Bernie Rocks Buffalo. He Also Did Something Else.

[NeoGreen]

http://www.thenation.com/article/bernie-rocks-buffalo/

 Bernie Rocks Buffalo. He Also Did Something Else.

 Buffalo—Before Bernie Sanders spoke to over 11,000 people on Monday at the University of Buffalo, he made a brief unscheduled stop. The crowd in the alumni arena was more diverse than most Sanders rallies—not as diverse as Buffalo itself, a city where non-Hispanic whites are in the minority, but with a greater number of black and brown faces than I’d seen in other rallies in other parts of the country. And like every Sanders rally I’ve been to, the crowd was happy to be there, shouting “Ber-nie! Ber-nie!” at every rumor of the candidate’s appearance, and gleefully taking selfies of one another before, during, and after Sanders’s 90 minute speech.

The audience at Sanders’s first stop was a lot quieter, a lot older, a lot whiter—and a whole lot smaller. They were pleased to see Sanders, but there was no mistaking the scene at Local 1122 of the Communications Workers of America for a rock concert or a sporting event. These were 25 shop stewards at Verizon who had to prepare their members to go on strike on Wednesday morning, and the mood in the room was a mixture of anxiety and defiant anger.

“It’s getting old, having to fight just to keep our jobs,” said Larry Turner, a 25 year veteran. “Ever since the merger with Bell Atlantic [in 2000] it seems like we have to keep fighting just to stay in place. They were supposed to be building FiOS [fast broadband] here in Buffalo and they just stopped.”

Emphasis added.

[eraofoperation]

1. He Rocks the Country!!!

[Stardust]

2. Gut-wrenching and powerful. Thank you. Nt

[Stardust]

3. Great article. Thanks! 👍

[Karma13612]

4. Thanks for this news!

But very saddened to hear about the Verizon workers. The company STOPPED building Fios?