AT&T Mobility Leadership Conference Energizes Workers

Conference attendees at a strategy session in Portland, Ore.

This week CWA's AT&T Mobility Leadership Conference brought together about 200 members from across the country to Portland, Ore.

During the general session, members heard from AT&T Mobility workers in New York City who helped organize the very first MetroPCS retail store. "Everyone needs a fair chance. Everyone deserves a voice on the job," said Tiffany Rosario of CWA Local 1101.

The entire conference gave Ellen Brackeen, a TU activist who was unfairly disciplined at work because of her union activity, a standing ovation. Earlier this month, the National Labor Relations Board announced that the U.S. government would prosecute T-Mobile US for violating U.S. labor law.

"There's power in numbers and there's power in people," she said.

Ellen Brackeen works at a T-Mobile call center in Wichita, Kan.

Brackeen told them, "We need your help. It says a lot when I can tell my coworkers that these aren't just union people out there, these aren't people completely unrelated to our cause. These are AT&T employees. These are people who do our job. These are people telling us that we can have better. These are competitors, but they're people in our industry who are trying to support us."

Attendees also went to workshops on movement building, the Trans-Pacific Partnership, online organizing and new member orientation. They pulled out their wallets and helped stamp big money out of politics by legally stamping that message on our nation's currency. And activists picketed outside of Portland's local broadcast station, KOIN TV, which has brought in union busters following the NABET-CWA contract expiration and sent good union jobs to right-to-work (for less) Indiana.

The Unity@Mobility campaign kicked off this past fall with a push to educate Mobility members, many of whom aren't familiar with unions or the benefits of having a union contract.