Thousands of Verizon Workers Rally in Philly

Nearly five thousand workers and supporters rallied at the Verizon offices in downtown Philadelphia on Saturday morning to demand a fair contract and good jobs at Verizon. A sea of red shirts filled the streets as we marched two miles through downtown to join 35,000 brothers and sisters from across the country to rally for middle-class jobs and a Second Bill of Rights at the Workers Stand for America rally.

Jennifer Travis, a CWA member who helped run a repair call center in Pittsburgh, was fired last fall after 15 years of service to Verizon. She told her story to thousands of brothers and sisters in Philadelphia. Her situation, sadly, is not uncommon. During the Verizon strike, she took her husband and two of her three kids to the picket line. She wanted to pass on the pride of being in a union to her children.

We were loud and boisterous, but peaceful. The company says that I assaulted a manager as he escorted a scab across our picket line. Those are outrageous and false allegations. And, together with my union, we are fighting back.

But mine was not an isolated incident. Several of my brothers and sisters were fired or disciplined last August for similarly trumped up charges. What many of us have in common is our highly visible status as union leaders and activists. It makes me wonder if the company retaliated against us in an effort to intimidate other members who would consider standing up for their union in the future. If that's true, it's flat out bullying, and it's disgusting.