CWA Members Show Strong Support for Appointing Temporary Senator from Massachusetts
CWA District One members showed strong union support for appointing a temporary interim Senator to fill Sen. Kennedy's seat at the Massachusetts legislature's Joint Committee on Election Laws hearing.
"With the passing of Sen. Ted Kennedy two weeks ago, Massachusetts has only one U.S. senator," said Don Trementozzi, President of CWA Local 1400. "This has left Massachusetts working families with only partial representation during critical fights in the Senate on health care reform and the Employee Free Choice Act." CWA Local 1400 members work at Verizon and AT&T.
"We could be just one vote short of the 60 votes we'll need in the Senate to get legislation passed this year," said Lynda Nordyke, President of CWA Local 1302. "It is imperative that we have full representation as soon as possible." CWA Local 1302 members work at Idearc.
The hearing at the Massachusetts State House on House Bill 656 packed Gardner Auditorium. And no group had a larger -- or more visible -- turnout than CWA, whose members filled an entire section of the room with their colorful red t-shirts. Other CWA local unions with members attending the hearing included Local 1300/AEEF, 1301 and 201.
House Bill 656 would not impact the special election scheduled for January 19, 2010, but it would allow Massachusetts to have full Senate representation in the interim period.
"Every day, U.S. Senators cast critical votes on issues essential to the people of Massachusetts," said Paul Bouchard, a CWA District One Representative and former Lucent Technologies employee. "There are lots of important issues coming up. All the other states have two senators for the next six months. We should too."
Pictures from the hearing can be viewed on the Picasa photo sharing site at:http://picasaweb.google.com/randwilson.aflcio/PicturesFromHearingOnSenAp...
