Press Release: It's Time to Get Serious about Good Jobs

Contact: Candice Johnson, CWA Communications, 202-434-1168, cjohnson@cwa-union.org

Washington, D.C. -- Following is a statement by the Communications Workers of America on the American Jobs Act, outlined tonight by President Obama:

President Obama is right. It’s time to get serious about good jobs. There’s an employment crisis facing some 25 million Americans and we need serious action from our elected leaders now.

It’s very important that the President tonight acknowledged the need for real collective bargaining rights for workers. We’ll never move forward to economic recovery if we don’t increase demand, and that only happens when workers have bargaining rights to improve their wages and working conditions. If we’re looking for a real, long term fix for our economy, this is it.

We need good jobs and we need real investment in our country to create these jobs. We need high speed broadband to bring the benefits of our 21st century economy to all Americans, especially small business and families in the heartland, in rural areas who right now don’t have access to all the tools of the Internet Age. President Obama recognized this tonight as well. Extending high speed broadband to the 24 million Americans who now have no access and to millions more in underserved communities is critical if the U.S. is going to catch up to the rest of the world.

Most important, it is time for members of Congress to step up and put our country ahead of ideology and politics.  That’s what the American people want.