CWAers Push State Public Service Commission for High-Speed Internet Access for All New Yorkers

Over 200 CWA members traveled recently to Albany, NY, to lobby their state assembly members in favor of access to high-speed internet for all New Yorkers and to picket the Public Service Commission, which has failed in its promise to review the state of telecommunications in the state.

Some 200 District 1 CWAers met in Albany to lobby legislators for high-speed broadband access for all.

Last year, PSC promised to conduct a study of the state of the telecommunications industry as a first step towards implementing new policies which would provide access to high-speed internet for all New Yorkers. PSC was going to compel Verizon to extend FiOS throughout the state and improve customer service quality for telephone networks.

CWAers chanted "What do we need? Good Jobs!" and "PSC! PSC! We don't want monopoly!" outside of the PSC hearings, making it clear that workers and consumers in New York deserve public commissioners that listen to them when they say every New Yorker deserves high quality service and access to high-speed internet. Doing that would mean good jobs for New York telecom workers.

Members of the New York State Assembly heard from CWA members as well. Activists spoke to their elected officials in favor of a series of bills that would force PSC to conduct its promised study, protect workers and consumers in the event that Verizon sold or transferred its network to another company, restore mandatory fines for telecommunications companies that failed to meet service quality standards, and prevent Verizon from forcing customers onto fixed wireless service called VoiceLink.

VoiceLink would destroy jobs and would not support needed services such as internet access, medical monitoring "LifeAlert" services, and credit card processing for small businesses.