CWA Hits 1/3 of its Million Member Mobilization August Goal

The number of CWAers signing on to the Million Member Mobilization for the Employee Free Choice Act reached 21,230 as of Aug. 4 as CWA kicks off its union wide "August blitz" to gather 65,000 signed cards by Aug. 29. The night before, August 28, hundreds of CWA members across the country are planning to host or attend house parties to view Barack Obama's acceptance speech as Democratic presidential nominee, using the occasion to gather more signatures.

In terms of percentage of members signed up for the Employee Free Choice Act mobilization, District 2 is leading all others, having reached over 56 percent of its goal. "Our mobilization coordinators are really doing a terrific job of reaching out to members who want to add their names to the campaign," said District 2 Staff Representative Bill Evitt, who is the district's Million Member Mobilization coordinator.

Local activists in the district have set up tables at large call centers, giving hundreds of CWA-represented workers the opportunity to sign up. Some 150 workers alone signed up at a 400-person Verizon call center in Hampton, Va.  Locals throughout the district have continued to sign up supporters even after surpassing their individual goals. Locals 2001 and 2055 have collected twice as many signatures as they had pledged, and Local 2107 is close behind at 150 percent of its goal.

This week, CWA's Executive Board asked local union leaders and staff to attend or host the house parties on Aug. 28 to kick off CWA's three-month effort with other Alliance unions to assure the election of  pro-worker candidates on Nov. 4. CWA has prepared a kit for the house parties, with issue handouts, sign-up sheets, and tips for activities. For information about hosting a party and ordering a kit visit www.cwavotes.org/partykit.

Since last week's newsletter report, 17 more CWA locals have met or exceeded their goal of signing up 15 percent or more of their members:  Dist. 1: 1102, 51026, ­Dist. 2: 2055, Dist. 3: 3102, 3601, 3950, 3990, Dist. 4: 4302, 4321, 4703, 4998, 84808, Dist. 6: 6310, 6320, 6355, Dist. 7: 7290, Dist. 13: 13100.

Click here, http://www.freechoiceact.org/cwa/localinfo/, for a full listing of locals that have fulfilled their 15 percent pledge.