Milwaukee Local Signs Up Labor Community for Union Broadband

CWAers in Milwaukee are rolling out a "Speed Matters" campaign to make sure union members and all consumers know they now have a union choice for high-speed internet access.

Local 4306 members are going door to door and speaking to labor and community groups to encourage Milwaukee residents to choose

U-Verse, AT&T's high-speed broadband service, instead of anti-union providers Time Warner and the Dish satellite network, said CWA District 4 Vice President Seth Rosen.

"Just like Cingular is the only union choice for wireless service, U-Verse is the only union choice for high-speed broadband." Lori Wawrzonek, an AT&T central office technician who serves on the local's organizing and legislative committees, tells people.

Wawrzonek said that all union members "must do what we can to build labor strength. I can talk with labor people and others I work with and support union products."

Jeff Lacher, CWA District 4 organizing coordinator, said the effort got started in January, with CWAers lining up volunteers, preparing materials and confirming union members' addresses as they waited for AT&T's launch of U-Verse. "On the surface it's like a political neighbor-to-neighbor campaign, we even have lawn signs like a typical political campaign," he said. "But our house visits are more like an organizing campaign, and we've been able to have a lot of great conversations with union families."

Since AT&T rolled out U-Verse in Milwaukee in March, CWA activists have signed up more than 700 people who pledged to switch when the system becomes available in their neighborhood. Members of AFSCME and the American Postal Workers Union have been especially responsive.

"We're also taking advantage of the opportunity to sit in a union member's living room and talk about other important issues," Lacher said. "For example, many people signed onto letters to their members of Congress urging support for the Employee Free Choice Act."