April 4: A Call to Action

As CWA members work together to build the future, we remember the efforts of those who came before us.  Their work helped establish the foundation upon which we stand to fight for the right to organize, the right to collectively bargain, for retirement security, jobs, and for political power. Most importantly, a historic perspective provides the tools we need to plot a positive course.  Labor history provides many successful examples of our potential to be change agents.  This year marks the 100th anniversary of the historic Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire that took the lives of 146 garment workers, mostly young women. It changed the politics of the country and improved the working conditions of all Americans.  Yet today we face state and federal efforts to rollback safety protections."

Global events such as the massive citizen uprising in Egypt along with anti-union battles taking place in many states across the nation underscore two critical labor truisms.  First, that organizing remains the key to progress and that organized labor remains the most potent catalyst for change.  Though we may not win every battle, in the long run our focus on building a nation that protects every person’s civil and human rights will help bring security and prosperity to workers, to our children and to our grandchildren.

We learned that lesson on April 4, 1968 when the world came to a standstill immediately following the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. in Memphis, Tennessee.  Those set on promulgating Jim Crowe felt the need to disrupt the progress of our movement.  However, instead of fracturing the movement, this cowardly act only served to galvanize progressive voices across the nation and around the world.  The modern civil rights movement was growing more relevant and effective each day.  And because of this fateful event, more people took up the fight for equal rights and for a more just system of government.

April 4, 2011 will recall the bravery of millions, many of whom are still alive and remain committed to human rights and dignity.  This coming April 4^th is a day of action and each of us can contribute in our own way.

The CWA National Committee on Civil Rights and Equity and the CWA National Women’s Committee want to lead by example.  Representatives on each national committee along with staff will join Local and District activities, standing up for justice.

We ask that you step up by working with CWA Local and national leadership and with members of your union.  CWA has mounted a Call to Action website that gives you the tools you need to promote workplace action.  You can create an event, join an event, orders stickers and signs, print out informational flyers, workplace flyers, or identify activities as they unfold in your area.  But most importantly, we want you to act!  We ask that you download the resource materials available on the CWA website and develop your own action plan.  Feel free to take informational and workplace flyers and post them on the union bulletin board.  Talk to your coworkers and encourage those who do not have a plan for April 4^th to join YOU in Local or the District activities.

As an activist, the steps you take on April 4, 2011 will help ensure our future.  Each CWA national committee member thanks you for the work you have done thus far to fight attempts to deprive working people of their right to organize and bargain collectively.  The first amendment to the Constitution of the United States guarantees freedom of speech and freedom of assembly for peaceful purposes.  It served as the foundation for the principles that Dr. King and other civil rights activists came together to espouse on April 4^th 1968.  April 4, 2011 is our best opportunity to remember these brave people in and out of labor and to collectively raise our voices while continuing that legacy.  Let’s GET ACTIVE!