This week CWA and IBEW are mobilizing thousands of members into action in support of the Employee Free Choice Act.  Verizon, the second largest CWA employer, has become a notorious example of why we need EFCA. Fill out your information below to send an email to your Governor in support of the Employee Free Choice Act and to support the bargaining rights of Verizon workers.

Dear [ Decision Maker ] ,

I am writing to encourage your support for the Employee Free Choice Act, recently passed by the House of Representatives and being considered by the U.S. Senate, and to bring to your attention the ongoing circumstances at Verizon which all too clearly demonstrate the need for this important legislation.

Although 97,000 workers at Verizon are represented by unions, the company actively opposes efforts by other employees to have a union voice. Verizon has met workers' efforts to gain union representation with a strong assault of mandatory anti-union meetings, one-on-one anti-union sessions, misinformation and in some cases illegal harassment and intimidation.

In 2005, Verizon Wireless was found guilty of violating federal labor law in its campaign to prevent workers from joining a union. An NLRB Administrative Law Judge concluded that Verizon Wireless illegally enforced rules prohibiting union solicitation in employee work areas and on break time. He also found that the company illegally prohibited employees from discussing their terms and condition of employment, as well as any disciplinary action taken against them. Especially troubling, he found that Verizon Wireless illegally disciplined an employee because of his union activities.

The decision followed an NLRB complaint issued in 2001 against Verizon Wireless charging that the company illegally spied on workers, threatened to fire workers if they talked about the union, threatened to close the plant if the workers chose union representation, and discriminated against a worker in order to discourage others from engaging in union activities.

And Verizon hasn't changed its tactics. Just a few weeks ago, workers at Verizon Business made it very clear that they wanted a union voice, with a clear majority signing up for union representation. Senator John Kerry (MA) and U.S. Congressmen Stephen Lynch (MA), Jerry Nadler (NY), Anthony Weiner (NY), and John Tierney (MA) confirmed the union authorization cards signed by Verizon Business technicians in New England and New York State.

Many U.S. Senators, members of Congress and community and faith leaders have written to Verizon Communications Chief Executive Officer Ivan Seidenberg, asking that Verizon respect these workers' wishes, recognize the union and begin collective bargaining. The company has refused and instead has launched a new campaign of harassment of union supporters and misinformation.

I strongly urge you to write to Mr. Seidenberg and request that he respect these workers' rights to join a union without management interference, harassment or intimidation. As a current or potential large institutional customer of Verizon, your voice is critical to convincing Mr. Seidenberg that the right of workers to collective bargaining should be respected.

It's very important that state and local governments do business with companies that follow the highest standards of corporate citizenship.

You will be joining elected officials in a growing number of communities and states by endorsing the principles of the Employee Free Choice Act--that workers have the right to a free and fair choice about union representation and the right to collective bargaining.

Thank you for your attention to this matter. I look forward to hearing from you soon.

Sincerely,

Campaign Launched:
May 16, 2007