10/15/2026 | Press release | Distributed by Public on 10/15/2026 13:33
Last week, CWA District 3 Broadband Brigade Member Mike Tharpe joined Senator Rev. Raphael Warnock on a panel of Georgia labor leaders to discuss the affordability crisis, workforce shifts driven by artificial intelligence, and protecting our right to vote.
As a telecommunications worker, Tharpe shared how employers utilize digital tools to the detriment of workers and customers alike, including intensive GPS monitoring of technicians' driving routes and pushing call center workers to follow scripts precisely through digital monitoring rather than allowing workers the flexibility needed to effectively resolve customers' issues.
Tharpe also shared how the Bipartisan Infrastructure Act's Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) Program would have helped address the growing digital divide and how the Trump administration is preventing it from achieving its full potential.