Shareholder Spring Keeps Going! Activists Protest Windstream

CWAers rally at Windstream's annual meeting.

About 75 CWA activists demonstrated at the Windstream annual meeting in Little Rock, Ark., then joined an Occupy Little Rock action to protest the city government's plan to displace communities of senior citizens to build a Technology Park.

Members of Locals 6507 and 6171 were on hand, with Local 6171 members making a 12-hour round trip bus ride to Little Rock. Inside the meeting, CWA National Telecom Director Bill Bates called on Windstream to publicly disclose its political campaign contributions on its website, along with company policy for management and Board oversight of those contributions. The proposal received nearly 44 percent of the shareholders vote.

CWA Local 6171 Executive Vice President Dick Frierson took on Windstream's elimination of retiree health care, and told shareholders that retiree health care promises were made to the employees who helped make Windstream profitable.

Following the meeting, activists marched to City Hall to join students and other allies in protesting the city's plans to raze several communities where predominantly elderly residents live to build a Technology Park that can be located elsewhere in the city. CWAers joined that effort to Stop the Attack on the American Dream.