Update on richmond lobby trip

January 27 - 29, 2014  Richmond General Assembly

January 27:  Over 175 Sisters and Brothers from different unions across Virignia lobbied today during the Virginia AFL-CIO Legislative Conference to keep the Budget Language intact that supports the VA Relay Center being in Norton with a minimum number of members.  Our message has been well received by the offices of all the Delegates and Senators we have spoken too.  Members and Officers of Local 2204 will continue to lobby Tuesday and Wednesday on these amendments and we will continue to lobby weekly to make sure our message is heard.  Thanks again to everyone who has put their heart and soul in this fight.  We appreciate all the hard work and help.

January 28:  We wanted to keep everyone updated on the progress that has transpired over the last few weeks in our lobbying efforts in Richmond.  Delegate Terry Kilgore & Senator Phillip Puckett have proposed budget amendments (282 #1h & 282 #1s) which will re-introduce the same language that had previously been removed (center remaining in Norton, with a minimum number of 75 employees).  CWA Local 2204 members Valeria Castle-Stanley, Reava Gardner, Mary Hagy, Krista Gibson, Jeremy Estep, Buffy Wiseman, Stephanie Powers, Naomi Bolden, Alicia Reynolds, Alan Johnson and Chuck Simpson broke up into groups of three people and went around speaking with various legislators on the House Appropriates Committee and Senate Finance Committee in order to garner support for this amendment. We received positive feedback from most everyone we lobbied.

The following pictures show businesses in Wise County, Virginia displaying a flyer in support of our efforts. Click here to view the flyer.

Attached is a copy of the information that was used in the lobbying efforts; we have gotten tremendous positive responses from the Delegates and the Senators because it involves tax dollars and keeping jobs in Virginia.

There will be other events forthcoming and we will get information out to you concerning them as soon as possible.  Thanks again to all of our union family for helping us in this battle to protect the jobs at the VA Relay Center.

Chuck Simpson, President

CWA Local 2204