Why I'm An Activist: Jeanne Stewart

My first big push as legislative chair for CWA Local 7803 was Speed Matters. I started attending legislative conferences and taking trips to Washington, DC. And once you get in, it’s hard to get out. Being politically active is such an important part of what we do.

Last year, here in Washington State, Qwest Communications started talking about merging with CenturyLink. We called on lawmakers to help our members – and even beat the companies to meetings with Congress. We explained the importance of call center jobs in Seattle, and they agreed to ask pointed questions about the deal. In the end, Sen. Maria Cantwell helped us win language guaranteeing 18 months of job security in the merger agreement.

We need elected officials to help us in our fight. But first you have to lay the groundwork.

This election year, we’ve already endorsed three House candidates: Suzan DelBene, Derek Kilmer and Dennis Heck. They’re not even in their seats yet, but all three are on board with supporting a call center bill that incentivizes corporations to bring good call centers jobs back home from overseas.  Our friend Rep. Jim McDermott immediately signed on as a co-sponsor of the bill, but we haven’t been able to make any headway with the rest of the delegation. We’re hoping some new blood will change that.

Companies are taking good union jobs and shipping them overseas to people who are getting paid half as much money. Our customers suffer. We suffer because we’re not getting work done in a timely fashion.

It’s real people, everyday lives at stake here.