January 25, 2007
On YouTube: Comcast Workers' Rights Abuse Exposed
The story of how Comcast fired an Oakland, Calif.,
worker for exposing the company's anti-union tactics is
getting national attention on the popular video site,
YouTube.com.
Will Goodo describes how he was fired one year ago —
right after testifying about Comcast's union-busting to
the Oakland city council — in a video produced by the
Religious Leaders for Justice at Comcast, a coalition of
religious leaders from Comcast viewing areas. Go to
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N3l5O5xWlvo to watch
the video.
Father Jack O'Malley from Pittsburgh, a leader of the
group, earlier sent the video to Comcast Chairman Brian
Roberts. After receiving a response from a human
resources official contending that Comcast had done
nothing wrong, the religious leaders then posted the
video on YouTube this week on the anniversary of Goodo's
January 23, 2006 firing.
The company had claimed Goodo was fired based on a
customer complaint, however that customer subsequently
denied in writing ever having made a complaint. The
National Labor Relations Board even agreed in a
memorandum that Comcast "apparently lied" and fabricated
the charge, but it dismissed his case, saying there was
no proof the firing was because of Goodo's union
activity. CWA Local 9415 is appealing the NLRB regional
director's decision.
"We're not going away," said Father O'Malley.
"Workers have a moral right to not feel intimidation at
the workplace."
CWA Stewards,
Officers Show Solidarity
at Verizon Business
Chanting "tear down the wall" and "your fight is our
fight," hundreds of CWA stewards and local union
officers in New York City showed solidarity with Verizon
Business technicians in a Jan. 25 demonstration outside
the corporation's offices in lower Manhattan. Since the
former MCI workers became part of Verizon following the
companies' 2005 merger, the corporation has
intentionally separated the workers from the CWA and
IBEW Verizon workforce, fearing that the technicians
would seek union representation as well.
"We want you to know that we are 80,000 strong at
Verizon and we support your struggle for union
representation," District 1 Vice President Chris Shelton
told a group of Verizon Business techs who, wearing red
shirts, joined in the demonstration. Also showing
support for the techs were New York City Comptroller
Bill Thompson and representatives from the New York
Central Labor Council and Jobs with Justice.
CWA leaders presented the Verizon Business techs with
a statement of support bearing the names of more than
3,000 CWA stewards and members. Their statement read, in
part, "Management wants to keep us divided. But our
mutual interests are best served by uniting for a better
future, for ourselves and our families." The
demonstrators came from CWA Locals 1101, 1103, 1105,
1107, 1109 and 1180. IBEW's Verizon workers held a
similar demonstration outside Verizon Business offices
in Boston.
Most Americans
Support Unions, Terms of Free Choice Act
Personal financial worries and a disgust with greedy
employers has a growing majority of Americans favoring
unions and condemning the threats, bullying and firings
that managers use to thwart workers' organizing and
bargaining rights, a new AFL-CIO poll shows.
Union leaders say the findings bolster the case for
the Employee Free Choice Act, which would make it easier
for workers to form unions and bargain first contracts
while cracking down on employers who use illegal tactics
with near impunity. The bill now has majority,
bipartisan support in the U.S. House, reports CWA
Executive Vice President Jeff Rechenbach.
Asked how important it is to "have strong laws that
give employees the freedom to make their own choice
about whether to have a union in their workplace without
interference from management," more than 90 percent of
those polled said it's important, with 57 percent saying
"very important."
According to the Hart Research poll, done for the
AFL-CIO in December, 65 percent of Americans approve of
unions, up from 55 percent in 1981, and just 25 percent
disapprove, a drop from 35 percent in 1981.
The vast majority of respondents said the tactics
employers use against union supporters are unacceptable.
The biggest outcry was over firing union activists — 94
percent disapproved — but at a minimum, six out of 10
people disapprove of all pressure tactics, from captive
audience meetings to anti-union literature in pay
envelopes to having supervisors urge employees to vote
against the union.
When pollsters asked people how they feel about their
financial situations, 60 percent said they were either
"just getting by" or falling behind. Only 23 percent
expect things to get better for future generations.
Whether workers have a union or not, the poll shows
that they recognize how much of an impact unions have on
wages and benefits for everyone. Asked what would happen
to pay and benefits if there were no more unions, 62
percent said it would have a negative effect.
Pollsters briefly explained the Employee Free Choice
Act and asked if respondents would support it. Overall
69 percent said they are in favor, with 28 percent
strongly favorable. While Democrats and union members
gave the strongest support, 54 percent of Republicans
also indicated they somewhat or strongly favor the
proposed law.
Arbitrator Reverses Reporter's Suspension, Rebukes
Paper
In a victory for the St. Louis Newspaper Guild-CWA,
an arbitrator has revoked a reporter's two-day
suspension and blasted the company's failure to comply
with progressive disciplinary procedures spelled out in
the Guild contract.
Post-Dispatch reporter Carolyn Tuft, who was
suspended for errors in a 2005 article that the Guild
argued were made in the editing process, must be paid
for the two days she missed, arbitrator Daniel
Jacobowski ruled.
The nearly two-year-old case drew attention from
other media in St. Louis as Guild members from every
department at the paper rallied, wore stickers of
support, wrote letters to the publisher and otherwise
stood solidly behind their colleague.
Jacobowski's ruling said further that the company's
claim that Tuft's alleged errors were "serious
misconduct" was overblown and in violation of the
contract, which calls for discipline in most instances
to begin with a written warning.
Shannon Duffy, administrative officer for TNG-CWA
Local 36047, said Post-Dispatch managers have routinely
"leapfrogged" over lesser disciplinary action to charge
workers with "serious misconduct."
"The arbitrator said this case in no way, shape or
form constituted serious misconduct," Duffy said. "This
is going to help us immensely going forward with other
grievances."
Tuft is an award-winning reporter at the
Post-Dispatch. The story in question involved the St.
Louis-based Joyce Meyers Ministries and the prominent TV
preacher's compensation, among other issues. After the
ministry called a late news conference, an editor
working with Tuft began making changes to a front-page
Sunday story.
"Revising a complex investigative piece on deadline
is a setup for trouble," Duffy said. "Management
nevertheless decided to go ahead with the Sunday piece,
rather than simply cover the press conference and give
the longer piece the time it needed."
While management tried to blame Tuft for eight
relatively minor errors in the piece, the Guild argued
that some of the alleged errors weren't mistakes at all
and others were the result of editing.
The ministry threatened to sue the paper, which
negotiated a published apology and suspended Tuft for
five days. A Guild grievance reduced the time to two
days, but the union continued to pursue what it argued
was unjust discipline.
CWA Officers Join Trek to Save New York Hospitals
Joined by CWA President Larry Cohen and District 1
Vice President Chris Shelton for the final leg, about 40
members of Local 1168 are set to complete a 320-mile
walk from Buffalo to Albany tomorrow morning to save
hospitals and jobs in Western New York.
When they arrive, they hope to meet with Gov. Eliot
Spitzer and legislative leaders in an attempt to reverse
the projected closings of at least nine hospitals that
receive state funds, including DeGraff, Millard Fillmore
and St. Joseph's in Buffalo, affecting some 4,000 CWA
jobs.
Two Local 1168 nurses, Dawn Mele and Pat Sullivan,
have walked the entire distance, joined at times by
members of their local and other CWA locals. The
marchers have braved temperatures as low as 10 degrees,
along with rain and driving winds.
"The dedication of these members to maintaining
quality, accessible health care in upstate New York and
to preserving jobs in the community is incredible,"
Cohen said.
On arriving at the state capital, the marchers will
be joined by other Local 1168 members who are being
bused in for a large rally at the Statehouse including
supporters from other unions and groups in the
community.
Local President John Klein said today that he is in
touch with Gov. Spitzer's office and is hoping to
schedule a meeting Friday morning. "One way or the
other, we are going to get our message across to our
political leaders that these hospitals are needed, and
closing them would be a hardship for many thousands of
people," he said.
Rochester Members Fight for Health Care, Job
Security
Battling demands for major health care cost shifting
and job security concessions, members of Local 1170
voted 400-8 this week to authorize a strike at Citizens
Frontier Communications in Rochester, N.Y. Their
current contract expires Jan. 31.
The bargaining unit of 590 workers is by far the
largest that CWA represents at Citizens Frontier and
leaders feel that this contract will have ramifications
for bargaining for smaller units later this year, said
Telecommunications Vice President Jimmy Gurganus. CWA
has about 1,100 members at Citizens Frontier companies
nationwide.
Besides health care concessions, including payment of
a large share of the premium, Local 1170 President Linda
McGrath said the company is demanding "total job
flexibility" and elimination of job security language in
the contract.
"The company seemed to be under the impression that
the local was not united," McGrath said. "I think this
overwhelming strike vote shows that we are united and
will do whatever it takes to get a fair contract."
IN BRIEF:
- CWA and IBEW this week presented Vermont
lawmakers with an analysis showing that Verizon's
sale of phone lines in Vermont, Maine and New
Hampshire to a small carrier, FairPoint
Communications, would harm both customers and
workers and deal a blow to economic development.
Presented at a legislative reception
Wednesday night, the analysis shows that FairPoint
lacks the financial resources to roll out high speed
Internet services, let alone maintain and upgrade
existing copper-based networks. Jobs and job
standards also are at risk, the union analysis
points out. CWA and IBEW represent about 3,000
workers in the three states.
Today CWA Research Economist Ken Peres discussed the
analysis in testimony before the Vermont House
Commerce Committee, which oversees
telecommunications.
- The same Senate Republicans who tried to
thwart the use of filibusters when threatened with
one by Democrats in the last Congress used one
themselves this week to kill a bill that would have
increased the federal minimum wage.
Even
though 54 senators effectively voted to raise the
hourly wage to $7.25 from the current $5.15,
supporters needed 60 votes to end the filibuster and
pass the bill. Most Republicans refused to accept
the "clean" bill, meaning it offered only the
minimum wage hike without any tax breaks for
businesses.
The clean bill was passed by the U.S. House as part
of the Democrats’ first 100 hours agenda. The Senate
is now expected to take up a bill that will include
the giveaways the White House wants for businesses.
The legislation would then go back to the House,
where Democratic leaders say they’ll continue to
fight for a bill with no strings attached.
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