Week of Workers' Rights Events Kicks Off Monday

CWA locals across the country will be turning out thousands of members for International Human Rights Day events next week to call attention to the erosion of workers' rights to form unions and bargain contracts in the United States.

From Seattle to Boston, Jackson, Miss., to Pittsburgh and dozens of cities in between, CWA will join other AFL-CIO unions and social activists for rallies, marches, teach-ins, leafleting at anti-union employers and other activities.

"This is a critical moment for the labor movement and workers' rights in America," CWA President Larry Cohen said. "I am personally asking all of our local leaders to ensure that CWA has a large and highly visible presence at these events. There is power in numbers and the bigger, louder and stronger we are, the harder it will be for the public, the media and politicians to ignore our message."

Through actions as well as newspaper and radio ads, visits with politicians and op-ed columns, union members will work to build support for the federal Employee Free Choice Act. The bill currently has 205 supporters in the House, including seven Republicans, and 41 supporters in the Senate, including Republican co-sponsor Arlen Spector.

A key goal of this week's activities is to put pressure on lawmakers who haven't signed on to the legislation, which would require employers to recognize unions when a majority of workers in a unit sign cards seeking representation. Further, it calls for arbitration if the two sides can't reach agreement on a first contract - putting an end to the stalling tactics many employers use to try to get rid of unions.

The week will also put a spotlight on the rare union-friendly companies, notably Cingular Wireless. Unlike competitor Verizon Wireless, Cingular has embraced neutrality in organizing campaigns and more than 13,500 workers across the country have joined CWA since July.

The AFL-CIO is billing the week of actions as the largest workers' mobilization in years. "Unions are the key to this nation's middle class, yet the right to come together in a union is a fundamental freedom that has been eroded beyond recognition," AFL-CIO President John Sweeney said. "This December, workers and their communities are beginning a big new effort to take back working families' best shot at the American Dream."

In addition to the tens of thousands of workers who will take part, 10 Nobel Peace Laureates, including Jimmy Carter and former Republic of Poland President Lech Walesa, will issue a public statement on Tuesday, Dec. 6 affirming that workers' rights are human rights.

International Human Rights Day falls on Dec. 10, though events will take place all week beginning Monday in cities that include Pittsburgh and Orange, N.J., near Newark. Dec. 10 marks the day in 1948 when the United Nations adopted the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. The document spells out basic human rights, including the right of workers to form and join unions.

In some cities, CWA locals will have a special prop - a life-size cardboard cutout of Eleanor Roosevelt with which members can pose for pictures. A champion of workers' rights, Roosevelt was chairwoman of the U.N.'s Human Rights Commission and the driving force behind the declaration.

Here's a summary of a few of the planned events:

** Cohen and IUE-CWA President Jim Clark will take part Dec. 10 in a Dayton, Ohio, rally of Delphi workers, including IUE-CWA members, who are fighting for their jobs and pensions in the wake of the company's bankruptcy.

** CWA Executive Vice President Jeff Rechenbach will speak at a rally and march in St. Louis on Friday, Dec. 9, where workers will take on the anti-union policies of Gov. Matt Blunt and Peabody Energy.

** On Dec, 8 in Washington, D.C., CWA and hundreds of other union members, along with worker-friendly politicians, will turn out for a rally in front of the AFL-CIO headquarters. They will march to the White House two blocks away, where speakers will read the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. CWA Secretary-Treasurer Barbara Easterling will lead CWA's participation.

** CWA and the South Carolina AFL-CIO have joined forces for events targeting Verizon Wireless' continued union busting. In Charleston and Greenville, activists and community supporters will leaflet at Verizon Wireless facilities. Actions also are being planned for Columbia.

** In Pittsburgh, CWA will feature its Comcast campaign during a news conference at 10 a.m. Monday, Dec. 5, in front of the Steelworkers' building. Afterwards, speakers will take their cable bills to Comcast offices to pay in person to support CWA's efforts to organize and bargain at the cable and broadband giant.

** In Jackson, Miss., union and community activists are marking Dec. 10 with an 11 a.m. teach-in at CWA Local 3511's hall followed by a rally. Events will be broadcast on a local gospel station, WOAD-AM, at 1300 on the radio dial. Speakers include Jackson Mayor Frank Melton, a strong supporter of bargaining rights for city workers, U.S. Rep. Bennie Thompson and CWA Vice President Brooks Sunkett, whose sector includes public workers.

** In New Jersey on Monday, a 1 p.m. rally featuring workers from various unions' organizing campaigns will include one of the 4,000 daycare workers being organized by CWA Local 1037. The rally, featuring two members of Congress, will be in front of the Dish Network in Orange, N.J., where workers have been unfairly fired and disciplined since voting for representation by the Machinists.

** In Waterloo, Iowa, CWA locals and the Black Hawk Union Council plan to visit the local offices of Sen. Charles Grassley and Rep. Jim Nussle, both Republicans, about their lack of support for the Employee Free Choice Act. The council is also hosting a dinner and movie night featuring the new film about Wal-Mart, "The High Cost of Low Prices."

** CWA and the Central Labor Council of Alameda County in Oakland, Calif. are holding a workers' rights hearing at a Unitarian Church on Tuesday, Dec. 6, followed by a march to the Oakland City Council in support of Comcast workers.

** Seattle CWAers and other members of the King County Labor Council will focus on federal government employees who have lost their collective bargaining rights under the Bush administration. Street theater performances, including holiday carols with a union theme, are planned at five sites.

** In Boston on Thursday, Dec. 8, an estimated 5,000 workers will stage a Worker Freedom Trail march, complete with Minutemen and a town crier, with stops at some of Boston's most notorious anti-worker businesses.

The list of events is only a sampling of the many actions CWA locals are taking around the country. The January issue of the CWA News will fully cover the events and would like pictures from as many cities as possible. Make sure someone in your local is in charge of taking photographs, standard prints or high-resolution digital pictures. Please send them to CWA News writer/editor Janelle Hartman by e-mail at jhartman@cwa-union.org or by regular mail at 501 Third Street NW, Washington, D.C. 20001.