June 24, 2010

AT&T Mobility Workers in Puerto Rico Join CWA

Another 186 AT&T Mobility network workers in Puerto Rico now are members of CWA Local 3010, joining CWA through majority sign-up.

The former Centennial Wireless Network Department employees work in six different locations across the island.

Local 3010 President Rafael Castro-Torres credited Local 3010 organizer Javier Sepulveda and the internal organizing committee for building strong support for the union, as well as support from District 3.

"The campaign got underway in April 2010 and our training and strategic planning paid off, with the committee signing up more than half of the network workers in just about a month," Castro-Torres said.

The internal committee included Jorge Roldan, Wilfredo Guivas, Angel Cabrera, Francisco Madera, David Guadalupe, Botcheller Seda, and Demetrio Luciano.

Local 3010 also is continuing to build majority support among AT&T Mobility's 414 retail store workers and 175 call center workers, Castro-Torres said.

CWA Project to Help Patients, Staff at Public Hospital Wins Major Award

CWA members who created and led a project to reduce the use of patient restraints at Ancora Psychiatric Hospital in New Jersey have won first place in a statewide quality improvement competition, beating more than 60 other entries.

By creating new quiet areas called "walk off zones" for patients in distress and using other de-escalation techniques, the CWA team of psychologists, nurses and support staff reduced patient restraint use by 58 percent and staff injuries by 93 percent.

In the eight months before the program was launched, 16 employees were injured while restraining patients. During the same time period after the new program began, only one minor injury was reported.

"This demonstrates that public employees are innovative and that we not only can compete with but exceed the private sector in delivering quality patient care," said Dr. Jeffrey Uhl, a psychologist and member of CWA Local 1040 who was one of the team leaders. "That's extremely important for people to know when the privatization of state hospitals is being explored."

The team of about 15 CWA members developed the project using "Lean Six Sigma" problem solving and management principles. "It's bottom up versus top down management, allowing employees to own the process," Uhl said.

The hospital is building a display case for the team’s Richard Codey Behavioral Healthcare Quality Improvement Trophy, which is passed on each year to the competition’s winner. The award is named for a former New Jersey governor who has long supported mental health care services.

CWA Gains Consumer and Worker Safeguards in Frontier Agreement

CWA has reached an agreement with Frontier Communications that preserves union jobs, raises wages and calls for the investment of hundreds of millions of dollars in broadband build-out and other projects. It also requires Frontier to ensure that at least 84 percent of eligible job titles throughout the United States are union jobs.

The agreement, which will be voted on by members, resulted from CWA's year-long campaign that raised concerns about Frontier's purchase of Verizon's landline operations in West Virginia and 13 other states. "We are comfortable with the deal, given the guarantees that we have negotiated," CWA District 2 vice president Ron Collins said.

The guarantees include $310 million for broadband and other projects in the state. CWA wanted to ensure that West Virginia residents and anchor institutions can get access to high speed broadband and other innovations, as well as consistent service quality.

The agreement also calls for the company to add 150 CWA jobs by October and maintain at least 1,600 full-time CWA jobs through the end of the contract term, Aug. 2, 2013. Wages will increase by 2.75 percent in August 2011 and 2.5 percent one year later and there will be no health care cost shifting. Other improvements include an upgraded title for service technicians and a guarantee that customer service calls in West Virginia will be routed to CWA call centers in the state.

CWA members will begin voting on the agreement next week, with ballots due July 14.

Civil Rights, Labor and Environmental Leaders Call on Congress to Clarify FCC Authority for Broadband

Leaders representing eight national civil rights, labor, and environmental organizations urged Congress to act quickly to clarify the Federal Communications Commission's authority to protect an Open Internet and apply Universal Service funding to broadband. 

The coalition wrote to Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee Chairman John D. Rockefeller and House Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Henry Waxman, calling for quick action on narrowly targeted legislation that will support broadband build-out to move our nation forward and ensure that every American has the skills necessary for today's digital age. 

The organizations are: the AFL-CIO; Communications Workers of America; International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers; League of United Latin American Citizens; Minority Media and Telecom Council; the NAACP; the National Urban League and the Sierra Club.

Local Editor, Webmaster Online Registration for CWA Convention Now Open

Online registration is now available for CWA local union editors and webmasters who cover the CWA Convention. The Convention opens on Monday, July 26 at the Washington Hilton in Washington, D.C.

Each CWA local that publishes a newsletter in print or online may register one editor and one webmaster. Each person must be designated by the local president, and must return a complete application by July 12.

Click here for more details.

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CWA Local 1022