Striking AT&T workers are asking the public to join them on the picket line in Hadley, Massachusetts. Hadley borders Northampton and Amherst. The picket line will happen on May 21, starting at 11 a.m. and ending at 5 p.m. It will be at 359 Russell Street.

Arif Malik is an AT&T worker in the Valley. On May 20, he told the Valley Post that AT&T had closed its store in Northampton because of the strike. There won't be a picket line at the Northampton store, Malik said. There may be picket lines outside other AT&T stores in the Valley. For more information, contact Malik by phone at (413) 297-6727 or by e-mail at amalik1976@comcast.net.

The workers have a web site at:

www.cwa-union.org/unitymobility

The workers are striking because AT&T is paying them low wages, while the company's CEO makes $28 million a year.

On average, workers in the USA make 27 percent higher wages when they join a union. That's according to www.bls.gov. Most union contracts say workers can only be fired for "just cause." Non-union workers can be fired at any time for no reason.

Millions of workers in the USA are union members, including all the workers at UPS, UMass Amherst, the Brattleboro Retreat (900 or so workers), and the food co-ops in Northampton, Greenfield, and Brattleboro. The Brattleboro co-op has about 160 employees.

The middle class in the USA is disappearing. There are more rich people and more poor people than there have been since the 1920s. This allows billionaires more influence over politicians. Unions are one way to expand the middle class and increase democracy.