July 26, 2007
Efforts to Make Card-Check Illegal Defeated in Congress
Anti-union lawmakers in the House and Senate
attempted last week to make union recognition based on
majority card check authorization by workers illegal,
but the apparently coordinated attack was defeated.
The first measure, introduced by Senator Jim DeMint
(R-SC) as an amendment to the Higher Education Access
Act, was defeated 54-42. DeMint's amendment would have
amended the National Labor Relations Act to makeing it
illegal for workers to organize other than through the
act's NLRB election process.
Of special significance, six Republicans voted
against DeMint's amendment, raising the possibility that
lobbying by CWA and other unions on behalf of the
Employee Free Choice Act is making progress on the GOP
side of the aisle. Those six are Norm Coleman (MN),
Susan Collins (ME), Gordon Smith (OR), Olympia Snowe
(ME), Arlen Specter (PA) and George Voinovich
(OH). Among them, only Specter had supported the
Employee Free Choice Act.
The same day in the House, Rep. Mark Souder (R-IN)
offered an amendment to the Health and Human Services
and Education appropriations bill that would prevent the
National Labor Relations Board from certifying a union
if workers did not submit to the NLRB election route. It
was rejected, 255-167, with the help of 31 Republicans.
Three Democrats voted for the anti-card-check measure:
Rep. Dan Boren (OK), Gene Taylor (MS), and Mike McIntyre
(NC). Boren and Taylor voted against the Employee Free
Choice Act. Curiously, McIntyre had voted for EFCA.
The 31 Republicans siding with labor against the
anti-card check measure were Don Young (AK), Robert
Aderholt (AL), Chris Shays (CN), Ilena Ros-Lehtinen
(FL), Lincoln Diaz-Balart (FL), Mario Diaz-Balart (FL),
Judy Biggert (IL), Tim Johnson (IL), Rodney Alexander
(LA), Peter Hoekstra (MI), Candice Miller (MI), Thaddeus
McCotter (MI), Sam Graves (MO), JoAnn Emerson (MO), Jon
Porter (NV), Frank LoBiondo (NJ), Jim Saxton (NJ), Chris
Smith (NJ), Mike Ferguson (NJ), Peter King (NY), Vito
Fossella (NY), John McHugh (NY), Jim Walsh (NY), Randy
Kuhl (NY), Steve LaTourette (OH), Ralph Regula (OH),
Phil English (PA), Jim Gerlach (PA), Tim Murphy (PA),
Dave Reichert (WA), and Shelley Moore Capito (WV).
Minimum Wage Hike First Step in Progressive Agenda
CWA members and hundreds of other union and
commmunity activists joined with U.S. House and Senate
leaders on Capitol Hill on Tuesday to celebrate the
first raise in the minimum wage in more than 10 years –
a victory that lawmakers and social justice leaders said
wouldn't have been possible without labor's
determination and hard work.
"For 10 years people working at some of the most
difficult, dirtiest jobs in America were told 'You have
to work for a poverty wage,'" Rep. George Miller (D-CA)
said.
The hourly minimum wage had been $5.15 an hour for a
decade until going up by 70 cents, to $5.85 on July 24.
Two more increases will bring it to $7.25 an hour by
mid-2009. However, Miller said he and Sen. Edward
Kennedy (D-MA) intend to introduce legislation to raise
it higher, to $9.50 an hour.
Two minimum-wage workers were among the speakers,
including 55-year-old Valerie Henry who talked about
working three jobs to make ends meet. They include day
work at Camden Yards in Baltimore, where she has to show
up to find out if she will get any work each day. In
spite of her situation, she spoke with pride of keeping
the stadium tidy and the pleasure she gets when fans
thank her for the clean bathrooms.
CWA President Larry Cohen said the minimum wage
increase is a big victory but it and other single-issue
legislation won't solve the ultimate problem for workers
– having a voice on the job. That will take passage of
the Employee Free Choice Act. "When we are able to
organize and bargain collectively without employers'
threats and intimidation and stalling tactics, we will
be able to fight for ourselves for our wages and working
conditions," he said.
About 40 members of the House and Senate marched into
the rally together as activists cheered.
At Cohen's urging, the crowd greeted House Speaker
Nancy Pelosi (D-CA.) with chants of "best Speaker
ever." Pelosi said the raise is reason to celebrate,
but that it's not enough. She pledged that she and other
Democrats will continue to work on progressive agenda to
make good jobs, higher education and health care a
reality for all Americans.
"This is just the beginning," she said. "In the
coming months, we will expand cost-effective health
coverage for millions of uninsured children, lower
energy costs for all Americans and create the next
generation of good-paying American jobs by growing our
renewable energy and technology sectors."
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) invoked the
legacy of Franklin Roosevelt. "Seventy years after
President Roosevelt made a commitment to our parents and
grandparents through the New Deal, too many Americans
are now getting a raw deal," Reid said. "Hourly wages
and household incomes are down while the number of
uninsured Americans and executive salaries are up. But
today, hundreds of thousands of Americans will have a
little more in their next paychecks to help them better
afford basic necessities like food, clothing, day care,
health care, education and retirement."
CWA Facing Off with Verizon in Va. over Deregulation
In hearings this week in Virginia that Verizon hopes
will end the state's telecom oversight, CWA is arguing
that the company wants the freedom to pursue its
fiber-optic FiOS network at the expense of the copper
network that provides telephone and Internet service for
most of Virginia's rural and inner-city areas.
"Verizon is not providing quality service to the
customers who rely on its copper network and has no
intention of providing quality service to these
customers in the future," CWA's Charlie Buttiglieri
testified before the State Corporation Commission in
Richmond. "Verizon seeks deregulation to reduce its
obligation to maintain the copper plant so that it can
focus all its resources on FIOS network, which is only
being deployed in select areas."
Verizon is arguing that there is enough telecom
competition in Virginia now that the market, rather than
the state government, should determine prices. But some
state officials and opponents say the company is
exaggerating the amount of competition.
As the hearings began Monday, about 15 red-shirted
CWA Stewards Army members from locals across Virginia
gathered to protest Verizon's attempt at deregulation.
CWA District 2 Representative Carol Summerlyn told
reporters that the union supports FiOS "but not at the
expensive of other customers."
IUE-CWA Puts Delphi on Notice, a Strike Possible
IUE-CWA notified Delphi Corp. of its intent to
terminate its local and national contracts in a letter
delivered to the company on July 18. The notice paves
the way for a possible strike in October if the union
and company cannot reach a new agreement covering more
than 2,000 workers.
The action came as talks continued to drag on with
little or no movement by the company on key issues
including job security, wages and benefits. As part of
its termination notice, IUE-CWA also withdrew its
permission for Delphi to use temporary workers at
represented facilities. The company has the option of
cutting production or hiring the workers permanently.
"Delphi has not delivered proposals that meet our
members' needs," said IUE-CWA President Jim Clark. From
the start we have stated that IUE-CWA members want both
their jobs and dignity intact at the end of the process.
We are tired of spinning our wheels in negotiations
while Delphi falls short of these basic demands."
The termination notice is the first step toward a
national strike at Delphi, pending the authorization of
the members and CWA's Executive Board and president.
Under terms of the existing contract, the notice allows
the locals to strike effective 12:01 a.m. on Oct. 13.
"There is still much time to change our course," said
IUE-CWA Automotive Conference Board Chairman Willie
Thorpe. "But we cannot sit back and be unprepared. In
our estimation, given the current state of talks, a
strike is a real possibility and we need to act
accordingly."
On July 19, Bankruptcy Judge Robert Drain approved a
new contract covering 17,000 employees represented by
the United Auto Workers, bringing Delphi a step closer
toward completing its restructuring and emerging from
Chapter 11 bankruptcy.
The company's restructuring plan is further dependent
upon a significant infusion of capital from an
investment group headed by Appaloosa Management LP.
Appaloosa has the option to withdraw its offer of $2.55
billion if the court has not approved it by Aug. 16.
Delphi has yet to reach new labor agreements with
several unions including IUE-CWA that together represent
about 3,000 workers.
Delphi plans to close 21 of 29 of its plants in the
United States and slash about four-fifths of its U.S.
workforce.
Senate Committee Okays Broadband Bill Unanimously,
Speed Matters Strategic Industry Fund Plays Major Rule
CWA-supported legislation to raise the government's
definition of high-speed Internet and develop a detailed
"map" of broadband availability, speed, and cost across
the United States won unanimous approval from the Senate
Commerce Committee this week. The Broadband Data
Improvement Act (S. 1492) now moves to the full Senate
for action, where it is not expected to encounter much
difficulty given the measure's bipartisan support.
A companion measure is expected to be introduced in
the House shortly by Rep. Ed Markey (D-MA) who chairs
that body's Commerce Committee.
CWA played a central role in the development of the
measure through effective bipartisan lobbying and its
widely publicized Speed Matters Strategic Industry Fund
Campaign and website (www.SpeedMatters.org).
This May, in testimony before the House Subcommittee on
Telecommunications and the Internet, CWA President Larry
Cohen urged Congress to adopt legislation, laying out
the key principals behind the union's Speed Matters
program: universality, speed, affordability, an open
internet, and consumer and worker protections.
The legislation requires the Federal Communications
Commission to revise its definition of broadband,
currently an outdated 200 kilobits per second. CWA
recommends that "high speed" broadband be defined as 2
megabits per second (mbps) for downloads and 1 mbps for
uploads. The FCC is also required to collect detailed
information on the actual number of residential and
business broadband customers.
The bill calls on other government agencies to play a
role in improving the availability, speed and cost of
broadband. The Census Bureau is instructed to collect
data on household Internet connections and computer
ownership, and the Government Accountability Office and
Small Business Administration are required to study and
make recommendations on collecting information and
comparing U.S. high-speed availability and quality with
other countries. More than $40 million in grants will be
provided to the states for broadband mapping and local
technology planning teams, and "telecommunications labor
organizations" are given a key role as members of the
local technology teams.
IN BRIEF:
- Seeking to bring high-speed Internet
service to all Americans, Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.)
is running an online forum this week at
www.openleft.com where
people can post comments and ideas about making
broadband access a reality for all. He will use the
feedback in drafting legislation to promote
high-speed Internet development.
"Broadband policy is one of the most
important public policy issues today," Durbin said
in launching the project. "Frankly, America does not
have a national broadband strategy, and we are
falling behind. That means our families don't have
access to the best medical technologies, our
students don't have access to the best educational
opportunities, and our entrepreneurs are limited in
the markets they can access."
CWA Executive Vice President Jeff Rechenbach posted
details of CWA's Speed Matters Strategic Industry
Fund Campaign and urged people to visit the site at
www.speedmatters.org.
"CWA is excited about the growing movement of
workers, teachers, librarians, health care
professionals, businesses, farmers, policy makers,
advocates for people with disabilities and consumers
who are coming together in our Speed Matters
campaign to support affordable, high-speed Internet
for America," Rechenbach wrote.
The discussion continues through Friday night. To
post or read submissions, go to
http://www.openleft.com/showDiary.do?diaryId=347.
- So many union families want to attend
the AFL-CIO Democratic presidential forum on
Tuesday, Aug. 7 in Chicago that the event has been
moved from a conference center to Soldier Field,
home of the Bears.
The 6 p.m. event, to
be moderated by MSNBC's Keith Olbermann, is expected
to draw more than 10,000 union members and their
families. It will be broadcast nationally on MSNBC
and XM satellite radio.
The event is free but tickets are required. The
AFL-CIO says people interested in attending should
contact their local union or call the Chicago
Federation of Labor at (312) 222-1000. Participants,
who must be seated by 5:30 p.m. and remain in the
arena until 8 p.m., are urged to wear union
clothing. However, shirts that endorse a specific
candidate are prohibited, as are signs and banners.
Confirmed candidates for the forum are Sens. Joe
Biden, Hillary Clinton, Chris Dodd and Barack Obama,
former Sen. John Edwards, U.S. Rep. Dennis Kucinich
and New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson. For updates
about the event, check the AFL-CIO blog at
www.aflcio.org.
- Citing long NLRB delays in deciding
workers' cases, two Democratic members of the House
from California, Reps. George Miller and Lois Capps,
this week urged Board Chairman Robert Battista to
decide cases in a more timely manner and to issue a
report on the status of all pending election
certifications. The lawmakers' letter to Battista
referenced a July 18 report by the NLRB Inspector
General which found that Board delays were impacting
workers' rights.
In the handling of unfair labor practice charges,
the IG found that it took the Board an average of
914 days to decide cases filed by an individual and
a union, 653 days to decide cases filed by a union,
490 days for cases filed by an individual, but just
381 days to decide cases filed by employers.
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