February 7, 2008
Political Movement for Change Tops CWA's
Goals for 2008
CWA's goals for 2008, set by the Executive
Board at a meeting in Washington last week,
center on strengthening the union's grassroots
political structure and building an Election '08
ground campaign to elect leaders who support
passing the Employee Free Choice Act,
comprehensive health care reform, bolstering
retirement security, and creation of good jobs.
The Board called for continuing to implement
points 1 through 10 in the Ready for the Future
program with a special focus this year of
achieving at least a 10 percent increase in COPE
contributions and 10 percent membership growth
in CWA's Retired Members Council.
A priority in 2008 is building a political
structure by congressional district that
includes one-on-one relationships with elected
leaders and candidates, along with expanded
membership education and involvement.
In support of the critical Employee Free
Choice Act, CWA's goals are to elect a
filibuster-proof Senate majority of 60
supporters and to deepen the commitment of the
Democratic presidential nominee. CWA will
participate in a campaign with the AFL-CIO and
American Rights at Work to collect signatures of
1 million supporters of the bill, with a CWA
target of at least 15 percent of our membership.
The push for a federal solution to the health
care crisis will be a key part of CWA's
political program this year with particular
emphasis on the situation of retirees under 65
who don't qualify for Medicare.
And CWA will work to build on the resolve of
unions around the world, stemming from the
Global Union Federation conference in Washington
in December, to make strengthening of organizing
and bargaining rights labor's top international
priority. Global leaders at the conference
stressed that declining union representation in
the United States threatens workers' rights and
standards throughout the world.
The Executive Board also laid out specific
bargaining and organizing goals for 2008 in
every CWA sector and industry. Click
here for a complete listing of international
and telecom, sector, division and district
goals.
IUE-CWA and 'Lean Manufacturing' Save Ohio
Jobs
Thanks to cooperative efforts between General
Motors and IUE-CWA to make production more
efficient, GM will invest $69 million in its
DMAX diesel engine plant in Morraine, Ohio. The
investment will preserve more than 1,000
manufacturing jobs.
IUE-CWA President Jim Clark stood with John
Buttermore, GM Powertrain vice president of
global manufacturing, and Ohio Gov. Ted
Strickland as the announcement was made on Feb.
5 that DMAX will produce its new 6.6-liter V-8
turbo diesel truck engine at the Morraine plant.
The state also invested $300,000 to keep the
work in Morraine.
"The efforts of our members to deliver good
quality parts has a lot to do with our getting
this," Clark pointed out. He explained that
Local 84797 members have been deeply involved in
a jointly administered union-management "lean
manufacturing" process through which the
efficiency of the facility is constantly
monitored and workers have input into the
redesign of work stations.
"The workers' voice is heard," Clark said,
"and the changes that are made make the
operator's job easier so he can perform better
without having to work harder. This shows that
with the right collective effort between
management and the union, you can have
successful manufacturing in the United States."
DMAX, jointly owned by GM and Izuzu, was
built in 1998 and currently produces an engine
that meets 2007 federal emissions standards. The
plant is retooling to make a new version of the
engine that will meet 2010 emissions guidelines.
Though no new jobs have been promised,
IUE-CWA Automotive Conference Board Chairman
Willie Thorpe said it would depend on demand and
volume of production. "We're optimistic," he
said.
Tentative Pact at Cincinnati Bell Saves 440
from Outsourcing
A tentative contract between Cincinnati Bell
and CWA Locals 4400 and 4401 preserves the jobs
of 440 call center service reps whose jobs had
been targeted for outsourcing, provides for
returning previously outsourced jobs, and
protects health benefits.
"This was a very difficult situation and we
were pleased to have reached an agreement that
would save our members' jobs," said District 4
Vice President Seth Rosen.
The 3-year settlement, reached Feb. 2, covers
some 1,300 workers. It maintains existing health
care coverage and increases the workers' pension
band. The agreement provides cumulative wage
increases of 4.5 percent payable in the second
and third years. About 500 workers would be
eligible for an early retirement package if
their age plus years of service equaled at least
75.
Cincinnati Bell had requested early
negotiations with CWA in advance of a planned
restructuring, according to staff representative
Monica Hogan, who assisted the locals during
negotiations. "We were faced with tough
decisions, but we believe that this agreement,
subject to members' approval, addresses both our
concern to retain jobs, protect health care
and enable growth for the company."
CWA Presses for Cable Choice Bill in
Pennsylvania
CWA this week urged Pennsylvania legislators
to approve the Consumer Choice Cable Franchising
and High-Speed Broadband Promotion Act, H.B
1490, to encourage the buildout of true high
speed Internet networks and end the current
cable monopoly in the state.
CWA research economist Debbie Goldman
testified before the House Consumer Affairs
Committee and pointed out that a number of
states already have passed measures to ensure
that residents, communities and business have
access to new Internet applications and other
technological changes that have come about
through true high speed broadband. These
include upgraded communications for emergency
responders and municipalities, tele-medicine,
distance learning, participation in government
and civic affairs, and particularly, economic
growth and jobs, she noted.
The bill would create a more streamlined,
statewide process for companies to obtain the
right to offer cable television services,
spurring competition throughout the state. In
addition, those companies that qualify for a
statewide franchise will be required to meet
minimum buildout standards for high speed
Internet access to residents and businesses.
The bill provides for mapping of broadband
deployment across the state and calls for a
process of consumer advocacy for the first time
over cable services such as Internet, video
programming and VoIP.
District 13 for several months has been
building a coalition of city governments,
consumer groups, labor and other groups to
promote the legislation and is urging citizens
to contact state lawmakers by going to a
campaign website –
www.choice4pa.org – and sending e-mails
urging support for the cable choice bill. "Far
too many of our fellow citizens have been left
behind in the information age and this bill
would be a huge step toward closing the digital
divide," said Vice President Jim Short.
Bus Ads Drive Message: Verizon Bypasses
Nation's Capitol
City buses rolled out of parking garages in
Washington, D.C., on Feb. 1 with a message for
city leaders and residents -- "This bus isn't
the only thing passing you by. Verizon is
bringing high-speed Internet to the suburbs: Not
to D.C." While Verizon has been advertising its
high-speed FiOS network on D.C. airwaves, plans
to actually install high-speed Internet in the
city are far from the drawing board, and CWA and
other groups are calling on city council members
to push back
More than two dozen witnesses including CWA
Local 2336 President Jim Pappas testified before
the council today on behalf of a community
coalition – Connect-DC -- that includes CWA,
Jobs with Justice and Broadband Everywhere.
"Verizon is cherry-picking and at the moment
D.C.'s just not low-hanging fruit," Pappas said.
According to Pappas, Verizon has moved nearly a
third of its jobs from the District to the
suburbs to work on FiOS over the past four
years, leaving D.C. residents with increasingly
poor phone service. "My members tell me that
many customers have service trouble every time
it rains and the troubles end up getting left so
long that the sun dries out the cable and the
problems disappear on their own – at least until
the next rain."
Verizon customers have made similar
complaints. Last month, Local 2336 members and
others from Connect-DC undertook 135 random
household surveys of Verizon customers
throughout the city. Surveys were submitted via
the Internet, advisory neighborhood
commissioners, at supermarkets and subway
stations. Forty-nine people said they had phone
trouble when it rained and more than half rated
their service as "poor" or "abysmal," the group
told the city council.
While Verizon so far has not invested in FiOS
in D.C., the company is pushing preemptively to
win deregulation of voice over the Internet
(VoIP) for the future. The city council is set
to vote on the issue in March, and Connect-DC is
opposing deregulation.
"From our surveys it's clear that Verizon has
not been able to meet existing service quality
standards for regulated phone services," said
Mackenzie Baris, lead organizer with D.C. Jobs
with Justice. "By giving up its right to
regulate a new technology that may develop and
expand in unexpected ways, the city council
would be shirking its responsibility to protect
consumers. Residents of the District deserve
better."
Vet Fights for His Country – and Now for His
Rights at Verizon Business
The American flag has become a casualty of
Verizon Business' war on workers' rights.
Verizon Business technician and Air National
Guardsman Terry Skiest has an American flag and
a Massachusetts state flag that have flown in
battle zones with him in Afghanistan and Iraq,
and he proudly displayed them outside his work
cubicle in Acton, Mass. But to enforce a new
"anti-solicitation policy" aimed at blocking the
posting of pro-union organizing materials,
management pulled down the flags when Skiest, a
union supporter, returned to his third tour of
duty in Afghanistan last fall.
Skiest is fighting the company's action and
is joined by hundreds of coworkers who are
hanging flags in their own cubicles up and down
the East Coast. Supporters have also set up a
website,
www.puttheflagup.org, and produced a video –
which is available via the site – to help Skiest
get his message out. Visitors to the website can
send a message of protest to Verizon.
"Those flags flew with me in Iraq and flew
outside my tent in Afghanistan," Skiest said.
"Now I'm back at my post at Verizon Business and
I want to know why I can't display my flags
outside my cubicle."
Managers told Skiest's co-worker, Mike
Wheeler, that the flags "could be considered to
be propaganda" and "might be offensive to some
workers," Wheeler said.
Skiest and fellow VZB technicians in New York
and New England signed cards showing majority
union support last year, seeking representation
through CWA and the IBEW. Verizon has refused to
grant union recognition even though local, state
and national political leaders verified the card
majority and have put pressure on the company to
respect the workers' decision.
Skiest exhausted every internal avenue of
redress with VZB's management and human
resources department to reconsider their
decision. He and his co-workers say they are
determined to continue their fight for justice
until management puts the flags back up where
they belong.
VZB, formerly MCI, has several government
contracts in Iraq and Afghanistan, including
installing the wireless communications system in
Baghdad. "If this company is on the side of men
and women fighting for our country, why does it
deny me the right to fly the American flag?"
Skiest asks. "That seems un-American."
IN BRIEF:
- Verizon backed away from pushing
legislation for full statewide deregulation
of basic phone rates in Virginia after state
regulators endorsed CWA's position that
there is no real competition in rural areas
of the state to justify deregulation.
The State Corporation Commission on
Feb. 1 rejected Verizon's argument that the
rise of mobile phone service is a
competitive alternative to its landline
service. The commission also noted that
cable companies in rural areas don't yet
offer telecom services, and "in smaller
towns and cities? consumers do not have
realistic alternatives to Verizon for
reliable local telephone service."
CWA Rep Carol Summerlyn credited the work of
Virginia local Stewards Army members and
Local 2201 lobbyist Kirk Jones with pressing
the commission and state lawmakers to
protect customer service standards and CWA
jobs in rural Virginia.
- Tune in to the PBS news program
"Now" beginning the week of Feb. 11 and
watch TNG-CWA President Linda Foley discuss
organizing efforts among freelance editorial
workers. To find out what day and time the
program airs in your area, go to
www.pbs.org, click on "programs A-Z" and
"Now," then enter your zip code for the
schedule.
- It's the first federal budget
ever to top $3 trillion, and still the Bush
administration manages to put the screws to
workers, senior citizens, the sick, the poor
and the rest of America's vulnerable
citizens.
Critics of the mammoth proposed
budget for fiscal year 2009 include many of
the nation's newspaper editorial boards who
are decrying it as "disastrous," "shameful"
and "foolish," with the New York Times
dismissing as "nonsense" the president's
claims about balancing the budget by 2012.
The proposed budget would slash funding for
Medicare and Medicaid by 30 percent and add
to the Pentagon's budget by the same
percentage – not counting war funding.
Further, the White House wants to cut $760
million in job training programs, reduce
funds for occupational safety and health
research, slash $83 million for medical
screening of 9/11 Ground Zero responders,
and all but eliminate an agency that fights
child labor.
Congressional leaders have indicated that
major portions of the proposed budget are
unacceptable and that it will be drastically
altered before final passage.
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