CWA Activists Join 60th Anniversary March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom

On August 26th, over 300 CWA activists gathered in Washington, D.C. to commemorate the 60th Anniversary of the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom. CWA activists from across the country attended this historic event and members rode into our nation’s capital on buses from New York, New Jersey, Alabama, North Carolina, Georgia, Ohio, Wisconsin, and beyond!

During a kickoff rally at CWA Headquarters activists heard from Executive Board Member and CWA Local 9412 President Keith Gibbs, Telecommunications and Technologies President Lisa Bolton, and Human Rights Director Angie Wells. A group of workers who are organizing with CWA at federal call center contractor Maximus addressed the crowd, sharing information about their fight for equitable pay and a voice on the job. CWA Secretary-Treasurer Ameenah Salaam and Public, Health and Education Workers Vice President Margaret Cook also joined the rally and the march.

Activists wrote postcards in support of the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act, the PRO Act, and the fight for a living wage.

Our members then marched from Headquarters to the Lincoln Memorial to let their voices be heard and continue the rich tradition of labor and civil rights activism. One of the workers from Maximus, Tonya Jackson, spoke from the stage, saying, “At the original March on Washington, the marchers called for the federal government to make sure everyone had access to good jobs with fair wages and that people weren’t discriminated against. How is it OK in 2023 that we work for the federal government and we can’t afford to pay our bills, and the CEO of our company took home more than six million dollars last year?” You can watch Jackson’s full speech here and check out a CWA highlight reel on Facebook or TikTok.

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CWA activists from across the country traveled to Washington, D.C. to commemorate the 60th Anniversary of the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom.

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This post originally appeared on cwa-union.org.