DC Residents, Workers Demand That Verizon "Pay Its Fair Share"

(Metropolitan Washington Council, AFL-CIO)

Saying that Verizon owes millions of dollars in unpaid taxes - thereby robbing states and cities of vital funds - dozens of District residents and workers rallied and marched through Downtown DC yesterday to demand that the global telecommunications giant be heldaccountable. As rush hour commuters hustled home through Farragut Square on K Street NW, the demonstrators drew plenty of looks while performing a flash mob rendition of “The DC Jobs Shuffle” and chanting “What do we want? Jobs. When do we need them? Now!” Soon-after, the demonstrators - led by OurDC, a coalition of community groups, neighborhood associations, faith organizations and workers “united to bring good jobs to the District” - marched to a Verizon store on L Street NW to deliver a letter demanding that the store’s executives pay the taxes they owe. “Verizon has not paid its taxes and that’s simply unfair to us,” said Valerie Garland, a former resident of Ward 7 in Southeast DC. “We’re fed up and we’re taking it to the streets. I see a lot of people who are suffering- families cannot afford tofeed their kids; laid off workers can’t pay their rent and are just put out on the street. Verizon needs to understand that they are directly draining valuable funding from communities when they don’t pay their taxes.” People rallied for almost an hour outside the store, chanting “No justice, no peace. No Jobs, no peace!” and waving signs reading "Verizon: Pay your taxes now!" DC Jobs with Justice’s Arturo Griffiths called Verizon’s actions “disgraceful and embarrassing,” telling the crowd that it's “one of many corporations that has not paid their taxes, and that is simply not fair.” He added, “Politicians say that there’s no money in our states and cities, but it’s right here in the taxes that these corporations - like Verizon - don’t pay. They need to pay as much tax as the rest of us, because our communities badly need the money that they’ve stolen. Congress needs to hold them accountable and force them to pay their fair share.” - report/photos by Adam Wright