On Tax Day and Beyond, CWAers Fight Back against Corporate Giveaways

CWA members across the country held events on Tax Day to highlight how the Republican corporate tax cut bill is a massive giveaway to big corporations paid for by working families, and to rally their communities to fight back.

Former AT&T call center worker and CWA Local 4004 President Merle Milton of Detroit spoke at a rally in Washington, D.C., calling out the company for recent layoffs in Michigan and across the country. 

"This December, AT&T announced that they were closing the call center where I've worked for 25 years," said Milton. "My co-workers and I worked hard to provide quality customer service and help grow AT&T into the successful company it is today. But instead of rewarding us for our dedication, AT&T is pulling out of our community and taking our jobs overseas – undermining customer service and hurting hardworking families. Workers deserve better, AT&T customers deserve better, and cities like Detroit deserve better."

AT&T CEO Randall Stephenson promised to create 7,000 jobs if the GOP tax plan passed. Instead, despite a $20 billion windfall as a result of tax cuts in the bill, AT&T announced thousands of layoffs. The layoffs come as the company continues to eliminate good, middle-class jobs and rely increasingly on low-wage contractors overseas, devastating families and communities across America.

CWA members are pushing Congress to pass legislation to fix some of the worst parts of the tax bill.

Senator Tammy Baldwin (D-WI) has introduced the Reward Work Act, supported by CWA, which would prohibit harmful stock buybacks. Instead of raising wages and creating jobs, companies have been using their tax cut windfall to purchase their own stock, which enriches top executives and large shareholders.

Despite promises from House Speaker Paul Ryan and other top Republicans that the tax bill would end offshoring, the tax bill actually contained incentives for companies to send jobs overseas. Democrats in Congress are rolling out legislation to remove these offshoring incentives and keep jobs in the U.S. Congressman Lloyd Doggett (D-Tex.) and Congresswoman Rosa DeLauro (D-Conn.) have introduced the No Tax Breaks for Outsourcing Act with Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.).

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How CWAers are Fighting Back

Read CWA President Chris Shelton's statement on tax day 2018 here.

Listen to Mark Frey of CWA Local 4630 on Wisconsin Public Radio talking about how AT&T is pocketing massive profits from the tax bill, but that windfall is not being shared with workers. (11:20)

Top: CWA members and allies held a press conference outside of Congressman Jim Renacci's (R-Ohio) office in Parma to educate the public about how the new tax law in effect this year will harm working families.

Bottom: Former AT&T call center worker and CWA Local 4004 President Merle Milton of Detroit spoke at a rally in Washington, D.C., calling out the company for laying off workers after receiving a massive windfall from the Republican corporate tax cut bill.