Skip to main content

News

Search News

Topics
Date Published Between

For the Media

For media inquiries, call CWA Communications at 202-434-1168 or email comms@cwa-union.org. To read about CWA Members, Leadership or Industries, visit our About page.

Cohen: 'This is the Dawn of a New Movement, This is an Awakening'

More than 5,000 Tune in to National Call on State Battles; Second Call Next Week

Indiana protests

Indiana CWA members protest union-busting legislation with thousands of other workers this week at the Indianapolis statehouse, one of hundreds of worker protests nationwide. Pictured from left: Jane Phillips, Local 4900;  Debbie Sturgeon, Local 4700; and Dave Dunn, Local 4703
Credit: Associated Press/Tom Strattman

CWA's first-ever national "Town Hall" phone call drew more than 5,000 participants Wednesday night, as local stewards and officers discussed the high-stakes battles that their governors and legislatures are waging against unions and all working families.

"This is not about public workers. This is not about Wisconsin. This is about all of us, public and private sector. This is one fight," CWA President Larry Cohen said, imploring listeners to talk to their coworkers, families, friends and neighbors, find or create events where people can speak out, and participate next Wednesday when CWA hosts a second nationwide call.

"The right wing says this is labor's last gasp," Cohen said of the protests sweeping the nation. "This is not our last gasp. This is the dawn of a new movement, this is an awakening."

CWA District vice presidents introduced local activists from Wisconsin, Ohio, New Jersey, Missouri, Tennessee and Florida, who offered a snapshot of their states’ war on workers and how they're fighting back.

"I am humbled by the show of support from working men and women from across this state and the entire country," said Wisconsin's Mark Frey, a Local 4630 steward. "I have never been so moved as I have been in the last week in Madison. I stood shoulder to shoulder with over 60,000 people last Saturday in solidarity."

Local 4322 Board Member Marty Miller, a Beavercreek, Ohio, public works employee, described the pride he takes in a job well done and the pain Gov. John Kasich's union-busting will cause all Ohioans. "Without collective bargaining, there will be an immeasurable ripple effect of negative consequences on the middle class, as well as our communities," he said. "We are all connected in more ways than people realize."

Rebecca Gavin of CWA Local 6355 in Kansas City, Mo., discussed so-called "right-to-work" legislation and a paycheck deception bill that would let the state charge hefty fees for deducting union dues from workers' checks. "It's just another way to attack workers who want a voice in our political process," she said.

A similar bill in Florida would prohibit public employers from deducting dues at all. Meanwhile, corporations are looking forward to the governor fulfilling his promise to end the 5.5 percent tax they pay on profits. "Last year, that tax brought in 8 percent of the state's revenue, so imagine the impact that's going to have on public services and public employee jobs," said John Shaich, Local 3108.

In Tennessee, where the state's 51,000 teachers are the only public employees with collective bargaining rights, lawmakers want to take those rights away. And that's not all. "People need to understand that this attack isn't just about unions. It's about the economic security of all working families," Local 3865 President Tom Anderson said, noting that the legislature even wants to pass a bill banning cities from passing living wage ordinances.

Marty Mosen of CWA Local 1036 in New Jersey, where tens of thousands of workers and their allies are rallying in Trenton today, said he's "never seen this kind of all-out attack on our retirement security and collective bargaining." Although Gov. Chris Christie has made a national name for himself blaming public workers for New Jersey's problems, Mosen said even some Democrats are failing the workers who have long supported them.

"We are making it crystal clear that these legislators were elected with our support in the past and we will not support anyone who does not support collective bargaining," he said.