Fight for Public Broadcasting at Capitol Hill Rally on Tuesday

CWA and allies that include AFTRA, the Writers Guild of America East, MoveOn and Free Press are staging a major Capitol Hill rally Tuesday, March 15, in the urgent battle to stop Congress from defunding public broadcasting.

The rally begins at 1 p.m. at Upper Senate Park near the Russell Senate Building. Move On and Free Press will be delivering petitions to Congress with 1.2 million signatures representing some of the 170 million Americans who watch and listen to public broadcasting every day.

CWA, NABET-CWA and TNG-CWA together represent about 2,000 workers at PBS, NPR and local public broadcasting stations around the country. Although donations make up a large portion of their budgets, the federal subsidy is essential to their survival.

The immediate battle is on the budget bill that Congress must pass by March 18 in order to avoid a government shutdown, but another fight is certain when debate begins on the 2012 budget.

In addition to the allies helping stage the rally, numerous other organizations and social networking sites are fighting to save public broadcasting. To join CWA's campaign, click here.