April 13, 2016

39,000 Workers Strike

by Eesha Williams
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Workers in the Valley walked off the job April 13 as they joined the biggest strike in the USA in five years. They work for Verizon and are asking the public to join them on picket lines. Some 39,000 striking workers are demanding a fair union contract. The company's CEO Lowell McAdam makes $18 million a year. But McAdam is refusing to give the workers job security or a good retirement, and wants them to pay more for health care. He wants to be able to force workers to work so far from their homes that they need to live in hotels for months at a time.

Details about pickets lines in Hadley and elsewhere in the Valley are at StandUpToVerizon.com. The western Massachusetts chapter of Jobs With Justice www.jwj.org is coordinating community support for the strikers. Jobs With Justice is helping organize a picket line on April 13 at 365 State Street in Springfield between 6 a.m. and 6 p.m. Photos of the strike are at:

www.facebook.com/StandUpToVerizon

In related news, Jobs With Justice is sponsoring a rally for campaign finance reform in Northampton April 15 outside city hall at 6 p.m. “We’re calling on the local governments of western Mass to endorse the American Anti­Corruption Act,” said event organizer Reed Schimmelfing. Details are at www.represent.us.

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