CWAers Stand Strong for Fair Contracts at AT&T

CWA members' determination to gain fair contracts at AT&T is stronger than ever, as workers continued to mobilize across the country to show solidarity, strength and support for their bargaining teams.

In Columbus, Ohio, the message on this member's shirt summed up the feelings of hundreds of AT&T workers who rallied for a fair contract.

Tens of thousands of CWA members also logged on to the first-ever e-union meeting. (See first story for more details.)

Last Friday, nearly a thousand CWAers gathered in Dallas outside the AT&T annual meeting, where they distributed a special "We Are the Network" report which underscores the critical role of CWA members have in AT&T's profitability, growth, and quality service.

Inside the meeting, Vice Presidents Andy Milburn, District 6, and Ralph Maly, Communications and Technologies, criticized AT&T for dragging its feet in negotiations and for its demands that will lower workers' standard of living.

Marine Corporal and CWA member Jordan Eash with Secretary of Labor Hilda Solis and CWA District 9 VP Jim Weitkamp.

In Los Angeles, more than 700 CWA members and union supporters filled the city streets as they marched from Union Station, where they attended a town hall meeting with Secretary of Labor Hilda Solis, to AT&T Center. Los Angeles police stopped traffic as the marchers passed and bystanders and motorists waved and honked their support.

The town hall meeting focused on joblessness among veterans, and Solis heard from Jordan Eash, an AT&T worker and member of CWA Local 9400. Eash, a Marine corporal, told Solis and participants that AT&T was terminating his job as a cable splicer because it insisted on counting the time he served during his last tour in Iraq as part of his three-year contract with AT&T.

"When I got back home, I had about six months left on my contract and the company pretty much said they are not going to hire me back and they'd do nothing for me," he said. Eash, 26, got married just a few months after returning from Iraq and was planning to buy a house with his new wife. CWA is fighting to make sure that Eash doesn't get penalized for the time he spent serving our country.

At the rally, speakers included CWA District 9 Vice President Jim Weitkamp; Maria Elena Durazo, executive secretary-treasurer of the Los Angeles County Labor Federation and other union leaders, and state assemblywoman Judy Chu. All called on AT&T management to stop its cynical attempt to use the nation's economic crisis as a means to force cutbacks on employees.

As hundreds rallied in Los Angeles, Dist. 9 Vice President Jim Weitkamp called on AT&T to stop using the nation's economic crisis as an excuse to cut workers' standard of living. Left is Marine Corporal Jordan Eash who is losing his job at AT&T.

In Sacramento, CWAers participated in the state Democratic Party convention and also had time to set up informational picket lines outside the AT&T office across the street from the convention site.

Members of Local 2204 at the AT&T Relay Center in Norton, Va. hold an informational picket.

In Ohio last week, in addition to a rally of hundreds of CWAers on the steps of the state capitol in Columbus, Zanesville CWA members rallied in front of the Muskingum County Courthouse, carrying signs and shouting "Hey Hey, Ho Ho, Corporate Greed Has Got to Go."

Workers gained the support of Zanesville Mayor Howard Zwelling, who said, "I've always been a firm believer in collective bargaining. But you deserve to have a fair contract."

In Connecticut, members of Local 1298 are planning a solidarity rally in New Haven on May 15 that will focus on protecting workers' jobs and hard-won benefits. Workers are angry that company officials are using the economy as an excuse for huge health care cost shifting while AT&T remains very profitable.

For a full roundup of AT&T mobilization actions, go to ga.cwa-union.org/att.