Union rep’s e-mail stirs controversy

RICHMOND

A union official threatened to withhold volunteer and financial support in the fall elections in an e-mail to Democratic lawmakers, a message some conservatives are calling inappropriate and worthy of investigation.

The message was purportedly sent Feb. 3 by Carol Summerlyn, a Communications Workers of America representative from Portsmouth. Summerlyn did not respond to e-mails and a phone message seeking comment Saturday.

In the memo, she said the union had concerns about proposed legislation that, among other things, would give certain telephone companies the option not to provide new land line service in areas of Virginia where wireless coverage is available.

House and Senate versions of the legislation have passed.

Summerlyn chided Democrats who she said "abandoned" the union by voting alongside Republicans to advance the House version, HB2367 sponsored by Fairfax County Republican Del. Tim Hugo, out of committee.

And she suggested that betrayal could have consequences.

"CWA's active participation in this fall's election is being threatened by Democrats who are abandoning their base to align themselves with big business at the expense of consumers," the e-mail reads.

"It will be difficult to convince my members to give up their Saturdays and evenings to elect the very people who ignore our needs after the election is over," it continues. "It will be nearly impossible for me to convince my boss to authorize the thousands of dollars we normally contribute to the party and individual candidates."

That language in the e-mail "raises some serious questions," said Ben Marchi, state director of Americans for Prosperity, a conservative group that opposes federal efforts to make it easier for workers to unionize.

"Threatening legislators by promising to withhold campaign cash if they don't vote the way union bosses tell them ... is a clear violation of the public trust," added Marchi, who has filed a state open records request for e-mails from CWA officials to Democratic lawmakers.

Summerlyn's message was forwarded Feb. 4 to several Northern Virginia legislators by another union official, according to a copy obtained by The Virginian-Pilot.

Its contents were part of a recent floor debate between Hugo and House Minority Leader Ward Armstrong, D-Henry County, who voted against the telecomm bill.

Armstrong said Saturday that he wasn't a recipient but has seen a copy of the e-mail, which he called "inappropriate." "They've got no business putting that in writing or saying it," he said.

The sometimes ugly convergence of money and politics helps make a strong case for public financing of political campaigns, he added.

Senate Majority Leader Richard Saslaw, a Democrat from Fairfax County, was a recipient of the e-mail. He sponsored the Senate version of the telecomm bill, which he said was amended to make some concessions for CWA concerns.

As for the e-mail, he said it didn't faze him.

"I didn't pay that much attention to it," said Saslaw, adding that he's received "a zillion letters like that" from all sorts of interests during his long tenure in the legislature. "Maybe you could say I've been there so long I've got a thick skin."

Julian Walker, (804) 697-1564, julian.walker@pilotonline.com

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