CWA Member Asks Solis to Fight for Employee Free Choice

Above, Hector Capote, a Cuban-American worker and vice president of CWA Local 3122, talks with Labor Secretary Hilda Solis at a Miami church. Below, CWA President Larry Cohen and Capote with participants at the Solis forum.

A CWA member from AT&T Mobility made a heartfelt plea for passage of the Employee Free Choice Act at a meeting with new Labor Secretary Hilda Solis.

Hector Capote was one of several workers who spoke with Solis at a meeting at a Miami, Fla., AME Church. The event marked Solis's first official speech as labor secretary; more than 500 union members attended, along with CWA President Larry Cohen and other union leaders.  

Capote, now a vice president of CWA Local 3122, told Solis how workers at his AT&T Mobility call center were able to form a union through majority signup. "We all worked together, managers and workers, for a fair process," he said.

Capote said he didn't have that chance when he began working at age 14 at a fast food chain as a new immigrant to America, and neither do millions of other Americans today. "I wanted to tell you how labor law needs to be changed so we can have more rights. The Employee Free Choice is so important to make sure that happens. I believe it holds our democracy to a higher level of truth and honesty," he said.

Capote said that his father never earned more than $13 an hour, and in his later years had to rely on Capote; his brother, a police officer; and sister, a nurse -- all union members -- for financial help.

Solis acknowledged Capote's efforts to support his father: "I know your father is proud of you. He's probably watching you right now."

Solis also met with members of the AFL-CIO Executive Council, and said that the days of a Labor Department "going after unions" were over. "There's a new sheriff in town," she said.

In a video message to the AFL-CIO Executive Council President Obama repeated his conviction that the Employee Free Choice Act will become law. "To me, and to my administration, labor unions are a big part of the solution. We need to level the playing field for workers and the unions that represent their interests – because we cannot have a strong middle class without a strong labor movement."