Lesser Honored for Support of Telecommunications Workers

Flanked by labor and consumer advocates, former Senator and Commissioner of Aging Edith Prague presented State Rep. Matthew Lesser (D-Middletown) with the John W. Shaughnessy Jr. Award for public service, the highest award given by the Connecticut chapter of the Communications Workers of America.

This year, Rep. Lesser led the successful fight to block telephone deregulation legislation that would have allowed phone companies to lay off workers and cut off access to landline telephones.

"This is about protecting middle-class jobs and keeping our 100-year commitment that everybody in Connecticut deserves access to quality, affordable phone service,” Lesser said. “If we learned anything from week long power outages, it's how important it is for people to have access to reliable phone service." 

Leaders of AARP, CCAG and other consumer advocates were in attendance.