White Plains Community Honors MLK, Stands with Verizon Workers

Community activists joined CWA members to support Verizon and Verizon Wireless workers as part of a rally Sunday in White Plains, N.Y., to honor MLK, Jr.

At a rally Sunday, CWA Local 1103 members in White Plains, N.Y., honored Martin Luther King, Jr., while furthering their fight for good jobs at Verizon and Verizon Wireless.

The community's Martin Luther King Institute for Non-Violence hosted the rally for jobs and economic justice. About 100 people attended, many of whom joined CWA for a photograph afterwards holding signs in support of Verizon and Verizon Wireless workers.

In a speech that energized the crowd, Local 1103 Legislative-Political Coordinator Joe Mayhew said the summer strike and ongoing negotiations at Verizon, "are about three things: Jobs. Jobs. Jobs."

From jobs the union represents to jobs the company has sent overseas, "these jobs belong to the community," Mayhew said. "These jobs belong to the neighbors, friends and families of everyone here aspiring to be part of the middle class. As Dr. King understood, the labor movement and job security are essential, not only for reducing poverty, but for growing the middle class."

The White Plains rally, along with events at the new MLK memorial in Washington, D.C., were originally scheduled for late August. Hurricane Irene forced organizers to postpone.