|
March 25, 2010
-
Health Care Reform Moves Us
Forward
-
What Does Health Care Reform
Do For Me? And When?
-
Tell Congress: A Working
NLRB is a Top CWA Priority
-
CWA Campaign Produces House
Ban on Tax Loophole
-
CWA Members Vote Strike
Authorization at Verizon
West
-
Cornell Launches Web Seminar
on Handling Grievances
-
Dow Jones Local Wins
Contract at Murdoch-Owned
Company
-
Solidarity Update!
-
Last Chance to Apply for
Beirne Scholarships
Health Care Reform Moves Us
Forward
CWA played a big part in getting
health care reform through
Congress, and President Obama
invited CWA President Larry
Cohen to the White House for the
official bill signing to
recognize that hard work.
"After decades of working for
quality health care for all,
this bill moves us forward and
provides a framework for future
improvements," Cohen said.
Through CWA's Health Care SIF
campaign, thousands of CWAers
called, wrote, participated in
town hall meetings and visited
their members of Congress. They
told their senators and
representatives how they worried
about skyrocketing health care
costs and whether they would be
able to maintain their health
care benefits.
They talked about how being laid
off meant losing affordable
health care. Retired workers
wondered how they would pay
sky-high premiums until they
were eligible for Medicare, or
how they would afford their
prescription drugs when they
reached the "donut" hole in
Medicare's drug coverage.
Health care reform takes away a
lot of these worries for working
families. How? Keep reading.
What Does Health Care Reform Do
For Me? And When?
1. Children can continue to be
covered by their parents' health
insurance until their 26th
birthday, instead of being
forced off the plan by age 19.
When? IN SIX MONTHS.
2. Insurance companies cannot
exclude children under age 19
from health care coverage
because of pre-existing
conditions. When? IN SIX
MONTHS.
3. Insurance companies cannot
charge higher rates for women,
whether they're covered by an
employer's plan or have
individual coverage. When? IN
SIX MONTHS.
4. Adults who can't get
insurance because of a
preexisting condition can buy
into a national pool until the
exchanges start operating in
2014. When? IN 90 DAYS.
5. Insurance companies can't
cancel your policy because you
get sick. When? IN SIX MONTHS.
6. Insurance companies can't put
a lifetime limit on your medical
coverage. When? IN SIX MONTHS.
7. Retired workers who have hit
the Medicare "donut hole," the
gap in benefits that hurts
millions of seniors, will
receive a $250 rebate. When?
THIS YEAR.
8. "Donut hole" completely gone
in 2016.
Tell Congress: A Working NLRB is
a Top CWA Priority
CWAers are on the phone to their
members of Congress, urging them
to sign on to Rep. Lucille
Roybal-Allard's letter that
calls on President Obama to make
recess appointments of Craig
Becker and Mark Pearce to the
National Labor Relations Board.
So far, more than 100 U.S.
representatives have signed on.
With a March 25 deadline, CWA
activists are working the
phones, to let their
representatives know that this
is a top priority for CWA.
What's our message to Congress?
Workers need a fully functioning
NLRB. There are just two members
now and that has delayed justice
for workers and made a huge
backlog of cases even worse.
With Senate Republicans
continuing a campaign to stall
these nominations, the only way
to get a functioning majority on
the NLRB is for President Obama
to make appointments over the
Easter congressional recess.
CWA Campaign Produces House Ban
on Tax Loophole
Thanks to CWA's successful
Verizon Strategic Industry Fund
campaign, the House of
Representatives voted to close
the Reverse Morris Trust tax
loophole that has allowed
Verizon and other companies to
spin off parts of their
operations tax-free.
The tax loophole ban was
sponsored by Rep. Paul Hodes (D-N.H.)
and included co-sponsors Reps.
Alan Mollohan and Nick Rahall
(D-WVa.) and Louise M. Slaughter
(D-N.Y.).
Verizon took advantage of this
tax loophole to sell landlines
to FairPoint Communications, a
much smaller company that just
couldn't meet service
requirements and later declared
bankruptcy, costing jobs and
resulting in deteriorating
customer service.
The Small Business and
Infrastructure Jobs Act, passed
by a vote of 246-178, now heads
to the Senate. Verizon wants to
sell 4.8 million landlines in 14
states to Frontier
Communications, but Frontier
will be forced to borrow $3.3
billion to pay for the deal.
Verizon would realize $600
million in tax savings.
"The Reserve Morris Trust was
designed by Wall Street, not
West Virginians," said District
2 Vice President Ron Collins.
"We're happy that Congress
shares our view that the Reverse
Morris Trust is a tax break for
corporations, not a job-creating
tool. Without this tax
provision, I don't believe
Verizon would be so eager to
sell to Frontier."
CWA Members Vote Strike
Authorization at Verizon West
By an overwhelming margin, CWA
members at Verizon West voted
last week to authorize a strike
if a fair contract cannot be
reached during negotiations.
Bargaining is continuing; the
contract expired March 13.
More than 90 percent of members
approved the strike
authorization, with nearly 80
percent of members voting. The
contract covers about 5,500
workers mostly in Southern
California.
"The strike vote demonstrates
members' solid support for their
bargaining team and their
determination to achieve a fair
settlement," said District 9
Vice President Jim Weitkamp.
"Verizon can well afford to
treat its workers fairly."
CWA and Verizon remain far apart
on key issues, including pay,
health care cost-shifting, and
off-shoring of work. Verizon
angered CWA workers when it
moved some customer service
work from California to Tijuana,
Mexico. The company also has
relocated some 911 jobs there.
Members are continuing to
mobilize and are gearing up for
a rally in Long Beach to protest
offshoring and other unfair
Verizon moves. Elected
officials, including several
Long Beach City Council members
who are concerned about
Verizon's decision to move jobs
out of the community, will be
joining CWAers at the rally.
Cornell Launches Web Seminar on
Handling Grievances
Cornell University will begin a
comprehensive four-part online
"webinar" on March 31 to train
union stewards, officers and
staff on how to investigate and
handle private and public sector
grievances.
Sitting at your desk, you can
learn the basics of grievance
handling, then advance to more
complicated situations involving
investigation, meeting with
management and dealing with
difficult supervisors.
Cornell's Industrial and Labor
Relations School is offering the
first seminar at no cost. It
will be held Wednesday, March
31, from 1 pm to 2:15 pm EDT,
and will cover the basics:
types of grievances, rights and
responsibilities of grievance
handlers, the basics of
arbitration and more.
There is a $50 charge for each
of the next three sessions,
which will provide lots of
specific information for union
reps dealing with tough
grievance and arbitration
situations.
Click here to register or
learn more about the webinar.
For information about other
Cornell labor studies
opportunities, go to
www.ilr.cornell.edu.
Dow Jones Local Wins Contract at
Murdoch-Owned Company
In the first round of bargaining
with Dow Jones since it was
acquired by the notoriously
anti-union Rupert Murdoch, the
Independent Association of
Publishing Employees Local 1096,
an affiliate of TNG-CWA, "beat
back each and every one" of the
company's assaults on core
contract provisions and won some
improvements.
The tentative four-year
agreement freezes wages the
first year, but provides for a 2
percent raise in each subsequent
year, plus keeps cost-of-living
protection. Starting July 1, a
new health care plan that
maintains current benefits but
lowers premiums goes effect.
The IAPE negotiating team also
defeated the company's effort to
gut seniority rights and
improved severance pay.
The IAPE bargaining team has
endorsed the tentative
settlement, and President
Stephen Yount is meeting with
Dow Jones workers nationwide to
answer questions before the
ratification vote. A vote is
expected to be complete by May
1.
Solidarity Update!
Flight attendants at British
Airways who are members of the
British union Unite are ready
for a four day strike March
27-30, said AFA-CWA. During last
week's three-day strike, more
than 80 percent of crew
supported the action.
If the crew does strike, any
British Airways flight operating
March 27-30 will be crewed by
scab labor. So mark your
calendars and don't fly British
Airways on those dates.
Unite flight attendants are
fighting back against
management's demand to cut 1,700
jobs, impose a two-year wage
freeze and set up a two-tier job
system. Unite has been working
hard to reach a settlement with
management and has done
everything possible to avoid the
strike, but so far, management
refuses to seriously consider
the cabin crew's offer.
Last Chance to Apply for Beirne
Scholarships
Don't miss the March 31 deadline
to apply for CWA's Beirne
scholarships, which can help you
attend college or pursue an
online distance-learning degree
in the 2010-11 academic year.
The annual scholarships from the
Joe Beirne Foundation, named for
CWA's founding president,
provide 15 students up to $3,000
toward their college tuition.
The award can be renewed for a
second year if winners have a
satisfactory academic record.
CWA members, spouses, children,
grandchildren and dependents of
retired, laid-off or deceased
members are eligible. Winners
will be chosen from a lottery of
eligible applicants.
The applications are available
online only at:
www.cwa-union.org/members/beirne,
where you'll also find more
information. Applications must
be submitted electronically no
later than midnight Wednesday,
March 31. |
