February 19, 2009
Stimulus Extends Trade Assistance Benefits to
Service Workers
In a big victory for service workers, the Obama
administration's stimulus plan corrected a long-standing
injustice by extending federal Trade Adjustment
Assistance (TAA) to customer service professionals and
high-tech and public sector workers who have lost their
jobs due to offshoring, imports, and other trade
practices.
CWA customer service professionals have been a big
part of the fight to gain equal treatment under the
trade adjustment assistance program. At CWA customer
service conferences, participants organized lobbying
campaigns and other efforts to push Congress to give
service workers the same benefits that manufacturing
workers already had. TAA provides job training, extended
jobless benefits and help in keeping health care
coverage.
TAA coverage also was extended to cover public
workers in service occupations who increasingly are
losing their jobs to offshoring as some states and
municipalities send customer service jobs overseas.
CWA represents more than 200,000 customer service,
high tech, and public service workers.
A new Office of Trade Adjustment Assistance has been
established to help workers get the benefits they need.
More information is available at
http://www.doleta.gov/tradeact/.
Tech workers continue to be hit hard by offshoring.
Recently IBM Corp. told U.S. and Canadian workers slated
to be laid off that they could work "for local terms and
conditions" in countries like China, Mexico, Romania,
South Africa and Brazil. "Not only is IBM offshoring
work, it wants employees to offshore themselves," said
Lee Conrad,
Alliance@IBM. Since the beginning of the year, IBM
has laid off more than 5,000 workers.
CWAers Expand
Support for AT&T Mobility Workers
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CWAers in Richmond,
Va.(above), and children of members in Columbus,
Ohio, turned out to support fair treatment for
AT&T Mobility workers. |
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Mobilization activities are building nationwide as
members throughout CWA show their solidarity and support
for the 20,000 "Orange" Mobility CWA members who want a
quality contract.
Over the past week, thousands of CWAers leafleted at
more than 100 AT&T Mobility retail stores, and AT&T
Mobility members wore red to work and demonstrated at
cell centers. CWAers signed on to a "Stop Breakin' Our
Hearts" petition, calling on AT&T CEO Randall Stephenson
to recognize workers' role in the company's success. The
petition, developed by District 4's AT&T Mobility
mobilization committee, has thousands of signatures to
date.
More than 25 retails stores were visited in
Pennsylvania, and more petitions were handed out. Store
visits and demonstrations also took place in Districts
1, 2, 3, 4, 6, 7 and 9.
At the AT&T Mobility call center in Atwater, Calif.,
hundreds of customer service representatives, members of
Local 9333, held "stand-ups" every hour at their work
stations.
In District 1, more than a dozen CWA locals have
adopted AT&T Mobility stores in New England states.
Every week, a steward, officer or executive board member
visits workers at the stores to show solidarity.
More actions are planned for AT&T Mobility and AT&T
workplaces on Feb. 24, the first day of negotiations for
new contracts covering 150,000 workers at the "core"
AT&T.
Go to
www.cwa-union.org/att/mobility for more information.
VZ Connected Solutions Techs Awarded $2 Million
Last week, nearly 250 CWA technicians at Verizon
Connected Solutions Inc., shared a back pay award of
more than $2 million, the result of an arbitration
decision that found that VCSI failed to pay workers for
performing work of higher-paid senior techs, said CWA
District 2 Vice President Ron Collins.
The workers, members of CWA Locals 2100, 2106, 2108,
2202, 2204, 2205, 2222, and 2336, maintain, install and
repair telephony, voice and FiOS for VCSI in Maryland
and Northern Virginia. "This arbitration award is a
great victory for the workers and our union," said
Collins. "It shows the value that a union contract has
when a company tries to get around its legal obligation
to employees."
The arbitration ended a more than two year fight by
CWA to get the Verizon subsidiary to pay the Multimedia
Services Technicians the pay they deserved for
performing the work of senior technicians, including the
downloading and installation of firmware and software.
District 2 Administrative Director Gail Evans helped
negotiate the implementation settlement for the
arbitration.
CWA: Economic Stimulus is All About Jobs
CWA leaders say that the stimulus program that
President Obama signed this week is a good investment in
America's economic recovery. By expanding job
opportunities for working Americans – especially in
critical areas like broadband build out and other
infrastructure investment – this plan will get the
economy moving again, said CWA President Larry Cohen.
The economic recovery plan includes:
- More than $7 billion in federal grants to expand
broadband Internet access in rural and underserved
areas, as well as $350 million in funding for
broadband data mapping.
- Nearly $54 billion for states for fiscal
stabilization, plus funding for state and local
governments for transportation, infrastructure,
education, health care and other critical needs.
- $50 billion for energy programs, much of it
focused on energy efficiency and renewable energy,
including $2 billion for advanced battery
manufacturing.
The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act is
expected to create or save 3.5 million jobs.
"We commend President Obama and Congress for moving
quickly to put Americans back to work, but also for
their long term vision for America's economic future,"
Cohen said. "These investments, specifically for
broadband build out and those that help build a green
economy, will ensure that more Americans can take
advantage of the promise of the Information Age and
enable us to build a sustainable economy that leaves our
nation cleaner for future generations."
New E-Newsletter Keeps CWA Members Up to Date on
Congress
CWA's Legislative Department has launched an
electronic newsletter to help CWA members stay up to
date with a busy schedule of bills and administrative
actions that are critical to working families.
From the Employee Free Choice Act to health care
reform and 21st-century jobs, Legislative Spotlight "is
a new, bi-weekly report that will bring members the
latest news from our lobbying team and CWA activists
around the country," CWA Executive Vice President Annie
Hill said.
To subscribe, go to
http://www.cwa-legislative.org/subscribe.html.
The first edition spotlights CWA's priorities in
working with the new Administration and Congress, with
the Employee Free Choice Act topping the list. Other key
issues are health care reform, the appointment of
National Mediation Board members who will protect
airline workers' collective bargaining rights, reform of
unfair trade laws and retirement security.
"All our hard work around the election wasn't the
end, but just the beginning of our effort to restore the
middle class and a government that focuses on working
families," Hill said.
Easterling
Elected President of Alliance for Retired Americans
Retired CWA Secretary-Treasurer
Barbara Easterling was elected president of the Alliance
for Retired Americans, carrying on work she started when
she founded CWA's Retired Members' Council. The ARA is
an organization allied with the AFL-CIO.
Easterling said her priorities
as president include educating retirees and lawmakers on
ways to strengthen Medicare, lower prescription drug
costs and preserve Social Security for generations.
"Our economy is in crisis and
our health care system is in dire need of reform – it is
more important than ever that we educate and mobilize
retirees on these issues," she said.
Easterling began her career as
a telephone operator in Akron, Ohio, and retired as CWA
secretary-treasurer in 2008. |
