Mock Funeral & Double Demos Mark Year Without Contract at Verizon

(Metropolitan Washington Council, AFL-CIO)Dressed in black, wearing veils, carrying a flower-laden coffin and led by “Preacher” Carl Brogden, members of CWA Local 2108 led a funeral cortege outside Verizon’s Silver Spring facility Friday morning to mourn the 1-year anniversary of the expiration of their contract. “We returned to work after the company said they’d bargain fairly but every time they give one thing they take away another,” Brogden, an outside cable splicer with 29 years on the job, told Union City as passing traffic honked in support. “This company isn’t hurting financially, they’re just trying to turn us into Walmart, pay the workers low wages and work the hell out of us. They’re not going to bend unless someone bends them. They’re bullying everyone: workers, management, customers.” Added Local 2108 President Marilyn Irwin, “It seems like their real goal is simply to kill the union.” Brogden nodded, mopped his brow, adjusted his clerical collar, raised up his union contract like a Bible and led the cortege back across  the highway in front of Verizon.
 
At noon the day’s Verizon actions continued in downtown DC where AFL-CIO Union Summer students joined members of CWA, UFCW, and more for a rowdy march on Verizon and the Capital Grille. Led by Carrie Biggs-Adams in her famous "corporate pig" costume, activists chanted "No justice? No peace! Let's put an end to corporate greed" as they swarmed the sidewalk outside of the F St. Verizon store before trekking down to Capital Grille – a restaurant whose owner, Clarence Otis, is on the Board of Verizon. "This not only affects Verizon workers, but every worker in the country" CWA 2336's Brenda Savoy told the protesters, adding that letting Verizon win could set a dangerous precedent for corporate power in this country. A delegation delivered a letter addressed to Otis to Capital Grille management before marching away chanting "tell Clarence we'll be back! All we want is a fair contract!" Click here for a video of the action.
 
At the same time, just north of the city, a delegation from DC Jobs with Justice (JwJ) took a letter to Otis in to the manager of the Chevy Chase Capital Grille, “and he wished us well with our cause,” said JwJ’s Lillian Shelton-Martin. The rich are getting richer and we’re standing out here in the hot sun,” said Glenn Miller (at right) , squinting in the noontime glare. The Verizon FIOS installation and maintenance technician and member of CWA 2108 was passing out flyers on the 1-year anniversary of the expiration of CWA’s contract. “Verizon just has no sympathy for their employees,” said Miller. “It kind of feels like we’re going back to slave labor. If there’s no union (at Verizon), there’s no protection for the workers,” said Miller. “That’s the bottom line.”

- reports/photos by Chris Garlock & Julia Kann