July 15, 2010

·                    Telefonica/Atento Follows Union-Busting Model in Mexico City Election

·                    Court Orders Visteon to Negotiate Over Retiree Benefits

·                    Piedmont Agents File for Their First Fair Election

·                    AT&T Internet Members Vote Strike Authorization

·                    Secretary-Treasurer Emeritus James Booe Dies at 83

Telefonica/Atento Follows Union-Busting Model in Mexico City Election

The union election held last week among 20,000 telecom workers in Mexico City was another wake-up call that the global economy simply doesn't work when it comes to workers' rights.

In a disgraceful example of global union-busting, workers at Telefonica/Atento who tried to vote for real representation were threatened and intimidated, offered bribes and kept from voting by company fraud. Unfortunately, this level of anti-union assault is simply business as usual for many global companies who have exported and permitted union-busting behavior at operations in other countries while continuing to recognize workers' rights at home in Europe.

"It is an outrage that huge multinational telecom firms, whether Telefonica or Deutsche Telekom, behave one way in Europe and then are union busters in the United States or Mexico," CWA President Larry Cohen said. "The tactics may be worse in Mexico but the results are the same. We need to continue to unite with the Telefonistas, the independent Mexican telephone workers union known as STRM, and fight back on a global basis wherever these companies operate."

The July 2 election was "won" by a sham company union, and CWA and telecom unions are planning protests and possibly a global day of action in September.

UNI Global Union had negotiated an agreement with Spain-based Telefonica that it would remain neutral in union organizing campaigns as it expands in Latin America and other locations.

But Telefonica-owned Atento "was anything but neutral," said Jose Cantu, a CWA District 6 organizer and vice president of Local 6229, who was in Mexico City to work with STRM and Atento workers, and to observe the election.

"On my first night, we went to a call center and a group of fighters showed up, about 25 guys with brass knuckles, knives in their pockets and alcohol on their breath. They threatened to kick and beat us." Three thugs were arrested, but the company got them out by morning.

"The next day, we had organizers on corners with two-way radios," he said. A huge group of thugs saw them and fled, but remained nearby every day.

Cantu and organizers from STRM went daily from one call center to another, leafleting and meeting with many of the 20,000 workers seeking representation. Before the election, STRM led a huge multi-union march through Mexico City.

Despite the neutrality agreement the company had signed, Telefonica/Atento ran a brutal campaign of threats, firings, outrageous lies and bribes, and denying the opportunity to vote to scores of workers while allowing ineligible workers to cast ballots, Cantu said.

Several years ago, CWA worked with Atento call center workers in Puerto Rico who wanted a union; they also faced a brutal campaign of intimidation from the company.

Court Orders Visteon to Negotiate Over Retiree Benefits

In a huge victory for 2,100 IUE-CWA retirees who worked at Visteon Corp. in Indiana, the U.S. Court of Appeals found that the company illegally terminated retiree health and life insurance benefits.

In a unanimous decision, the court reversed the Delaware Bankruptcy Court that permitted the auto parts supplier to terminate the benefits as part of its bankruptcy filing. The appeals court ordered Visteon to restore benefits immediately.

The court also ordered Visteon to bargain with IUE-CWA over any further changes to benefits.

"IUE-CWA took on this fight to make sure that the rights of our retirees were respected by Visteon and the courts," said IUE-CWA President Jim Clark. "It is never easy to win an appeal but we knew that Visteon retirees deserved every opportunity to save their benefits.

"We will continue to press Visteon to enter into a fair settlement that protects and rewards our members for their many decades of service to this company."

Piedmont Agents File for Their First Fair Election

Nearly 3,000 fleet and passenger service agents at Piedmont Airlines soon will have the opportunity to vote for CWA representation, following CWA's filing last Friday with the National Mediation Board for a union election.

When the NMB sets the date for the election after reviewing workers' signed authorization cards, it will be the first election in the airline industry to be conducted under the majority vote rule just implemented by the NMB. The outcome will be determined by the majority of those voting, just as all other U.S. elections are conducted.

In previous elections, eligible workers who choose not to vote were counted as "No" votes, giving enormous advantage to management, which often used scare tactics and intimidation to suppress voter turnout.

"About 70 percent of airline workers in the U.S. have union representation, and that means fair treatment, respect and the ability to bargain with management over wages and working conditions," said Marge Krueger, administrative director to the District 13 vice president. "That's what Piedmont workers want, too," she said.

AT&T Internet Members Vote Strike Authorization

CWA members at AT&T Internet in Districts 3, 4, 6 and 9 voted overwhelmingly for strike authorization if a fair contract can't be reached.

The current contract expires July 17. Negotiations got underway June 21 in Dallas; the contract covers nearly 5,400 workers.

Key issues include wages, protecting and improving benefits, job security, protections against subcontracting, improved scheduling and time off.

Across the districts, members have been mobilizing, wearing bandages on health care action days and standing up for a fair contract.

Click here for updates on negotiations and to access bargaining reports and news about mobilization.

Secretary-Treasurer Emeritus James Booe Dies at 83

Retired CWA Secretary-Treasurer James B. Booe, who helped guide CWA for nearly 45 years died July 9. He was 83. Booe retired as secretary-treasurer in 1992 after having served CWA as secretary-treasurer and executive vice president. Booe joined CWA staff in 1960 as a District 9 CWA representative, and became CWA's Northern California director in 1965. In 1968 he was named assistant to the district vice president, and was elected district vice president in 1970.

Booe moved to Washington, D.C., in 1976 to serve as assistant to CWA President Glenn Watts, and was elected executive vice president in 1980. As head of CWA's governmental affairs program, he chaired CWA's political action fund, building the program into a force in American politics. During the breakup of the Bell System, Booe fought to protect the pension portability of the thousands of CWA members affected by AT&T's divestiture. He was elected secretary-treasurer in 1985.

In 1950, Booe joined CWA Local 9571 (now Local 9586) while working at General Telephone of California as a switchman. He served his country during the Korean conflict, then returned to serve his local union as chief steward, vice president and president. Upon his retirement in 1992, Booe was named secretary-treasurer emeritus.

Booe is survived by Judi, his wife and companion of nearly 38 years, six children and 12 grandchildren, and three great grandchildren.