Tell CWA What You're Doing to Stand Up for Workers' Rights

April 4 Website Up and Running

Will your local be rallying April 4? Leafleting outside a union-busting business? Protesting at city hall or the state legislature? With just 2 1/2 weeks to go until the nationwide day of action, CWA is making it easy for you to plan, share and join events in your community.

Go to www.cwaaction.org or click the logo to the right to find out what other locals are doing and add your activities to an interactive map. The site is also the place to order "Stand Up for Workers' Rights" stickers, signs and flyers.

Dozens of allies, including other unions, the Sierra Club, NAACP, La Raza, the Urban League, faith groups, the National Association of People with Disabilities, Common Cause and more, are also planning events. To find out what they're doing in your area, the website lets you search for events using your zip code. If you don't find something immediately, check back. New events are being added all the time.

April 4 marks the 43rd anniversary of the murder of Martin Luther King, Jr., who was fatally shot in Memphis on a trip to support striking sanitation workers. CWA President Larry Cohen is urging locals to capture the spirit of King in planning events for the day.

"If Dr. King were alive today, he'd be in Madison or Columbus or Trenton or any or all of the other cities where workers are standing up and fighting for their rights," Cohen said. "He was murdered because he stood up for, and organized for, civil rights and workers' rights."

Some of the latest additions to CWA's map of events include Local 6215's plans to handbill throughout the day in front of T-Mobile in Frisco, Texas. In Kansas City, Mo., Local 6450 is asking members to wear red shirts and black armbands for events that include leafleting and a rally with other unions and Jobs with Justice.

In Arlington, Va., TNG-CWA Local 32035 members at BNA, which reports on government affairs, will leaflet, post materials on bulletin boards and hold a lunchtime rally. "The poor economy cannot be used as an excuse to trample on workers' rights, and we will stand strong to protect ours," the local said in posting its events on the website.

In Michigan, CWA locals are planning a variety of actions, Local 4008 President Mike Schulte said. Technicians will gather in groups in front of AT&T garages and walk in together. At call centers, members plan to stand collectively each hour.

Schulte said locals have suggested slogans for arm and wrist bands that include "Good Jobs, Strong Communities," "Save the Working Class" and "If You Don't Stand for Something, Then You Stand for Nothing." Locals are also planning evening rallies and candlelight vigils.

Click here to tell CWA what your local will be doing April 4. Also be sure to join CWA's third national town-hall phone call on March 29 to discuss plans.