On the Strike Line ‒ Retiree Ken Worthen

 
Former President of CWA Local 3907 Ken Worthen (center, in the gray hat) showed up to support striking AT&T workers. He posed with (left to right) Steve Canode, a retired office technician; Pat Rabbeitt, a former service representative with Bell South and recipient of the 2011 Alabama AFL-CIO Labor Person of the Year Award; and current CWA Local 3907 President Ra-Amon Ta-Neter.

In 1983, Ken Worthen was a Junior Technician with AT&T in Shreveport, La., and the company was on the verge of being broken up into regional companies as a result of an antitrust lawsuit. The country was dealing with multiple gas crises and inflation at 8%. AT&T workers, worried about increased cost of living and feeling “pain at the pump,” engaged in a nation-wide strike, primarily over wages and healthcare costs.

The 1983 strike lasted for 22 days before AT&T came to the bargaining table ready to make a deal. Ken remembers the wisdom of older technicians, some with 20 to 30 years on the job. “You’re not fighting just for today. You’re fighting for the next generation. What you do today will affect future generations of workers. We’ll be gone, but you’re gonna be here, and you need to hold the line for the people who come after you, not just for yourself or your fellow workers right now.”

When asked, “What advice would you give workers on the picket line today?” Ken simply referenced those who came before him. “That’s the bottom line. It isn’t about you alone. It’s about the people who will come after you. Just remember that.”

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This post originally appeared on cwa-union.org.