WASHINGTON -- The Communications Workers of America praised Sen. Susan Collins (R-Me.), chair of the Senate Governmental Affairs Committee, for her announcement that the committee will investigate the awarding of contracts to MCI WorldCom.

In a letter to Collins, CWA President Morton Bahr noted that MCI WorldCom top officers had admitted to an $11 billion fraud and that further government support of such an operation is not in the public interest.

CWA "does not believe that a company that has admitted to the largest corporate fraud in our history should be rewarded by our government. There are several other companies, all of whom acted lawfully, that can provide these services," he wrote.

In enclosed materials, Bahr also noted that the federal government, through the General Services Administration, did debar other law-breaking companies, including Enron and Arthur Anderson LLP, from future federal contracts, and called for similar action against MCI WorldCom.

CWA also has joined with other organizations in a May 29, 2003 letter to GSA Administrator Stephen A. Perry, again urging the GSA to suspend WorldCom from bidding on future federal contracts because of its fraudulent business practices.

That letter notes that recent actions by attorneys general in four states indicate movement toward the filing of criminal charges against MCI WorldCom. A conviction on such charges would automatically debar MCI WorldCom from holding federal contracts, the organizations point out.

Communications Workers of America