CWA Local 1037 - 25 Years of Militancy!

President's Message

August 16, 2011

Dear CWA Local 1037 Member,
As you may have heard, 45,000 of our brothers and sisters who work at Verizon have been on strike since August 7th. This is the largest labor struggle in our country right now and, to be perfectly clear, this fight is about the survival of the middle class.
While Verizon CEO Ivan Seidenberg earns $55,000 a day – that’s right A DAY – and while Verizon is earning record profits, he expects his workers to take a $20,000 cut. Meanwhile, Verizon also wants its workforce to give up many of the collective bargaining gains they’ve achieved over the last generation – the very things that make these jobs good, decent, middle class jobs.
The fight at Verizon is no different than the fight over collective bargaining rights for public sector workers here in NJ. Both are about whether workers will be able to stand up and protect a middle class standard of living, or whether we will live in a society comprised of only the wealthy and those of us who work for them.
Verizon workers understood this when they boarded buses from New York and Maryland to travel to Trenton to stand up for public worker rights this past Spring. Now, they need your help.
We are asking all Local 1037 members to support our CWA brothers and sisters by taking action today.

  1. Come to a picket line. Verizon hopes to win this strike by “walling-off” it’s extremely profitable (and mostly non-union) wireless business from its traditional landline business. So, the Verizon workers need help picketing Verizon Wireless retail stores. For information on how to join a picket line near where you live or work, please see your Shop Steward or call the Local 1037 office.
  2. Sign the online petition. Go to www.cwa-union.org/verizon and tell Verizon you stand with their workers in the fight for middle class jobs.
  3. Talk to your friends, family and co-workers. Make sure that everyone you know understands this fight is about corporate greed vs. middle class workers. Ask them to not do any new business with Verizon or Verizon Wireless until the strike is over.

On behalf of our brothers and sisters on strike at Verizon, thank you for any help you can provide. For more information or to get involved, please call the Local 1037 office at (973) 623 – 1828.
                                                                                                                In Solidarity,

                                                                                                                Ken McNamara,
                                                                                                                President