Working Together: Building a Movement to Restore the American Middle Class

Passage of the Employee Free Choice Act in the U.S. House of Representatives on March 1 was a huge mile marker, signaling that labor is truly on the march and fighting back.

One year ago, few people thought it possible that legislation to restore workers' bargaining and organizing rights would have been on the Speaker's agenda for the first 100 days of priority House action. It was our grassroots political mobilization last year, with a focus on workers' rights and working family issues, that made the difference.

And the election of worker-friendly Senate candidates last year means majority support for the bill in that body as well — although unfortunately, that won't be enough at this point. We expect the bill to be filibustered by opponents, which would require support by 60 of the 100 senators to pass it; and a certain presidential veto would require 67 votes to override.

That fact merely underscores the challenge we face looking toward the 2008 elections, as we continue to build a movement to change the American political landscape.

The articles in this special theme issue tell the story that we'll be emphasizing in all of our efforts — the story of what's gone wrong with our labor laws, how the loss of workers' rights and bargaining power is shrinking the middle class and dashing the hopes of those who aspire to the middle class.

Strengthening workers' bargaining rights is vital to achieving CWA's other strategic goals — well-paying jobs, and health and retirement security for our members and others. Passage of the Employee Free Choice Act is the key.

The news media is now paying more attention to job destruction and growing wage disparity and how it's all linked to declining union membership and bargaining power.

A recent report that the entire 9 percent surge in income growth in 2005 went to the richest 10 percent, while the rest of us saw a decline in income, prompted the New York Times to point out that, "Not since the Roaring Twenties have the rich been so much richer than everyone else." The headline on its editorial: "It Didn't End Well Last Time."

And the media took note of Circuit City's brazen announce-ment March 28 that it was firing 3,400 workers simply because management decided it was paying them too much ($11 to $12 an hour in many cases). And the company seemed to feel no shame or sense of irony over the fact that these were its most experienced and productive workers whose wage increases had all been performance-based. No jobs were being eliminated, simply devalued, and management invited those fired to reapply for half pay.

Circuit City pointed to Wal-Mart's wages by comparison and basically declared that Wal-Mart should be the model for establishing labor standards throughout the American retail industry.

As shocking and cynical as that was, in many ways the campaign Verizon management is conducting against CWA and the IBEW at Verizon Business is even worse than Circuit City. A majority of the 400 former-MCI techs in the northeast have joined CWA and IBEW and five members of Congress counted the cards and certified to Verizon management that a majority had joined.     

So if the Employee Free Choice Act were law, these techs would be well on their way to a first union contract, joining 80,000 other CWA and IBEW members.

At stake for these workers is not only not having union representation and a voice on the job, but no pension or retiree health benefits either. But Verizon management decided to use a carrot and stick approach as if the techs were horses. First the stick — attacking the workers with forced supervisory meetings and anti-union e-mails, including a 10-page document that contains every vile aspect of the right-wing political attack you might hear on some talk radio shows. Then the carrot — 20 percent wage increases and other new benefits with management pretending that these were coming all the time — demonstrating that management greed can be put aside for union-busting no matter the costs.

But the 80,000 members of CWA and IBEW at Verizon are ready and increasingly realize what's at stake. More than 1,000 stewards have already been through "stewards army" training at Verizon and thousands more will get the training in the months ahead. And Verizon will now join Wal-Mart and Circuit City as a major example of what's wrong in America and how many big corporations will do whatever it takes to maintain absolute power over workers.

CWA and IBEW are on the march, joined by allies inside and outside the labor movement, as we fight for bargaining rights at Verizon and across America.

Urge Senate Support for EFCA

CWA is urging the following U.S. senators to join in co-sponsoring the Employee Free Choice Act. If you are one of their constituents, please call them today at 1-800-774-8941 and urge their support for workers' freedom to bargain for a better life:

Blanche Lincoln (D-AR), Mark Pryor (D-AR), Ken Salazar (D-CO), Susan Collins (R-ME), Olympia Snowe (R-ME), Norm Coleman (R-MN), Ben Nelson (D-NE), John Sununu (R-NH), George Voinovich (R-OH), Gordon Smith (R-OR), Arlen Specter (R-PA).