Orange : Pacific Bell Workers Stage Demonstration
Wearing black armbands, carrying black flags and hoisting a 6-foot-long, wooden black coffin on their shoulders, about 75 members of Local 11510 of the Communications Workers of America demonstrated Thursday in front of Pacific Bell’s main Orange County offices at 500 S. Main St.
The union members were protesting as part of a nationwide day of demonstrations organized by the union, which claims that the Bell System is mistreating telecommunications workers across the country.
The idea for the nationwide demonstrations originated with Local 11510 President Bill Leach, and the 43-year-old Santa Ana resident couldn’t be prouder.
“I feel pretty good about today’s events because it all came out of a resolution that I submitted to the (47th annual CWA) convention in San Francisco in July,” Leach said.
About 40 union members also gathered at the General Telephone Building, 6430 Westminster Ave., Westminster, as part of the Orange County effort.
Janet Watters, executive vice president of the union local, said the black arm bands symbolize “all the jobs that are dying.”
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