CWA Everyday Heroes -- Local 3805 Helps Seniors Get Digital TV

This is the first in a new feature that will run from time to time recognizing the contributions of CWA members and locals to their communities. If you have a similar story to tell, contact jhartman@cwa-union.org.

Local 3805 Helps Seniors Get Digital TV

Ray Mehaffey, a CWA Local 3805 board member and AT&T technician, is one of the local's volunteers who are installing digital converter boxes for seniors in the Knoxville, Tenn., area. The nation switches to  all-digital broadcast TV on June 12.

CWA-represented technicians are making sure that senior citizens in and around Knoxville, Tenn., will be ready June 12 when the nation's transition to all-digital broadcast TV is complete.

At least 15 AT&T technicians in Local 3805 have volunteered and been trained to make house calls to install and program digital converter boxes, which are necessary for viewers who have analog-only TVs and no cable or satellite service.

Local 3805 President Debbie Helsley said she learned from a colleague on her community's United Way board that senior citizens, many of them very low income, were having trouble buying the boxes and installing them.

So early this year, Helsley paired up with the Knox County Community Action Committee, which provides services for seniors. The CAC forwards names of seniors who request help to Helsley's local, which then dispatches a volunteer.

Helsley said the CAC received grant funds to help staff the phones and pay for mileage, but CWA told the organization to reinvest the mileage money in programs for people in need.

An engineer from WATE-TV in Knoxville trained the AT&T technicians, who Helsley said can attest that hooking up the boxes and making them work properly isn't as easy as publicity about digital conversion makes it sound.

"He brought an old TV from his house – one of those old knob TVs that only has channels 2 to 13, and it worked out real well for his demonstration," she said. "But he showed us that there's a lot that can go wrong when you hook them up."

Some of the seniors have used the government's $40 coupon to buy converter boxes, but others are on such tight budgets they can't afford even the extra $10 or so that the coupon doesn't cover. Helsley said she knows of technicians who have used coupons and paid the balance themselves to provide seniors with the boxes.

So far, Local 3805 technicians have helped 15 or 20 seniors in Knox County, and Helsley expects the number to rise as the June 12 deadline nears. She's also trying to extend the program to 16 nearby counties.