May 20, 2010

CWA Members Help Push Arkansas Senate Race to Run-Off

CWAers in Arkansas worked hard on the Senate primary election and helped push that race to a run-off election between Lt. Governor Bill Halter and incumbent Senator Blanche Lincoln, set for June 8.

Mike Koller, president of the Arkansas Council of CWA Unions, said CWA members were excited about the campaign and the opportunity to send Bill Halter to the U.S. Senate. "The fact is, CWA members in Arkansas gave up on Blanche Lincoln because she gave up on us, especially when she decided that the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and Big Business lobbyists were her real constituents, not the working men and women who sent her to Washington."

CWA and IUE-CWA locals in Arkansas, plus union retirees, mobilized early to support Halter. More than 17,000 CWA member-to-member contacts were made, through phone calls, worksite leafleting and door knocks.

CWA District 6 Vice President Andy Milburn said CWAers in Arkansas accomplished an amazing victory, and it's not over yet. "I'm proud of our members in Arkansas who said that we need to take a chance because we need a change. It's difficult to challenge an incumbent, but CWA members said that they want a Senator who will stand up for working families, and that Bill Halter is that candidate. We've sent the message that we will hold elected officials accountable."

Lincoln has shown her true colors by voting to tax workers' health care; refusing to support Employee Free Choice and workers' rights; opposing President Obama's nominee to the NLRB; preferring that bankers get a cool $87 million tax-free instead of helping students who want to go to college, and other stands that are just wrong for working families.

Separately, CWA's independent campaign:

• Generated 45,632 telephone calls and 34,600 conversations on the issues.
• Resulted in 6,270 hours of canvassing, with canvassers knocking on 47,716 doors.
• Produced televisions ads and radio commercials that raised the campaign's important issues.

Frontier Flight Attendants Vote AFA-CWA

In a strong majority vote, flight attendants at Frontier Airlines voted to join AFA-CWA.

"Frontier flight attendants look forward to negotiating a contract that will protect our interests and address our issues," said Erika Schweitzer, who was appointed transitional AFA-CWA Frontier President until elections are held. "As AFA-CWA members, we will finally have a legally recognized voice to negotiate with management and gain protections that are specific to the needs of Frontier flight attendants."

In September 2009, a group of Frontier flight attendants filed signatures with the NMB to call for the AFA-CWA representation election.  Frontier Airlines is the third flight attendant group to elect AFA-CWA as their bargaining representative in the past year. Frontier Airlines is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Republic Airways Holdings, Inc.

"We welcome our new sisters and brothers at Frontier to the world's largest flight attendant union. Frontier flight attendants have a unique and proud history and with AFA-CWA representation, they will now begin to shape their future through a legally binding contract," said AFA-CWA International President Patricia Friend.

The nearly 1,000 Frontier flight attendants are based in Denver, CO and Milwaukee, WI.

Court Orders Newspaper to Restore Retiree Health Benefits

In a big victory for CWA retirees from the Akron Beacon-Journal, a federal court ordered the newspaper and owner, Canadian media mogul David Holmes Black, to restore their prescription-drug plan and pay them the full cost of their wrongfully denied benefits.

"This is a tremendous victory because the court recognized the enforceability of benefits conferred because of the union's collective bargaining efforts," said CWA District 4 Vice President Seth Rosen.

In 2006, the newspaper increased prescription co-pays for the retirees as much as 700 percent, violating a health care benefit the Beacon-Journal had guaranteed workers in exchange for retiring early. The newspaper claimed that the benefits were not vested but "gratuitous" and therefore could be changed.

U.S. District Court Judge David Dowd Jr. rejected the newspaper's argument, citing promises the newspaper made not only in the contract but agreements made individually in workers' buy-out packages. The Beacon-Journal offered the buy-outs to persuade workers to retire early and give up a lifetime employment guarantee negotiated in the union contract, said Rosen.

The 33 retirees, members of CWA Local 14514/Akron Typographical Union, sued the newspaper last September, with CWA's support.

"It's gratifying that these retirees finally got justice," said Printing, Publishing and Media Workers Sector President Bill Boarman. "They left their careers early to help out the Beacon Journal, and for the newspaper to repay them with a broken promise was indefensible."

Owner David Black interfered with the newspapers' contractual obligations after he bought the paper in 2006, according to the Chandra Law Firm, one of the firms representing the retirees. Black and the newspaper "engaged in a 'bait and switch' that denied workers contractually guaranteed, lifetime, low-cost health care in exchange for their early retirement," the firm said.

20,000 Expected at 'People's Rally' Saturday to Fight for N.J. State Services, Jobs

This Saturday, more than 6,000 CWA public workers will be part of a crowd of more than 20,000 that will jam the state capitol in Trenton to protest the governor's brutal budget cuts.

Organizations, including labor, religious, environmental groups and citizen coalitions are joining CWA and other New Jersey unions for the "people's rally," to spotlight the need to keep critical public services for families and communities. The rally gets underway at noon.

"Everyone from public workers to seniors to students to veterans will see their taxes increased and their services diminished if Governor Chris Christie gets his way," CWA District 1 Vice President Chris Shelton said. "Everyone except the millionaires, who stand to get an $8,000 tax cut while Gov. Christie claims the state can't afford school breakfast for poor children."

As part of his relentless assault on state workers, Christie has put union-busting on the fast track, attacking pensions and introducing 33 proposals to restrict union and civil service rights.

The rally will focus mainly on the harm Christie' budget will do to New Jersey families. Speakers will include people affected by proposed cuts, such as the closure of the Hagedorn Psychiatric Hospital, the only public facility specializing in seniors' mental health care. The governor's privatization plan could affect thousands of families and cost at least 1,300 state workers their jobs.

Dish Retaliates Against Workers in Texas Three Months After Voting in Union

CWA crashed Dish Network TV's annual summit meeting in San Antonio, Texas, last week to protest the company's campaign to destroy the union workers who organized at its Farmers Branch and North Richland Hills locations in February.

Since February, Dish has fired workers, stepped up the use of contractors, and made drastic changes in working conditions. CWA Local 6171, which represents the Dish workers, has filed unfair labor practices charges against Dish, but the NLRB still hasn't certified the workers' election victory following Dish's appeal. Sixty-two percent of Dish workers at those locations voted for CWA representation.

CWA Local 6143 in San Antonio organized the protest in solidarity with the Dish workers and leafleted more than 100 Dish Network managers and workers outside the convention center. Inside, CWAers delivered an open letter to CEO Charles Ergen from CWA Local 6171.

Both locals, with District 6 staff and Jobs with Justice activists, hand-billed 11 Radio Shack stores, a Dish retailer, and asked customers to request in-house union techs when they need service. They also erected crosses outside Dish's North Richland Hills operation representing the workers who had been fired or forced to quit.

Workers outlined their case in a letter to the NLRB, calling for quick action. "We are forced to show up for work four days a week and then are sent home, being told 'we don't have a route for you today, so don't clock in.'"  Some full-time workers get just one day in a week.

"Justice delayed is justice denied," said District 6 Vice President Andy Milburn. "We need to keep the heat on the company and demand that the NLRB act quickly on workers' behalf. The board needs to stand up and show these workers that our labor laws stand for something."

CWA Weighs Options Following WVA Approval of Verizon-Frontier Deal

CWA is weighing all options following last week's decision by the West Virginia Public Service Commission to approve the sale of Verizon landlines in the state to Frontier Communications.

The PSC voted 2-1 to allow the company to proceed. West Virginia was the last state to grant approval to Verizon's overall plan to sell 4.8 million landlines in 14 states; the deal now goes to the Federal Communications Commission for review.

CWA District 2 Vice President Ron Collins said CWA was evaluating the decision and "we'll look at what we can do that will best serve West Virginia consumers and CWA members." There is a 10 day window to file a motion for reconsideration with the State PSC; following that, an appeal may be filed with the state's supreme court.

CWA's campaign has helped raise concerns about service quality and access to high speed broadband, and so far the PSC has required Verizon to put $72 million into an escrow fund to be used to address service quality issues.

"We are disappointed but we're heartened by the fact that one person on the three-member commission agreed with us and with the more than 80 legislators, several county commissions and a broad coalition of consumer, union and first responder organizations who said the deal is too risky and not in the public interest," Collins said.

Thousands March on Washington's K Street as Financial Reform Fight Continues

Pouring rain didn't stop CWA members or 3,000 other union and community activists who turned out for the "Showdown on K Street," a giant rally and march in the heart of Washington's lobbying and banking district.

K Street has become synonymous with big money and corporate lobbying, where thousands of Wall Street lobbyists work to stop financial reform. Activists waved signs condemning Wall Street greed and demanding that bankers be held accountable for the consequences of their financial schemes.

This week, the Senate continued to pursue a financial reform bill.

New Contract Restores R.I. Teachers' Jobs

Teachers and staff at Central Falls, R.I., reached a tentative agreement with the school district that both parties believe will create the conditions for student and teacher success.

The AFT members – 90 teachers, counselors, principals and staff – had the strong support of CWA and other unions earlier this year when they were fired as a group by the school district.

AFT President Randi Weingarten said the events of the past few months clearly demonstrated "the need for a collaborative approach to school improvement, especially when the stakes are high, as is the case at Central Falls High School."

Teachers, if given the right tools and a real voice in the process can deliver on the promise of equal access to quality education for every child, she said. "We have never believed that mass firing is a vehicle for school improvement."

Want to See Your Newsletter Featured on the CWA WebSite? Read More

CWA will be recognizing newsletters and websites throughout the year, instead of holding a once-a-year contest.

So make certain that your local is sending your newsletter to the Communications Dept. We'll be highlighting excellent stories, photos, layouts and more on the CWA website. Please mail to: Janelle Hartman, CWA Communications Department, 501 Third St. NW, Washington DC, 20001. Send electronic newsletters to: Jhartman@cwa-union.org and put "Local 5555 Newsletter" in the subject line.

Don't forget about the first annual CWA Photo Contest, which is accepting entries through June 30. For categories, rules and the entry form, go to http://ga.cwa-union.org/source/cwa-photo-contest.html.

Posted by:

CWA Local 1022