In Virginia, CWA Stewards Army Takes on Verizon

CWA members and locals in Virginia are putting the Stewards Army to work in a big way to block Verizon's attempt to eliminate all state government oversight of the sale or transfer of telephone company assets.

This week, Virginia Gov. Tim Kaine vetoed a bill that would have eliminated the requirement that the State Corporation Commission approve the sale or transfer of any telephone company and ensure that the transaction is in the public interest. 

CWA locals have been building support to sustain the expected Kaine veto.  The big test comes next week, with a vote in the legislature on an attempt to override the governor's veto of the anti-worker and anti-consumer measure, and CWA locals throughout Virginia are ready.

Gov. Kaine stated when he vetoed the bill: "Such a change would represent a significant deviation from established practice and remove an important layer of oversight that the SCC has long exercised to protect Virginia customers.  Access to telephone service continues to be vital for residents across the Commonwealth, and it is imperative that we act reasonably to ensure that this access is not diminished."

CWA President Larry Cohen announced Kaine's veto at CWA's Legislative-Political conference on Wednesday. He stressed that building political support for working families – and helping to elect officials like Gov. Kaine who support working people – is what CWA's political program is all about.

"District 2 and our Virginia locals have done a terrific job in mobilizing against Verizon's stealth campaign to avoid public scrutiny of telecom deals," said Cohen.  "Because of their efforts, we have a good shot to sustain the veto by our friend Tim Kaine – and we must keep the momentum going."

Verizon hoped to quietly get the measure through both houses of the legislature, said CWA Local 2201 President Chris Lane, and all the locals throughout Virginia united to stop it. After the House approved the bill, CWAers focused their attention on the Senate, spreading the word that the measure was a broad attack on consumer rights and meant that customers would have no recourse to address bad service or higher rates.

"We put a good plan together and everyone participated, from every local throughout Virginia to the district and national CWA staff. Phone calls from President Cohen and District 2 Vice President Pete Catucci to Governor Kaine helped a lot," Lane said.

"We sent people daily to the state Capitol to meet with their representatives, we sent out several flyers and we produced newspaper and radio ads to get our message across," Lane said. After the Senate voted to eliminate state oversight, we stepped up our mobilization, Lane said.

"We encouraged all members to take petitions to their neighborhoods, their community groups and their churches, calling on the governor to veto this very bad bill," Lane said. The local's executive vice president Richard Hatch organized phone banking and all the locals participated. "We also used three rounds of recorded 'robo' calls to urge Virginia residents to contact the governor," he added.

"Now, we're not taking any chances and will be working hard through next week, but our success so far in stopping this sneak attack by Verizon is all that workers here are talking about," Lane said.

Lane said the action was very good training for the Stewards Army program, which locals are building in Virginia. "This issue really brought around some members who hadn't been involved or engaged. It motivated them to take some ownership."