CWA LPAT Members Help Protect Broadband Jobs

In January, Mississippi Senator Josh Harkins kicked off the state’s legislative session with SB2849, a direct attack on unions that would have barred employers with labor neutrality agreements from receiving state funding, including broadband funding. AT&T currently has a card-check neutrality agreement with CWA in the state.

Despite multiple meetings with Senate Labor Committee Chair Robin J. Robinson urging her not to support the bill, Robinson not only backed it but encouraged other senators to support it as well. Thanks to consistent and clever mobilization efforts of the Mississippi CWA Legislative Political Action Team (LPAT), the bill was defeated. This leaves the door open for AT&T to receive state broadband funding, crucial in keeping our members who install and support broadband on the job.

Mississippi LPAT members did not forget about Senator Robinson, however. She faced newcomer Donald Hartness in a special election in August. Members met with Hartness, and after securing assurances that he would support pro-worker legislation aligned with CWA values, they began working to secure a Hartness victory. Those efforts were successful, and Robinson has learned the hard way that “We don’t play at CWA.”

Members plan to hold Hartness to his promises of labor fairness.

---

This post originally appeared on cwa-union.org.