CWA Members & Retirees Holding Congress Accountable

In Houston, more than 100 CWA members and retirees held Rep. John Mica (R-Fla.) accountable for playing tea party shutdown politics with the Federal Aviation Administration.

Below: Julie Bratcher of CWA Local 9421 and other CWAers take part in a Medicare Town Hall meeting sponsored by Local 9421, the Sacramento Central Labor Council, the UFCW Local 8 and the IAM, and others.

In August and September, CWA members and retirees across the country are attending congressional town halls, visiting members of Congress at their district offices, and leafleting workplaces to hold Congress accountable for their votes on issues critical to workers and the middle class.

Last weekend, hundreds of members of CWA and AFA-CWA joined with other activists at a hotel next to the George Bush Intercontinental Airport in Houston to urge House Transportation Committee Chair Rep. John Mica (R-Fla.) to stop playing politics, and provide full funding for the Federal Aviation Administration. Mica was there to speak at a fundraiser.

Last month, Mica prompted a 12-day shutdown of the agency, and vital airport construction projects nationwide along with it, by blocking funding for the FAA unless Democrats agreed to restore un-Democratic union election rules in the airlines where non votes are counted as "no" votes. Some 70,000 workers were thrown off the job because of the shutdown.

Last Friday, CWAers also picketed outside of Mica's district office on Ponce De Leon Boulevard, in St. Augustine, Fla., to protest the congressman's role in the shutdown. "He's playing politics," said Floyd Carroll, legislative coordinator for CWA Local 3106. "It hurt our economy."

Delta Air Lines is a major player in getting an anti-union provision included into the FAA funding measure, and CWA members are mounting a petition drive to get the airline to back off. Delta and its political allies in Congress want to hold the FAA hostage again on Sept. 16 when the current short-term funding measure expires. Sign the petition here to tell Delta that union-busting won't fly.

Members and retirees are also targeting members of Congress for their votes to make deep cuts in Medicare, jeopardizing the benefits that millions of Americans rely on every day. In Sacramento, CWA members picketed the district office of Rep. Dan Lundgren, in one of four actions in Lundgren's congressional district. Lundgren voted to turn Medicare into a voucher program. On Aug. 23, in Duluth, Minn., CWA will host a contingent of senior citizens and other activists in a protest of Rep. Chip Cravaack's vote against Medicare.

Write your senator and member of Congress to protect the American dream by voting to protect Medicare. Click here.

CWA members have participated in more than 115 Accountability actions to date with 55 more actions currently planned for later this month and next. Click here to get involved or find an action in your area.