA Supporters Help Keep the Heat on Verizon, Verizon Wireless

Three-time Grammy winner Steve Earle last week called out Verizon Communications for hitting up workers for another $20,000 a year in compensation cuts while posting another record earnings quarter this year.

This was just one of the actions aimed at pushing Verizon management to do the right thing and bargain fairly.

As part of Shareholder Spring, a crowd of 1,000 workers, students and progressive activists demonstrated inside and outside Verizon's annual meeting on May 3 in Huntsville, Ala. They called on the company to stop its assault on customers, employees and American taxpayers; Verizon has earned the nickname "VeriGreedy" for its emphasis on corporate greed.

Check out this video from the shareholder meeting, featuring Earle's great song, "God is God."

Earle, a musician, writer and actor, is a strong supporter of workers fighting for economic and political justice, among other progressive stands.

Verizon, meanwhile, is a $100 billion company that won't bargain fairly with 45,000 union workers who want to hold on to the American Dream.

In addition to the company's demands for $20,000 in annual givebacks from workers, amounting to $1 billion a year, Verizon wants another $1 billion a year from consumers for upgrading their phones.

Despite billions in profits, Verizon dodges taxes and has sent thousands of American jobs overseas. It didn't pay a dime in federal corporate income taxes from 2008-2010. In fact, it got a nearly $1 billion tax rebate over that period. And Verizon CEO Lowell McAdam makes more money in one day than a Verizon technician makes in an entire year.