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May 24, 2007
MEMORIAL DAY
Honor Our Veterans
Nine-Month Toledo Blade
Lockout Heads to an End
Nine-Month Toledo Blade Lockout Heads to an End
Thirteen members of CWA's Printing Sector who have
been locked out at the Toledo Blade for nine months are
getting ready to head back to work after reaching a
tentative agreement with the newspaper's management.
Contracts are also pending for 200 workers at six
other unions who were also locked out last August.
Members of The Newspaper Guild-CWA, the paper's largest
union, weren't locked out but agreed to concessions in
order to end the standoff.
Despite sacrifices in wages and health care costs for
the Guild and other unions, "some very important things
- jurisdiction, grievance and arbitration, severance,
union security and sick pay, to name a few - are still
intact," TNG-CWA Representative Jay Schmitz said.
Printing Sector President Bill Boarman said the Blade
has agreed to pay $3.5 million to the locked-out unions
as part of a back-pay settlement. Money will be used to
shore up the health care and pension funds, with any
leftover dollars going directly to workers who were
locked out.
"The back pay they owe is probably about $5 million,"
Boarman said. "That was the 800-pound gorilla at the
table. We got them to agree to $3.5 million." In
exchange, he said, the unions will settle the unfair
labor practice charges that the National Labor Relations
Board brought against the company alleging an illegal
lockout and bad-faith bargaining.
Boarman said the unions recognize that the company is
in financial trouble and showed their willingness to
help by making economic concessions. But they drew the
line at anti-union language that the company's attorney,
Bob Ballow of the notorious union-busting firm King &
Ballow, tried to insert. When the parties resumed
bargaining last week, Ballow had been replaced by
lawyers from another firm.
"Our people really stuck together. Their unity was
tremendous," Boarman said. "No one caved in. We drove
Bob Ballow out of town and most of the really terrible
anti-union proposals he wanted – management rights, no
strike, and no union shop – all went to the side. From
that perspective, it was a major victory."
Members Keep the Heat on Senators in Fight for EFCA
Eleven senators who have been on the fence about the
Employee Free Choice Act and many more deserving of a
"thank you" for favoring it received thousands of phone
calls, as well as e-mails, postcards and letters, from
CWA members and their families during the union's "week
of action," May 14-18.
The bill, critical to restoring workers' badly eroded
rights to organize unions and bargain collectively, was
passed overwhelmingly in the U.S. House in March and is
pending in the Senate.
"Last week, thousands of CWAers called their senators
to urge support for the Employee Free Choice Act and get
it on the Senate floor for a vote," CWA President Larry
Cohen said. "This week, all union presidents committed
to continuing calls to all supporting senators to demand
a vote in June. We must continue making calls and
talking to our members about our top priority."
CWA members and retirees are being asked to make
personal visits to senators' home offices next week
while they are out of Washington, D.C., on their
Memorial Day break.
CWA and the AFL-CIO have singled out 11 senators who
have shown interest in the bill but haven't signed on as
supporters. They are Democrats Blanche Lincoln and Mark
Pryor of Arkansas, Ken Salazar of Colorado and Ben
Nelson of Nebraska and Republicans Susan Collins and
Olympia Snowe of Maine, Norm Coleman of Minnesota, John
Sununu of New Hampshire, John Voinovich of Ohio, Gordon
Smith of Oregon and Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania.
As local leaders spurred members to make calls last
week, they also served as Employee Free Choice Act
educators. Through meetings and flyers, they helped
union members and others understand the bill and why it
matters.
"We really tried to show people what's at stake,"
said Chris Lane, president of CWA Local 2201 in
Richmond, Va., who put his 145-member Stewards Army to
work. Each was tasked with making 10 phone calls and
getting 10 other people to call. They reached out not
just to U.S. senators but state legislators as well, and
Lane said several wrote back to thank the union for its
efforts. The local also worked with Jobs with Justice,
sent out press releases and had a story published in a
local newspaper.
Across the country in southern California,
officers of Local 9510 took advantage of a half-dozen
tailgate meetings with technicians at AT&T facilities,
asking them to take a couple of minutes on their break
to make calls. "The meetings were already scheduled and
we thought it was a great opportunity to bring up the
Employee Free Choice Act," Local President Joseph
Venegas said.
It was especially advantageous, he said, because the
technicians they met with are relatively new members of
the local who are installing AT&T's new high-speed
U-verse lines. "We were able to help them understand
that if it wasn't for organizing rights in the past, we
wouldn't have the benefits we have today," he said.
Development of National Telecom
Office Moves Forward
Moving ahead to develop CWA's new National Telecom
Office, Executive Vice President Jeff Rechenbach
announced that Teri Pluta, a District 4 staff rep for
the past 10 years, is coming to CWA headquarters to
serve as administrative director for the office.
Rechenbach was named to head the new office in March
by the Executive Board, which continues to review CWA's
structure in telecom and other sectors as part of the
Ready for the Future process.
"Teri Pluta's knowledge of telecom and her incredible
work ethic will make for a potent combination as we
begin to put the Telecom Office in order," Rechenbach
said. "Her advice and expertise will be a welcome
addition to the talented leadership we already have
working to coordinate our efforts in this area."
The National Telecom Office is charged with mapping
strategies and coordinating staff activities in each
district together with the Telecommunications and
Communications & Technologies offices at headquarters.
In the telecom sector, the Executive Board so far has
launched Strategic Industry Fund campaigns at Verizon
and Alcatel Lucent, and also the Speed Matters campaign
to promote the roll-out of high-speed Internet for job
and economic growth.
Kucinich
Promises Hearings on Verizon-Fairpoint Deal
Public anger and concern over Verizon's planned sale
of its rural access lines in New England to the tiny
telecom, Fairpoint Communications, boiled over last
weekend, as nearly 1,000 labor and community activists
united in a "stop the sale" rally in Portsmouth, N.H.
Demonstrators cheered speakers who condemned the sale
as a tax dodge for Verizon that would greatly diminish
telephone and Internet service for the 3 million
residents of New Hampshire, Vermont and Maine. Speakers
included CWA local and district leaders, Portsmouth's
mayor, and presidential candidate and Rep. Dennis
Kucinich (D-Ohio).
Rep. Kucinich, who chairs a House subcommittee that
has jurisdiction over the Federal Communications
Commission and Securities and Exchange Commission,
promised to convene hearings on the matter. "This deal
doesn't pass the smell test," he said, stating that it
would leave "rural communities on the other side of the
digital divide. Verizon doesn't want to service rural
communities" and "based on its finances, Fairpoint
can't."
Kucinich said the deal was also a way for Verizon to
"break" its workers' unions by "spinning off to a
company that has serious financial troubles and a poor
track record for protecting jobs and benefits." CWA
District 1 Vice Pres. Chris Shelton said Verizon
selected such a small company as its deal partner so it
could take advantage of a tax loophole and pocket the
proceeds of the $2.72 billion sale tax free. "Verizon
picked tiny Fairpoint because it allows Verizon to end
up controlling more than 50 percent of the company's
voting rights and economic value while reaping huge tax
savings," he told demonstrators.
Portsmouth's mayor, Steve Marchand, praised citizens
for rallying together on "common interests." "Working
together we can make our voices heard until the great
potential of the information age is actually fulfilled,"
he said.
Verizon Shareholders' "Say on Pay" Resolution Adopted
An independent recount of shareholders' votes on the
"Say on Pay" resolution at Verizon's May 3 annual
meeting confirmed late last week that the CWA-backed
executive compensation measure won majority support from
stockholders, passing by 50.18 percent.
It was the first time that a resolution calling for
shareholder approval of executive pay packages has been
adopted at a major corporation.
While shareholder resolutions in the United States
are non-binding, the measure sends a strong message to
the company's board, which like many others has
continued to grant excessive compensation packages to
top executives despite growing public ire. The
resolution asks the company to submit future executive
pay packages to a shareholder vote.
Two similar resolutions dealing with executive
compensation fell just short of approval but received
substantial support. One, sponsored by the CWA Members'
Relief Fund on full disclosure by executive compensation
consultants, gained 47.01 percent support. Another,
sponsored by the AFL-CIO Reserve Fund on executives'
severance packages, won support from 46.94 percent of
shareholders.
Reflecting the public's growing anger over corporate
pay, the House of Representatives passed a "say on pay"
measure sponsored by Rep. Barney Frank (D-Mass.) on
April 20 that would mandate shareholder votes on the
compensation for corporate executives. Presidential
hopeful Sen. Barrack Obama (D-Ill.) is expected to
introduce a companion bill in the Senate.
Union Activists Take on Immigration Provisions
As Congress began debate on a new immigration bill,
members of TechsUnite and the Washington Alliance of
Technology Workers (WashTech), CWA Local 37083, sent a
message to Senators and Representatives: Increasing the
number of H1-B visas issued is bad policy, for high tech
workers and the U.S. economy.
A May 24 ad in Roll Call, the Capitol Hill
newspaper on legislative issues, urged Congress not to
expand the H1-B visa program and to keep opportunity for
U.S. workers. TechsUnite and WashTech members from 32
states contributed funds to place the ad; 337 members
participated in the Internet fund drive, WashTech said.
(See the ad and read more at
www.washtech.org.)
The AFL-CIO Department for Professional Employees
reinforced the call to limit H1-B visas, noting that
college graduates with math, science and engineering
degrees will see fewer jobs as a result of the H1-B
expansion. Industry claims there are "widespread and
pervasive shortages of qualified workers, but no
independent, unbiased statistical evidence substantiates
these claims," said DPE President Paul Almeida.
AFL-CIO unions are organizing actions next week when
Senators are at home for recess. Union members are
mobilizing to change key provisions in the proposed
immigration legislation that the Senate began debating
on May 21.
The union movement strongly opposes the proposed
"guest worker" program, which would bring in hundreds of
thousands of temporary workers every year, with no job
protections, said AFL-CIO Executive Vice President Linda
Chavez-Thompson. This provision "will ensure that
America has two classes of workers?and that all workers
will suffer as employers will be able to exploit" both
native and immigrant workers.
As the Senate considers changes to the bill, it so
far has voted to cut in half the number of guest workers
permitted to temporarily enter the country, to 200,000,
by a 74-24 vote.
News Guild, CWA/NETT Develop Digital Skills Courses
It's nearing deadline, TNG-CWA members: There's just
one week before the first round of digital media classes
being offered by The Newspaper Guild and the CWA/NETT
Academy begins.
The online classes include digital photography,
videography, web design, Photoshop and copy editing. The
first round of classes begins June 1, with a second
round starting June 11.
Recognizing that technology is putting more demands
on journalists and that many employers aren't providing
adequate – or any – training, the Guild and the academy
are working together to prepare members for new and
changing jobs. CWA members in other sectors are also
invited to sign up for the courses.
Guild members at MediaNews Group-owned papers are
eligible for scholarships for the classes on a
first-come basis. A total of 300 scholarships will be
awarded as part of TNG-CWA's Strategic Industry Fund
(SIF) project at MediaNews, which employs Guild members
at the Denver Post, St. Paul Pioneer Press, San Jose
Mercury News, Long Beach Press Telegram, Los Angeles
Daily News, Monterey Herald, the York Daily Record and
York Dispatch and Alameda Newspaper Group.
"We're building a union work force that can meet the
demands of today's high-tech media market," TNG-CWA
President Linda Foley said. "We know there are enormous
pressures on the industry to cut payrolls and outsource
work, but the more valuable our members are in terms of
skills and training, the harder it's going to be for
employers to make an economic argument to cut their
jobs."
Most of the courses cost $300 to $450 and will run
six to eight weeks. Students with scholarships must be
members in good standing with the Guild and make a
commitment to participate in five union mobilization
activities in support of other Guild members.
Full details about the classes and scholarships are
available online at
www.medianewsmonitor.org. More information about
CWA/NETT is on the academy's website at
www.cwanett.org.
IN BRIEF:
- Locals have one more week to submit
entries for the CWA Local Newsletter Awards
competition and have a chance to receive recognition
at the Convention this July for their communications
efforts. Entries must be postmarked no later than
June 1.
Entry in the contest is free. Just go to
www.cwa/union.org/newslettercontest to download
an entry form and instructions. First-place and
Merit awards will be presented for General
Excellence in several categories based on local
membership size, as well as for Best News Reporting,
Best Human Interest Feature, Best Opinion Column,
Best Layout, Best Photo and Best Cartoon.
For questions or further information, contact the
Communications Dept. at 202-434-1168.
- A year after then-Gov. Mitt Romney
vetoed the right of state workers to join unions
when a majority of them sign cards, the
Massachusetts House has passed a new version of the
bill and the Senate is expected to follow suit.
The House voted overwhelmingly last week, 135-19, to
pass the bill. It applies only to public workers but
is similar to the federal Employee Free Choice Act
now pending in Congress, which would give
private-sector workers the chance to join unions
free of delays and intimidation tactics.
"It comes down to employees who want to organize
should be allowed to do so without impediment," said
state Rep. Robert DeLeo, a Democrat and the bill's
sponsor. "This creates a new system by which they
can do so and that system is fair and efficient."
Romney, who is running for the Republican nomination
for president, vetoed other workers' bills as well,
including a minimum wage hike. He also used a
line-item veto to block a provision in a health care
bill that would have required employers who don't
provide health insurance for their workers to pay a
small amount into a state fund.
- The Bush
White House has declared that the mere $6 a month
– six dollars – that Democrats want to add to
a pay package for America's troops is "unnecessary"
and that the country's service members are already
sufficiently compensated.
Democrats are trying
to boost the proposed raises for 2008 to 3.5 percent
but the administration "strongly opposes" anything
over 3 percent, according to media reports. "For
President Bush to begrudge our troops a pay raise of
(one-half) percentage point is outrageous,
appalling, and just unacceptable," said John Bruhns,
an Iraq veteran and spokesman for
VoteVets.org.
At a time when Army deployments to Iraq and
Afghanistan have been extended from a year to 15
months, he said more compensation is badly needed.
Senator John Kerry has been leading a Senate effort
to raise the pay beyond the White House's proposal.
In letters to his colleagues and to Bush he chided
the administration for lobbying Congress for more
tax cuts while claiming the country can't afford
even a few extra dollars for service members putting
their lives at grave risk every day.
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