Locals Link Health Care, Election to Million Member Mobilization

The number of CWAers signing on to the Million Member Mobilization for the Employee Free Choice Act is increasing steadily – reaching 26,802 as of Aug. 11 – as local unions have linked the importance of the legislation to the election of pro-worker candidates and critical issues like health care.

Last week, over 600 CWA members, retirees and family members attended an afternoon-long picnic hosted by Local 7200, Minneapolis, Minn., to draw support for the mobilization. CWA-backed candidates for Congress – U.S. Senate candidate Al Franken and U.S. House candidates Ashwin Madia and Elwyn Tinklenberg, all Democrats – attended the event and spoke out on the importance that voter turnout in the election has to the passage of the Employee Free Choice Act. An aide to U.S. Senator Amy Klobuchar and CWA Minnesota State Council President Tim Lovassen also spoke.

During the picnic, retired members set up tables to provide voter registration information and to sign up supporters for the Employee Free Choice mobilization.

Nationwide, CWA members are signing up to host Aug. 28 viewing parties to watch Senator Barack Obama accept the Democratic presidential nomination and to enlist more card signers. Already, nearly 200 members and locals have signed up to host parties. The goal is 1,000 parties attended by 10,000 participants among the Alliance unions. CWA has prepared a kit for the house parties, with issue handouts, sign-up sheets, and tips for activities. To order a kit visit www.cwavotes.org/partykit.

Locals that have surpassed their pledge to sign up at 15 percent of their members to the Million Member Mobilization are continuing to sign up supporters, far outpacing their targets. CWA Verizon Local 1108 in Patchogue, N.Y., bested its goal by more than 150 percent by signing up supporters during mobilizations the local carried out to support a fair contract at Verizon.

Since last week's Newsletter report, 20 more CWA locals have met or exceeded their goal of signing up 15 percent or more of their members:  Dist. 1: 1106, 1108, 51025, ­Dist. 2: 2007, 2011, 2275, 82173, Dist. 3: 3150, 3176, 3407, 3904, 3907, Dist. 4: 4322, 4378, 4603, Dist. 6: 36047, 86004, Dist. 7: 7603, Dist. 9: 59051, Dist. 13: 13591. Click here, http://www.freechoiceact.org/cwa/localinfo/, for a full listing of locals that have fulfilled their 15 percent pledge.