Union and Community Activists Rise Up to Fight Against "Fast Track"

At town halls, rallies and lobbying visits to their Members of Congress, union activists have been speaking out loud and clear about their opposition to "fast track" for labor deals, especially the proposed Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP).

CWAers have sent in 3,140 hand-written letters, made more than 2,000 phone calls and written 55,000 emails to their representatives in the House and Senate.

Just last week, as many as 800 union and community activists from across economic sectors fanned across Capitol Hill, visiting the offices of 200 Members of Congress, with same message: reject "fast track" for bad trade deals.

Their representatives – whether in Washington, D.C., or in their districts – have been responding.

New York City Hall Press Conference

Rep. Grace Meng of New York's 6th District announced at a New York City Hall press conference that she would oppose "fast track" when it comes before Congress. Activists from CWA Locals 1101, 1102, 1109 and 1180, who have been doing the work of informing their representatives about the perils of "fast track" came out in force for the news conference. Meng was joined by other members of New York's Congressional delegation: Reps. Nydia Velasquez, Hakeem Jeffries and Jose Serrano, all of whom oppose fast track.

Also attending the news conference were New York City Council Members and activists from CWA, the AFL-CIO and other groups, including Sierra Club; Food & Water Watch; Voices Of Community Activists & Leaders (VOCAL-NY); Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union (RWDSU); United Food & Commercial Workers (UFCW); United Federation of Teachers; New York State Nurses Association; DC 37-AFSCME; and Teamsters 817.

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District 3 Members Meeting

CWA Local 3112 President Johnny Hernandez led the way as each delegate spent a minute at the District 3 meeting telling the audience what they're doing to fight "fast track."

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Cookies with a Message

Stacy Bush and Cortney Haynes, IUE-CWA Local 81320 activists in Syracuse, NY, in conjunction with the letter-writing campaign to Members of Congress to reject "fast track" for the TPP, baked the "No TPP" cookies and helped deliver them to get the message out about TPP.