Campaign activists have been mobilizing for months to build broad public opposition to the proposed sale of Verizon's landlines to Frontier.

Hundreds of members have met with their legislators at the Capitol or attended meetings with their County Commissioners to educate them about the sale.  Many others have talked with neighbors and friends, distributed lawn signs and bumper stickers, or gone "online" with an activist campaign to get hundreds of letters opposed to the sale sent to the governor.

Everyone's hard work paid off on Sunday, January 10 at the Culture Center in Charleston when Governor Joe Manchin made a surprise appearance in the middle of the "Stop the Sale" rally!

Gov. Manchin joined CWA President Larry Cohen, CWA District 2 VP Ron Collins, United Mineworkers President Cecil Roberts and many other labor and community leaders on the stage to say that he would do everything in his power to make the proposed deal work for the working families of West Virginia -- not just for the Wall Street bankers.

Other rally speakers included Sen. Jack Yost, Del. Mike Caputo, state AFL-CIO President Kenny Perdue, and representatives from the firefighters, nurses and senior citizens.

Pictures from the rally may be viewed here.

The rally was timed to be just days before the West Virginia Public Service Commission begins its hearings on the matter on Tuesday, January 12 at 9:30 AM in the Cunningham Hearing Room, 201 Brooks St. in Charleston.  

"We need to bring high speed broadband to West Virginia and communities across the country, to foster economic growth," Cohen said.  "Instead, Verizon is using an obscure tax loophole to do a tax free deal that will leave West Virginia without a platform for achieving the speeds that are necessary for economic development.  This deal is only good for Wall Street, not Main Street."