Action Alert in Connecticut

 Wed., June 1, 5-6 pm
 Verizon, 599 Research Pkwy.
 Meriden, CT 

Directions: Take exit 16 off I-91, heading east on E. Main St. 
Turn right onto Pomeroy Ave., then right again onto Research Parkway. 
VZW is #599 on your right. 

Kara DeWitt had worked at the Verizon Wireless call center in Wallingford, 
CT, and CWA Local 1298 is spearheading the effort to support Kara 
and have her reinstated. The local and other allies will be marching 
on Verizon Wireless in Meriden, CT, on June 1 to demand Kara's job 
back.

For more information, call CWA Local 1298 at 203-288-5271.  Kara 
described her unfair treatment at CWA's Customer Service conference 
in Cranford, NJ, last week. After she spoke, participants passed 
the hat and raised more than $1,000 for Kara and her family.
 
Verizon Wireless likes to tout its inclusion on Working Mother magazine's
list of the 100 best companies for working mothers. However, the company 
clearly doesn't deserve this honor.

Far from being supportive of working mothers and the dilemmas they may face
in balancing work and family, Verizon Wireless fired Kara DeWitt, a customer
service representative and working mother, for taking sick leave while her
husband was serving in Iraq.

Initially, Dale DeWitt was to be deployed for only 6 months, but his tour
was extended twice, and Kara was on her own for 19 months. During that time,
their daughter Daisy, now 2, was born. Kara was taking care of Daisy and her
sister Julia, now 4, while working full-time at Verizon Wireless. When the
girls were sick, Kara of course had to stay home with them, using some of
her sick days.   

After using her allotted sick leave, Kara came down with pink eye and a
stomach bug and took two additional sick days. Rather than allowing her to
use vacation time or work out any other arrangement, Verizon Wireless fired
Kara. Kara's family lost not only her income but also their health
insurance; Dale is a self-employed HVAC contractor, so the entire family was
on her health care policy.
 
For more information, read the New Haven Register's coverage of this 
story, "Soldier's Wife Fired After Struggling to Mind the Homefront," 
May 1, 2005.

Read what happened to Kara, then send a message to Working Mother magazine
that Verizon Wireless doesn't deserve to be on the list of companies that are
good for working mothers.