Working Together: One Nation, Working Together for Progressive Change on Nov. 2

The One Nation Working Together rally at the Lincoln Memorial was incredible. There was so much energy, much of it coming from the more than 10,000 CWAers determined to work with our allies to restore jobs and justice to working families. Workers and activists from civil and human rights communities, religious groups, the green community and many more, were one loud voice for jobs, justice and a government that works for us all. We can’t be ignored.

I was proud to share the podium with Barbara Elliott, a courageous woman who, with her equally brave co-workers, has been fighting for a CWA voice and bargaining rights at Xerox/EZ Pass in New York for two years. Barbara and 11 of her co-workers got on the bus to be at One Nation.

Here’s what Barbara had to say:

“I work in a call center that is part of Xerox/ACS in Staten Island, N.Y., and for two years, I’ve been working to organize a union. I need your help. We can’t just fight for jobs—we need Jobs with Justice. We need real organizing rights, not the imaginary rights of the National Labor Relations Act.

 “Along with a majority of my co-workers, I voted “union” 15 months ago. But Xerox/ACS filed objections to the election and it was just a few weeks ago that the NLRB finally ruled that the election was conducted fairly and that management’s objections had no merit. Management has yet to negotiate with us but has spent huge amounts on lawyers to delay and deny us our rights.

“Meanwhile we have health benefits that are out of reach for most of us, and the company no longer contributes to our 401k.

“I am proud to be a member of the Communications Workers of America, Local 1102. And I’m proud that my sisters and brothers in CWA, the New York labor movement, and many elected officials have backed us up.

“We came here today to rebuild our movement and our commitment to stand with other organizations, all of us committed to our dream. We are not giving up on our union or our nation or each other.”

Barbara and her co-workers are an inspiration to our union, our movement, our nation. Her leadership has given courage to her co-workers, even as so many lost their jobs in this fight. Workers shouldn’t need to have courage to have a union in the United States. It should not be a fight. Unfortunately, the behavior of Xerox is typical, not the exception of U.S. employers. When it comes to workers’ rights, Xerox has been following the anti-union playbook that says we will not permit workers to organize in the United States. When workers do take a stand for their legal organizing and bargaining rights, these employers can make them pay an awful price. That must stop.

Here’s some of what I said at the One Nation rally:

“Forty-seven years ago, when our predecessors stood here at the Lincoln Memorial fighting for the dream and to end Jim Crow, one out of three private sector workers in the U.S. had a union contract. Back then, companies like Xerox often agreed voluntarily to recognize unions and negotiate with their employees. But in these 47 years, marked by significant advancement in human rights in our nation, workers’ rights have been all but crushed. Today, only one in 15 private sector workers has bargaining rights, and this story at Xerox tells us why. In fact, the United States is now at the bottom of the global economy when it comes to protecting workers’ rights to organize and negotiate.

“We will build One Nation Working Together. We know that a minority in the U.S. Senate has prevented discussion of more than 400 bills passed in the House of Representatives. We also know that working together, we can work for progressive change on November 2. And we can work for democracy in the U.S. Senate. Real change is hard but not hopeless. We are tough, we are united, we are determined and we have done hard before!” (see One Nation photos and more, page 6-7).

This issue of the CWA News looks at why the U.S. Senate isn’t working and what it will take to restore real democracy so Congress can again move forward on the issues that matter to working families. The House of Representatives is doing its job, but the Senate minority’s determination to do the bidding of special corporate interests and delay and derail critical legislation that would benefit working people has to stop.