welcome my name is atona bender and I'ma customer service representative at acall center operated by the largestfederal government contractor calledMaximus I have worked at Maximus since2015 as a tier 2 Medicare CSR and I'm amember of the Jones CountyNAACP my co-workers and I answer callsfor 1800 Medicare in the Affordable CareAct also known as the marketplace wehelp families across the countrynavigate complicated Health Care Systemsoften during the most vulnerable time intheir lives we know that this workshould come with living wage andAffordable Health Care instead too manyof us are working for the federalgovernment and struggling to survive[Music]right we really enjoy our jobs howeverthe daily work work load can be verystressful we feel that our work is veryimportant to our beneficiaries in us weask that you all consider our point ofview and consider prly ourrequests in a few weeks we will beginour business season which is the openingfor Medicare andMarketplace we are here today to putMaximus on notice if you want to addressour demands we will uh prepare forstrike today you will have a chance tohear from some of my co-workers aboutwhy we're ready to take action to winJustice you will also hear from ourstrong allies in this fight to begin Iwould like to introduce my coworkerLishaPreston because when we we move theymove because when we move they move justlike that just likethat hello everyone hello my name isLisha Preston I worked at this callon inhburg for about nine years My Last 5Years here at Maximus I am an eternalsupport groupMaximus withMarketplace I'm a single mother of ahandsome seveny old boy and I can tellyou is just not possible to support myfamily working at Maximus call center weare underpaid and our healthc care isjustunaffordable when I when I first gothired nine years ago I had faith that Ifinally found my dream job and I reallydid dream that I was going to be workingat the call centerso I love helping people and I loveknowledgeable things so that's why I Iam glad to be here but since then I'vehad a child and my health has become abigger issue as well every day is astruggle just to survive atMaximus me and my son have to have movedback with my parents because I couldn'tafford my own place my car note my carins Insurance all all along ate up halfof mycheck in 2019 I was in the hospital fortwo weeks with the walking walkingpneumonia in thelungs I'm still paying off medical debtsfor 4 years later because our high ofthe high out of pocketcost I also had to take out loans to payoff thosedebts I wasn't I wasn't even gettingpaid for those two weeks in the hospitaland bills still need to be paid and I'mstill paying off those loans it hurts menot to provide for on my own for my sona place to stay and there's no way Icould afford Child Care at Maximus atMaximuspay so I don't know what I'll dowithout my parents helping me with mychild if I had to pay for child care Idon't even know if if I'll be able tofeed myfamily I also have to rely on StateInsurance Medicaid Mississippi Medicaidfor my son because it is impossible toafford family health coverage at Maximuson what wemake I'm lucky that I have a supportivefamily who can help me and and only haveand even though I only have onechild many of my Maximus co-workersstruggles just as much as I doeven if they have more children than Ido we do essential work for the federalgovernment and help many millions ofAmerican Access Health Coverage weshould not be stuck in povertystruggling just tosurvive this wind iscrucial I apologize this wind iscrucial that's why we're organizing toform a union so we can improve our workcondition provide hope for the bestfuture for our families but Maximus hasopposed us every step of the way ourdemands aresimple a living wage of$25 per hour affordable health care andthe freedom to form a union without INDintertermination and we're here today to saythat if Maximus ignores our demands webelieve we have no choice choice but toput I'msorry to put our phone down and fistup we are ready to strike during yearopen AR roic period to win fairtreatment and dignity and respect thatwe deserve thank[Applause]you next I would like to welcome to thepodium state Senator War bornett Senatorbornett is a strong union Advocate as avice president of the CWA local359 Senator Juanbaret good afternoon good afternoon canyou all hear me without this mic held uptomy well is indeed a pleasure to be hereagain with you all uh most of you allwho have been here since the start ofthis know that I have been right herewith you I have been one of the very fewlocal elected officials that have cameout to support you all from day one andI just want you all to know that I willbe here and and I will see this throughwith you alluh but only not only are we here todayto advocate for Maximus and and hisworkers and their ability to be able tohave better wages to be able to uh feedtheir families and not have to alwayscontinue to make a decision whether wecan buy bread or by medicine all rightuh whether we need to have someone tocarry us to work or whether we canafford gas our own self to get to workokay you know those are those arelife-changing decisions for a lot ofpeople and to hear the young lady thatcome before to said that she had to moveback home with her young son so thatthey can be able to have somewhere torest at night those kind of things arevery important and it should beimportant to all of us and includingthosewho who own and operate Maximus but ontop of that as a CWA member I would beremissed today if I didn't say that ontop of the Maximus thing that we arefighting here today is that we need topay close attention to this Broadbandbill because if we don't then Broadbandin Mississippi would be handled justlike Maximus here in Mississippi okay ifwe don't start from the beginning tomake sure that the best hiring practicesare follow followed and we don't makesure that pay equal pay is followed andwe don't make sure that training isfollowed and we don't make sure thatthese things are done then we're goingto get exactly what we're asking for andthat is shoty work by shoty contractorsthat's going to give us sh service andwe don't feel like we need to usefederal dollars or State dollars to maketo make make sure that people just bringus internet we want good internet wewant reliable internet but on top ofthat we want the people that are doingthe work to continue to stay here andlive here in Mississippi to continue toprovide those type of services that weneed we don't mind contractors but wehave enough able bodies here inMississippi to be able to do the exactsame work that we could bring somebodyelse from out of state to be able to doas well so I ask all of you all heretoday to please pay attention to if it'sgoing to be be a better Broad let's makesure that it's better broadband and notjustbroadband that's enough of my soap boxtoday uh but it does give me greatpleasure to introduce a young man and Icall him a young man because he's alwaysfull of energy from the first time thatI had an opportunity to meethim we reached out to severalindividuals over a month or so ago tocome to a rally just like this and theseindividuals was individual who wasrunning for the position of presidentof national forCWA one personresponded not with the email not with atext message but they called us back andasked when and what day what time andwhere do I need tobe and they showedup and Mr Claude Comins we can't thankyou enough from choosing to come toHattisburg Mississippi all the way fromHouston Texas toshow hissupport now when you have an individualwho is who can put down everything elsethat they have going on and decide toshowup here tohelp I think it's worth having anindividual like this to serve as ourpresident ofCWA and so it was no question to thoseof us who were involved in CWA to makethetrip to St Louis to Missouri to makesure that everyone that was there knewhow important Claud cumins was as ournext president of CWA so without furtherAdo ID like to introducea or to most of y'all Mr Claud thepresident of CWA thank[Applause]you when wefight when we fighty'all come on with it now when we fightall right thank you Senator Barnett forthat great uh opening there I certainlyappreciate you being here uh Maximusworkers give yourselves a round ofapplause give yourselves a round ofapplause and the president Mike giveMike a round of applause presidenthoders thank you man for your dedicationand work in supporting this call centerand the work that we are trying to dohere as far as organizing this isconcerned uh the support has just beenabsolutely fantastic and we certainlyappreciate it and listen I'm happy to bejoined today by uh Congress member BennyThompson give Ben Round of Applause I'llbe bringing him up in a couple ofminutes and also CEO of theNAACP Derek Johnson give him a round ofapplause you know Dr King made it clearsome years ago that the civil rightsmovement and the labor movement have thesame goals as a matter of fact he wasclear what sense does it make to be ableto March so people come can sit down ina restaurant and eat but you don't havethe money to pay for a hamburger rightto pay for the meal so we understoodclearly the importance of the civilrights movement and the labor movementbeing together so thank you so much uhPresident Johnson for being being hereuh all the other Representatives thatare here raise your hand please all theelected officials that have been herelet's recognize them thank you so muchfor coming out and supporting this uhthis effort and uh for the first timefor the very first time I want tointroduce ruce all of you to scabbythat's scabby the rat over there some ofyou did not know about scabby but webring scabby out uh to representcorporategreen he's representing corporate greedof those over at Maximus that are takingthousands and thousands of dollars fromthe workers that are actually doing thework simple as that and scabby is goingto show up in a lot of other places soy'all stay tuned so I'm excited to behere in Hattisburg since I was last herein June I was elected C Internationalpresident I'm proud to be here againstanding in solidarity with the federalcall center workers to deliver a messageloud and clear to Maximus high paidExecutives and anyone else who islistening CWA will stand with theseBrave workers every step of the wayuntil you win living wages affordablehealth care and your union which wouldbeCWA for years the maximum call centerworkers have been speaking out abouttheir poor working conditions low wagesunaffordable Health Care no career pathunfair and insulting policies andsurprise layoffs that throw familiesinto crisis how has Maximus responded toworkers organizing their Union by tryingto silence you to deny you a real seatat the table by retaliating against someUnion activities and calling the policeon workers engaged in Union activitiesat CWA we know that when employeers tryto push workers up against the wall thatworkers strongest power is to go onstrike CWA members have conductedseveral of the largest strikes in theUnited States and recent history andeach one of those strikes has led toimprovements in workers lives lastNovember Maximus call center workers ledthe largest strike of non-union workersin the south in recent history when over500 workers put their phones downs andthey fist up in the air to demand betteryet here we are almost a year later andMaximus continues to treat his workerswho are largely Black and Latino womenin the South like they don't matter likethey shouldn't have a real voice on thejob like they are disposable Maximustreatment of his call center workers isshameful absolutely shameful in thewords of Mississippi's own F ler we arehere with Maximus workers to say we aresick and tired of being sickandtoday we're standing together to putMaximus on notice that workers areprepared to go on strike during theMedicare and Affordable Care Act openenrollment period unless Maximusaddresses their demands let me repeatthat so I want to make sure that theyhear me and that y'all hear me we areprepared and we will go on strike duringthe Medicare and Affordable Care Actopen remote enrollment period unlessMaximus addresses their demands and I'mhere to deliver a message to you Maximusworkers that I and all of CWA I as yournewly elected International presidenthave your back and I will stand with youin your fight for living wagesaffordable health care for a real voiceon the job and for racial and economicJustice when we fight when we fight whenwe fight we win we are going to win inthe end thank you so much for having menow at this time I have the honorprivilege and pleasure to bring upsomeone that I am real real close to I'mtalking about not only a real Congressmember but just a real brother who youcan talk to who will stand up forworkers who has a 100% voting record forstanding up for worker rights standingup for civil rights a standing upagainst those who are who trying toinvade our capital and caus issues acouple of a couple of years ago one whospeaks out on issues that are soimportant uh to us in this country andone that has represented Mississippi ina very very very great way over his manyyears uh in Congress uh at this time Ibring to you our Congress member fromMississippi Congress member BennyThompson let's give him a round ofapplause a round ofapplause thank you very much goodafternoon afternoon good afternoongood afternoon I came a long way to bewith workers who want to make adifference in the workplace but you knowyou want to be respected in theworkplace and so for a guy who doesn'trepresent this area but I identify withyour mission I identify because all youwant is the ability to organize andchoose the right to have representationin the workplace and that's what you'redoing here at Maximus and I I supportyou for that more importantly for thoseof you who go to work every day youexpect to be respected and paid a fairwage not just a living wage but a fairwage now what does that mean in order toget what you want you're going to haveto stick together and this is part ofthe process this company makes $2billion a year of federalcontracts and they can't pay you betterthan what they're paying you now youknow you give people a raise then youraise the deductible you give them araise then you raise the contributionfor the for the health care that's notyou know that's that's smoking mirrorsbecause that doesn't put anything on thetable so part of the reason I'm here isto let you know that there are a lot ofpeople who don't live in the Hattisburgarea who with you uh there are a lot ofpeople who understand this cause but inunity there's strength you have to sticktogether now in any organizing effortyou'll have scabs out there uh don'tworry about that but at the end Goddoesn't like ugly and if you treatworkers wrong then they're being uglyand so I'm here on behalf of theCongressional Black Caucus there are 58of us in Washington we identifon a regular basis with workers andworkers right issues in this country soon the otherside just like when those crazy folktried to take over the capital and theydecided that they going to decide thatthe election was wrong well guess what Igot the chair the committee and we spenta year and a half making sure that crazyfolk don't don't ever take over anythingagain and the fact that I went to publicschool in Mississippi I went to collegein Mississippi I married a Mississippigirl I got Mississippi children but theimportant thing is I have a brain andyou as workers here at Maximus you havea brain and if you choose to organizethen that's your right as an Americancitizen you know don't try to let thecompany say that we know what's best foryou no that's not right and so for us tobe here today standing in solidaritywith you I want you to know we will talkto Maximus on the Congressional side andsay look you have to treat the folk inHattisburg better than you're treatingthem now if they choose a bargainingunit you have to recognize it and thatmeans that when you come to work youknow how you going to be treated youknow what you gonna make you know whatthe benefits are and at the end of thecareer you know there's other thingscome like a pension and so what you haveto have is you have to stick together Iencourage you to stick together in unitythere is strength Amen in unity there isstrength there a lot of people whounderstand what you are about and so nowwith this rally today a lot of otherpeople will know what the issues are sowe support you we with you100% And I have to applaud YourLeader Claude Cummins good brother cameall the way from Houston Texas to bewith you today and he said if yousupport me for president of CWA I won'tforget you and guess what he's here insupport of what you all about now nowother people used to be invited to comebut they were always too busy that'sright you know now here's the guy thatruns the whole operation and he's hereand so that tells you that you made theright decision by electing him as yourpresident the other person I'm going tointroduce is somebody who is fromJackson Mississippi but he heads thelargest civil rights organization in thecountry and and he's here to show hissupport for it we did a rally in DC onbehalf of the workers here at at Maximusand he was there and he's here inHattisburg but he's the president andCEO of the largest civil rightsorganization in the world not just inthe United States in the world theNAACP let me introduce to you Derek[Music]Johnson Mr Johnson thank you CongressmanThompson and thank you Claud foryour leadership but more importantly forall the workers that are here giveyourself a round ofapplause we understand that it's noteasy organizing an effort like this infront of the company in which you workat right the courage that you areshowing today is the reason why I'mstanding here today okay understandingthe rights of individuals tocollectively bargain is rooted in acivil rights tradition that we mustsupport no matter what about a month agoMaximus reached out to our office theywant to have a meeting I said I don'thave any reason to meet with you theonly reason why I would meet with you ifyou had workers at the table if you'vesigned an agreement with them toincrease their pay to ensure they hadMedical Health Care and a quality ofwork life that all individuals should beentitled to for the naac CP let's beclear when you strike we will be herewith you to recognize that the reasonwhy we exist as an organization isbecause they was trying to exploit blackworkers for cheap labor the reason whywe were created as an organizationbecause they exploited black folks forfree labor we call slavery and at theend of the day the right of workers isthe right of all citizens to be able tocollectively bargain and we must do thatwith insolidarity now as we stand here in thishot sun hot hot sun and a parking lotbehind us that's fullwe need you to give your co-workerscourage to ensure that they are willingto stand with you as me in theCongressional Black Co caucus and coxmanThompson we also need to give the BidenAdministration a little courage as wellto make sure that the Secretary ofHealth and Human Services review thiscontract not renew this contract unlessthey give workers the right that you aredeserving for the NAACP we are here withyou I'm proud that Clarence McGee ourBranch President is here Mr McGee let'sgive him a hand I am proud that Claud served on the nacp national boardof directors but most importantly I amproud of you to stand here to standstrong to fight cuz we know when wefight we will win peace and[Applause]Powerthank you all I would like to welcomeCassandra welon the executive directorof the Mississippi black women's RoundTable Miss welon and her organizationlead the fight for health care acrossMississippi and support us in ourdemands for racial equality at Maximus Iintroduce to you all Cassandrawelkins going to letnobody turn me around turn me aroundturn me around ain't GNA letnobody turn me around I'm gonna keepon keep ontalking yeah yeah no justice no peace nojustice no peace thank you all so muchfor having me here and I stand and myorganization we stand in solidarity withyou the Mississippi black women's RoundTable we are a Statewide organizationthat works to shift power at the policytable and at the voting booth foradvancing women's Economic Security andCivic engagement the story that we heardof nikesha that is one of so manystories that we hear about black womenand Brown women not having what theyneed to take care of themselves andtheir families because we understandthat Health Care is a human rightyes we know that having livable wages isa human right yes yes yes and so formore than two years we launched aproject called the Mississippi voicesproject focusing on access to healthcare for black and ltin womenwe talk with black and latinx women allover the state who routinely preventedfrom having access to Quality HealthCare for by systems and forces them outof control workers at the federal callcenter operated by Maximus are at theintersections of the same Health Carechallenges facing our communities on theone hand these call centers workers helpMillions of their fellow Americansaccess Affordable Health Care throughAffordable Care Act and Medicare on theother hand these very same workers arepredominantly black and brown women donot have access to Affordable Healthcarefrom their employers and many struggleas you have heard to pay for criticalhealth care because of low wages and outof high and and high outof pocket costI'm here to join with the workers I'mhere to join with the workerstoday and to say this isunacceptable and that our network ofhundreds of women across the state standwith you it is time for Maximus with itsbillions of dollars to meet theseworkers demands for living wagesaffordable healthcare and the freedom toform a union without employerinterferenceMississippi black women's Round Table isproud to stand with the workers who areleading the fight for Justice at maximusin Mississippi and around thiscountry if Maximus will not change itsbehaviors call center workers may needto go on strike doing open enrollmentthis year to send a strong message thatthings need to change when they day whenthat day comes you can count on thesupport of the Mississippi black women'sround table and our Network to standwith you because you deserve justice andwe will win thank[Music]you thank youMiss now I would like to introduce oneof my co-workers ShereeKerwhen wefight when we fight when wefight Hello My Name Is Sheree Coler I'vebeen working for Maximus Hattisburg sitefor five years now I handle calls forboth Medicare and the Affordable Careoutlines taking calls from families thatexperience very serious challengeswe are the reason Maximus has beenawarded billions of contractdollars we do the important work wedeserve livingwage we have lives outside the workplaceand families that rely on us that webring to the table none of these uhMaximus Executives with theirmillion-dollarpaychecks can look Us in the eyes andexplain how our low wages are supposedto support an entirefamily this is why I'morganizing with myco-workers to win our Union andrespect cuz when we began talking toco-workers and making demands for jangeMaximus refused tolisten and instead Maximus launched ananti-unioncampaigns the company sprad anti-unioncommunication to scare us away fromorganizing and they even fed usmisinformation about joining a unionduring our workmeetings they they tried to disciplineme for just putting a sign at mydesk maximis knows that when we cometogether that we have thepower and they are scared of Us comingtogetherso they spread the fear among workers todivide us and keep us undercontrol now we know the change we needonly will come when we win ourUnion and we can sit down to negotiate acontract we demand that Maximus stop allthefearintimidation interference and respectour freedom to choose ourunions for ourselves everything we haveeveryone asworkers we had to do so through thefight ofmanagement so if Maximus executives arewilling to not willing to address ourdemands and make a realchange we plan to start well they can uhplan to start making plans on answeringphones during openenrollment because we are ready tostrike cuz when wemove just like that just like that nojustice no peace no justice no[Music][Music]peace now I bring uh to you all MissdeilaEvans[Music]hello my name is Delila Evans I am aMaximus employee I do work over at thecall center I've been there I'm a tiertwo and I've I've worked there for 10years since the very first trainingclass when the call center was opened in2013 like many of us I expected thatdoing federal work that I could receivebetter pay and better work workconditions but that's not the caseMaximus has kept us in poverty with lowwages and poor work conditions like manyother Maximus C Center workers I am amother of three children and several ofmy family members have worked forMaximus I know firsthand that thiscompany does not care about us I'm alsoa a two-time cancer survivor um throughmy health challeng es I've had tostruggle with Maxima's Health Carecoverage or even just to get time off totake care of myself and my familymembers I've had to really fight to gettime off for bereavement so I could buryfamily members who've passed away thisis how Maximus treat a family that hasgiven so much labor and commitment nowbut yet at the same time when yourgrandparents have a question about theirMedicare I'm the one on the other end ofthatphone and I walk them through thiscomplicated health system and make surethey get the help they need I do thatday after day and as call cental workerswe prepare to provide access toAffordable Health Care for the entirecountry meanwhile we do not haveAffordable Health Care uh and neither doour own amilies there is no reason wefor this and we deserve better we'vebeen devalued and disrespected but nowwe're fedup now before I was call a call centerworker I worked at the chicken plantingCollege made more bettereverything um I signed on to be a callcenter worker because as I statedearlier I expected doing work for afederal contractor will provide betterpay better benefits and conditionsMaximus even promised that theircontract would boost our economy withwith with better compensation forworkers also now but joining Maximusfrom the chicken plant I did take a paycut and I've been at that been at thecall center from the start and from thebeginning Maximus has kept our wagesbelow the typical wages in every Countythey placed a call center Maximusmanagement has made a decision to keepus in poverty if they don't listen toour calls for better working conditionwe have no other choice but to prepareto go on strike phonesdown phones[Music]downnow I would like to introduce to you allMiss Anna Fleming she will close us outthank you all for comingout good afternooneveryone of course most of you may knowor may not my name is Anna Flemings I ama CSR tier 2 here at Maximus I have beenhere since 202016 matter of fact last month madesevenyearstoday you have heard ourdemands at this time I would like tocall forward President Johnson MissWelton Congress Congressman Thompson andof course president Cummings to come andstand with me as I close out this rallyfor 2023 for maxim maximum[Applause]workers okay so everyone that's hereplease look to my left and to my rightall right theseindividuals President Johnson all rightMiss welon honorableCongressman Thompson okay and of courseour president newly elected ClaudeCummings I see remember this day onSeptember 7th2023 theseindividuals came and are supporting usas we organized and fight Maximus rightplease remember remember remember whenwe fight we win and this is a clearmessage to the bosses of Maximplease meet our challenges and the whatour requests that we are asking you forit will help us support our families andplease remember when Unity comestogether we un unionize so again wewould like to thank each and everyonefor coming now I do have a fewexpectations for all members who areMaximus workers or people to help uscontinue this we are calling on allMaximus workers to go and join thestrike pledge if you have not and alsoencourage your other co-workers to signalso we pledge for our many supportersand allies that wants to help and getbehind us to support our solidarity fundwhich helps us when we go on strike nowplease remember to follow us on socialmedia call Workers United and visit ourwebsite if you have any questions pleasereach out to any uh committee organizingperson or any person we are here andremember this when wemove just like that and when we fight wewin thank you and you all have a greatday one thing we have some other unionsthat were here okay and can we pleaseacknowledge uh the here the Mach TheMachinistUnion there is right over there okaythank you guys for coming most of you Isee to the AT&T or Bell South UnionWorkers any other unions and any otherunions pleasestand thank you so public sector herepublicsectors and uh again we definitely uh wedefinitely appreciate your support inthis effort with us again thank you somuch for coming we understand that it ishot today in Mississippi but on hot dayswe win that's[Applause][Music]right wewin we win