Why I'm an Activist

Felipe Gutierrez, CWA Local 6201

Felipe Gutierrez:
Why am I involved? I’m union. I’m LGBT. I’m an immigrant. I’m a Mexican American who became a US citizen just four days after September 11, 2001.

This is my first election cycle as legislative chair of CWA Local 6201. But I’ve been politically involved for the past 10 years.

Change doesn’t occur unless you make it occur. I know it’s cliché, but it’s a fact. You have to get on your feet, use your hands, do the work yourself. Don’t sit back and let others take charge of your wages, health care and job security. You have to get up, get out and vote. You need to be making those calls at the phone bank. Write those letters.

If you don’t vote, you have no power.

In North Texas, we’re fighting hard for two great supporters of working families: State Sen. Wendy Davis, who is running for reelection, and state Rep. Marc Veasey, the Democratic nominee for North Texas’ newest congressional district. And we’ll be getting out the vote for all our labor-endorsed candidates.

Every election year, people say this is the most important one of our lifetime. But when it comes down to labor, it really is. People need to understand what’s at stake and what we’ll be losing if we don’t elect our labor-endorsed candidate — Barack Obama. That’s why we’re working to educate our members on the issues, laying down what’s at stake and what they could lose in the long run.

Jane Phillip, CWA Local 4900

Jane Phillips:
Educating people has always been my biggest goal. Without legislative action, we’re never going to be successful in representation or organizing.

Now it’s more important than ever. We’re supporting former Indiana House Speaker John Gregg in his run for governor. He’s for working families, while Mike Pence didn’t support a single bill that helped working families in the Senate. This year we became a “right to work” state, so it’s with great passion that all the locals are working to get Gregg elected.

And if things go our way, there are five congressional seats that could go to Democrats.

I am so proud that at CWA we do look at the candidates. Just because you’re a Democrat, if you’re not supporting working family issues, we’re not going to support you.

We’re telling members, “Look at the facts and look at what directly impacts you.” Once you take the time for one-on-one conversations, people understand it’s not about party and it’s really about the issues.