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March 5, 2009
CWA,
AT&T Mobility Reach Tentative Agreement
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Tremendous
unity and mobilization by CWAers at AT&T
Mobility nationwide resulted in a new tentative
contract. Above, CWAers from Local 7250 in
Minneapolis leaflet outside a retail store.
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CWA reached a tentative agreement with AT&T Mobility
for the "Orange contract" that provides real gains for
workers, including improvements in the retail stores
compensation plan and the establishment of a new career
path for customer service representatives.
The CWA bargaining committee was determined to make
inroads in these critical areas and succeeded, resulting
in a tentative agreement that provides good economic
gains for Mobility workers and addresses workers'
priority issues. There are more than 20,000 CWA members
covered by the "Orange" contract; another 22,000 CWA
members at Mobility are covered by separate agreements.
The proposed settlement provides for a compounded
wage increase of 8.8 percent over the four-year contract
term, along with a $500 bonus. More than 11,000 retail
sales consultants now will earn a minimum monthly
commission of $1,000 if sales goals are met. In
addition, some 500 consumer care workers will receive
job upgrades and additional pay increases, as will 50-70
wireless technicians. Other important improvements
addressed monitoring and quota relief.
CWA Executive Vice President Annie Hill said the
bargaining team worked long and hard hours, "displaying
both patience and toughness" to get a good agreement
that addresses Mobility workers' critical issues.
Contract explanation materials will be made available
to members in advance of the membership ratification
vote.
Mobilization by Mobility workers throughout the
"Orange" territory – Districts 1, 2, 4, 7, 9 and 13 –
made a tremendous difference as did support from CWA
Mobility members in Districts 3 and 6 and from CWA
members at "core" AT&T operations.
Bargaining covering 125,000 CWA-represented workers
at AT&T got underway Feb. 24.
CWA
Member Asks Solis to Fight for Employee Free Choice
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Above, Hector Capote, a
Cuban-American worker and vice president of CWA
Local 3122, talks with Labor Secretary Hilda
Solis at a Miami church. Below, CWA President
Larry Cohen and Capote with participants at the
Solis forum. |
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A CWA member from AT&T Mobility made a heartfelt plea
for passage of the Employee Free Choice Act at a meeting
with new Labor Secretary Hilda Solis.
Hector Capote was one of several workers who spoke
with Solis at a meeting at a Miami, Fla., AME Church.
The event marked Solis's first official speech as labor
secretary; more than 500 union members attended, along
with CWA President Larry Cohen and other union
leaders.
Capote, now a vice president of CWA Local 3122, told
Solis how workers at his AT&T Mobility call center were
able to form a union through majority signup. "We all
worked together, managers and workers, for a fair
process," he said.
Capote said he didn't have that chance when he began
working at age 14 at a fast food chain as a new
immigrant to America, and neither do millions of other
Americans today. "I wanted to tell you how labor law
needs to be changed so we can have more rights. The
Employee Free Choice is so important to make sure that
happens. I believe it holds our democracy to a higher
level of truth and honesty," he said.
Capote said that his father never earned more than
$13 an hour, and in his later years had to rely on
Capote; his brother, a police officer; and sister, a
nurse -- all union members -- for financial help.
Solis acknowledged Capote's efforts to support his
father: "I know your father is proud of you. He's
probably watching you right now."
Solis also met with members of the AFL-CIO Executive
Council, and said that the days of a Labor Department
"going after unions" were over. "There's a new sheriff
in town," she said.
In a video message to the AFL-CIO Executive Council
President Obama repeated his conviction that the
Employee Free Choice Act will become law. "To me, and to
my administration, labor unions are a big part of the
solution. We need to level the playing field for workers
and the unions that represent their interests – because
we cannot have a strong middle class without a strong
labor movement."
CWA is Player in White House Summit on Health Care
CWA Executive Vice President Annie Hill is taking
part in the White House Summit on Health Care, convened
by President Obama on March 5 as the next step to real
health care reform.
Members of Congress, health care providers, unions,
business, insurers, and all groups with a stake in real
reform are attending the session.
President Obama has said that fixing health care is
crucial to getting our country's financial house in
order. "We must realize that fixing what's wrong with
our health care system is no longer just a moral
imperative, but a fiscal imperative," the President said
in announcing his nomination for Secretary of Health and
Human Services, Kanas Governor Kathleen Sebelius.
CWA commended Obama's choice of Sebelius and urged
the Senate to quickly confirm her.
CWA President Larry Cohen said Sebelius brings "real
experience to the mission of expanding health care for
the millions who now lack coverage. She will be an
important advocate for President Obama's goal of health
care reform that provides affordable, accessible and
quality care for all."
CWA is working toward a health care system that
requires all employers to participate and contribute to
the system – "pay or play" – and does not tax workers'
health care benefits.
Workers to Take Employee Free Choice Message to
Capitol Hill
Next week, workers are turning the spotlight on the
Employee Free Choice Act and why the bill is critical to
rebuilding the economy and restoring America's middle
class. Members of CWA and other unions will be in
Washington, D.C., urging lawmakers to restore bargaining
rights for American workers, the first step to turning
around our faltering economy.
"Since 1935, collective bargaining has been the law
of the land, and until around 1965 it was working. But
since 1975, there has been a systematic effort to crush
collective bargaining," said CWA President Larry Cohen.
"Some in the business community, like the Chamber of
Commerce, simply oppose the idea of working people
having any seat at the table. They oppose the idea of
workers and management together working our way out of
this economic crisis. They want to ignore the fact that
in every other industrial democracy, workers have a
voice in the workplace and they didn't have to go
through a grueling election and fight against their
bosses to get it," Cohen said.
On Monday, there will be actions in front of employer
trade associations and at other locations.
On Tuesday morning, union members will meet on the
steps of the U.S. Senate prior to meetings with their
senators and representatives. Workers will present
"scrapbooks" of case studies that describe the obstacles
and intimidation they faced from employers while trying
to get a union voice and bargaining rights. Some of the
case studies highlight positive examples where employers
have respected workers' rights.
Also on Tuesday, workers from several unions, along
with a panel of economists and other experts, will
testify before the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and
Pensions Committee. Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, a chief
sponsor of the Employee Free Choice Act, is chairman of
the committee.
On Wednesday, the union activists will join in
workshops and training sessions on how to build even
more support for Employee Free Choice, especially in
their home districts. Profiles of CWA members are
available at
http://www.freechoiceact.org/cwa/pages/worker_profiles.
CWA Calls on Maryland PSC to Reject Verizon
Settlement
CWA is pressing the Maryland Public Service
Commission to reject a proposed settlement agreement
that would allow Verizon to raise telephone rates for
residential customers while letting the company do next
to nothing about service quality complaints from
thousands of Maryland customers.
"This is one of the worst settlement agreements we
have seen," said District 2 Vice President Ron Collins.
"It practically rewards Verizon for poor performance.
Our hope is that the PSC will either amend it or reject
it altogether." Collins said the agreement limits
Verizon's liability to customers who receive poor
service. The union has intervened in the settlement
hearings.
CWA is mobilizing consumers and workers to contact
the Maryland PSC and urge that the proposal be scrapped
and that negotiations reopen on a new plan that supports
quality service. Sign the online petition at
www.contactmdPSC.org.
The proposed settlement, which grew out of complaints
that Verizon routinely failed to provide satisfactory
service, allows Verizon to keep its service failures a
secret from the public, avoid service standards
altogether and raise rates.
This deal tries to block state regulators from
looking into service quality issues until 2012, more
than three years from now.
Verizon's service performance is being challenged in
many states as it abandons the traditional copper wire
network and deploys its non-regulated fiber network
while seeking rate increases. Regulators and legislators
have been under growing pressure to address Verizon's
deteriorating network; Verizon has called the copper
network that serves millions of customers nationwide
"yesterday's network."
"Our members are trained professionals, capable of
providing world class service. Verizon's service
deficiencies are the direct result of management
decisions and they hurt our jobs as well as the public
we serve," Collins said, adding "we support quality
service."
AFA-CWA, Hawaiian Airlines Reach
Tentative Agreement
Flight attendants at Hawaiian Airlines, represented
by AFA-CWA, reached a tentative agreement that improves
wage and bonus compensation and addresses flight
attendants' concerns.
The proposed agreement would extend the current
contract for two more years and includes some provisions
to help the airline maintain its operational
excellence. The tentative agreement will be sent out
for membership review and ratification.
"In these challenging times, Hawaiian Airlines flight
attendants need a stable contract they can count on,"
said Sharon Soper, AFA-CWA Hawaiian President. "We are
pleased that we could work collaboratively with
Hawaiian's management team to quickly reach an agreement
that provides stability for our members and our company
during these turbulent times."
CWA's OSHA Conference Rescheduled
CWA's National Occupational Safety and Health
Conference, originally set for Sept. 12-14, has been
re-scheduled.
The conference will be held Oct. 2-5, 2009 at the
Holiday Inn on-the-Bay in San Diego. Conference agenda
and registration materials will be sent to all CWA Local
presidents. Questions? Contact David LeGrande, CWA
Occupational Safety and Health Director, at
legrande@cwa-union.org.
Win a Chevy Silverado Truck in Union Sportsmen
Alliance Giveaway
CWAers and other union members who belong to the
Union Sportsmen's Alliance have a chance to win a 2009
Chevy Silverado in a promotion offered by USA, the
hunting and fishing club exclusively for union members
and retirees, and their families.
The winner of the Chevy truck will be announced the
first week of July. All current active members of USA
are eligible, along with anyone who joins by 12:00 am,
June 30, 2009. To join, go to
www.UnionSportsmen.org or call 877-872-2211.
Membership is $25 a year.
In addition to connecting union sportsmen and women
across North America, the alliance, a one-of-a-kind,
hunting and fishing association of the Theodore
Roosevelt Conservation Partnership (TRCP), provides
hunting and fishing information as well as discounts on
outdoor gear, and chances to win prizes.
Newsletter Critiques Now Available on The Source
Starting this week, another resource for local union
communicators has been added to The Source, CWA's
website for local union communicators.
In The Source's "Websites and Newsletter" section is
a new, special "Extreme Makeover" and "Copy Desk"
feature to help local editors improve their newsletters.
In the first installment, our communications experts
provide assistance to CWA Local 2202's publication, "CWA
Voice." Click here for the new sections
http://www.cwa-union.org/source/best/.
Help us get the word out to local union editors!
Please send their names and e-mail addresses to Janelle
Hartman in the CWA Communications Department, at
jhartman@cwa-union.org. Be sure to put "Local Union
Editors" in the subject line of your e-mail message. |
