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New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie and every other politician who spent 2011 beating up on public workers and slashing the services they provide should be forced to talk directly to people like Ellen Vidal.

A teacher turned social worker, Local 1088's Vidal assists mentally and physically disabled adults, then heads home to care for two adopted children who've had severe medical issues of their own. So has Vidal, who endured numerous surgeries after a bad root canal. For the better part of two years, she hung a bag of IV antibiotics from her blinds at work so she could infuse herself every four hours.

CWA Volunteers Fight Tirelessly to Overturn Ohio's Anti-Bargaining Law It?s because of CWAers like Diane Bailey and Barb Allen that petitions to repeal an anti-bargaining rights law in Ohio had to be hauled to the secretary of state's office in a semi-truck.

Jeanette Spoor could be living a life of leisure in retirement. Instead she's at rallies, on picket lines, meeting with allies to build coalitions of activists and, most recently, helping lead protests against a New York congresswoman who wants to kill Medicare.

"I just don't think I could go to sleep at night without giving it my best shot," says Spoor, the president of CWA Local 1103's Retired Members' Chapter. "I have stamina and energy and I'm going to fight for what I believe in."

Trading lazy summer days for the chance to make a difference, CWA activists turned up the heat on lawmakers at "August Accountability" events from coast to coast.

Together with allies, they packed town hall meetings, protested outside politicians' district offices, leafleted at airports, wrote letters and made phone calls throughout August and early September. And now they're ready for more.