Communications Workers Of America Local 6508 AFL-CIO, CLC

Local 1298 Reaches Tentative Agreement for AT&T Workers

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Thursday, 19 August 2010 16:19

Local 1298 Reaches Tentative Agreement for AT&T Workers
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AFA-CWA Election Cleared for Takeoff at Delta/Northwest
Get on the CWA Bus for the Oct. 2 'One Nation' Rally
BGA's 'The Job's Not Done Tour' Calls for Senate Action Now

Local 1298 Reaches Tentative Agreement for AT&T Workers

Members of Local 1298 in Connecticut rallied, marched and stayed strong during 18 months of AT&T bargaining that finally led to a tentative contract this week.

CWA members' solidarity during 18 long months of bargaining paid off Wednesday night in Connecticut when Local 1298 reached a tentative agreement with AT&T that includes job protection language the company had refused to include earlier.

"We hung tough, the membership hung tough, we had the support of national, and AT&T knew it and finally realized that 'we're not going to get these guys to move,'" Local 1298 President Bill Henderson said.

The two tentative contracts, one for nearly 3,400 core employees and the other for 176 yellow page workers, are the last in the round of bargaining that CWA and AT&T began at tables nationwide in 2009. Ratification ballots will be sent to members on Monday and must be returned by Sept. 7.

Both of the 1298 agreements require AT&T to keep at least 84 percent of the represented jobs in Connecticut. "It's not everything we wanted, but it's big for us and we can build on it in the future," Henderson said.

CWA District 1 Vice President Chris Shelton praised the negotiating team. "The bargaining committee stayed focused and devoted themselves to getting a just contract for the members and I thank them, my assistant Dennis Trainor and Staff Representative Pat Telesco for their work and dedication," he said.

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CWAers Tell California Lawmakers: 'Keep Jobs Here'

More than 100 CWA activists descend on the State Capitol in Sacramento for California Jobs Lobby Day.

More than 100 CWA members from across California converged on the State Capitol in Sacramento with a big Lobby Day message for members of the Senate and Assembly: "Keep Jobs in California."

At the Capitol, CWA members met with elected officials from the legislature about CWA priorities, and in particular, three critical bills. CWAers urged the closing of loopholes in the corporate tax code that would help raise revenues; pressed for tax incentives to keep jobs in the state; and called on lawmakers to require AT&T and Verizon to obey the 2006 Digital Infrastructure and Video Competition Act that requires the companies to keep a set number of jobs in California.

CWA members also got an overview of the union's top legislative initiatives and some key state proposals, including Proposition 23, a measure that would repeal California's Global Warming Solutions Act. California's efforts to address global warming made national headlines because it established a state-wide cap on greenhouse gas emissions by 2020 and won the support of a broad coalition of labor and community groups, including the Blue Green Alliance. CWA is a partner in the BGA, and along with the Sierra Club and other organizations, is working to create quality, sustainable jobs and sustainable communities.

The Lobby Day is a project of CWA's California Jobs Strategic Industry Fund.

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Delegates Adopt Ready for the Future 'Phase 3'

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Friday, 30 July 2010 18:06
Delegates Adopt Ready for the Future 'Phase 3' CWA delegates move forward on Ready for the Future Phase 3. Biennial conventions Merger of Districts 2 and 13 Merger of Communications and Technologies and Telecommunications Sectors Vote on the Executive Board for the Canadian Director CWA convention delegates again voted to move CWA forward and adopted several changes that will support every level of CWA in building our union. That action continues the work of the Ready for the Future plan that CWA began in 2005. Delegates, in a roll call vote, approved a biennial schedule for CWA conventions that will take effect in 2011, allowing CWA to put more resources into frontline representation. Delegates voted new provisions to handle appeals, elections and other issues, ensuring that CWA will remain the most democratic union in the labor movement. The convention approved the merger of District 2 and 13, and effective next year, 50,000 CWAers in Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, West Virginia and the District of Columbia will be part of District 2-13. Local union members and leaders in both districts had strongly endorsed the merger, along with vice presidents Ron Collins, D2, and Ed Mooney, D13. "I am proud of everyone in District 13 for making this merger possible. Local leaders did not hesitate in taking action they knew would better serve members' and our union's best interest," Mooney said. "Members in District 2 and 13 have shown that they are ready for the future by embracing change when it is necessary to strengthen our union. All sides of the CWA triangle are strengthened by our taking this step to unite our two districts," Collins said. Delegates also voted to combine the Communications and Technologies and the Telecommunications offices, creating a new office with a single vice president. Both C and T Vice President Ralph Maly and Telecommunications Vice President supported the merger. Maly pointed out that the two sectors already had been working together closely for several years, "a real plus for our members." Gurganus said the merger would make the sector even stronger and able to build more bargaining power for members. Delegates also voted to give CWA's Canadian director a vote on the Executive Board. The director of CWA/SCA, currently Arnold Amber, was added to the executive board in 2008. Write comment (0 Comments)
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Delta Flight Attendants: 'Opportunity, Unity, Respect' Needed at New Delta Family

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Friday, 06 August 2010 14:13

Delta Flight Attendants: 'Opportunity, Unity, Respect' Needed at New Delta Family
More Telecom, Public Workers Joining CWA
NY Guild Presses City on Cut Tax Breaks for Thomson Reuters
Two CWA Members Get Top Honors in Photo Contest
CWAers Win Union Plus Scholarships
Annual TNG-CWA Awards Recognize Investigative Reporting

Delta Flight Attendants: 'Opportunity, Unity, Respect' Needed at New Delta Family

Click on the photo above to watch the video.

AFA-CWA has produced a great new organizing video, The New Delta Family. It focuses on flight attendants' frustration over how their airline, which workers and the company considered to be "like a family," has changed for the worse with a revolving door of changing management and executives.

Flight attendants at Northwest, which merged with Delta, don't want to lose the bargaining rights they've had for 60 years. They're working with Delta flight attendants to make sure that all flight attendants get the respect and protections of a union contract.

The organizing campaign is focused on building a "world class contract" for the 21,000 flight attendants at the merged airline, along with "opportunity, unity and respect."

In the video, loyal Delta flight attendants with 20, 30 and 40 years of service describe how they now have a chance to restore that lost sense of family by voting for AFA-CWA. They talk about how managers and executives now pay lip service to the idea of caring about workers who have been a loyal part of the company for years.

One flight attendant with 20 years' service said: "When I was hired in 1989, senior management came up through the ranks just like the rest of us. They had a loyalty to the company because they built it and wanted to see it do well. It was a Delta family. It's a totally different culture now."

Another pointed out that there have been five different CEOs over the past 23 years, a real change from the days of the "Delta family."

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Last Updated ( Friday, 06 August 2010 14:15 )

CWA Newsletter: Omaha TV Techs Battle Hearst for a Fair Contract

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Friday, 23 July 2010 09:27
Omaha TV Techs Battle Hearst for a Fair Contract Boarman Nomination as Public Printer Cleared for Senate Action New Report Looks at Union-Building and Young Activists Omaha TV Techs Battle Hearst for a Fair Contract NABET-CWA members in Omaha use bus bench ads in the fight for a fair contract at KETV Channel 7. NABET-CWA technicians at Omaha's KETV Channel 7 are fighting for a fair contract that prevents the Hearst-owned station from unilaterally turning full-time jobs into part-time work. Three years ago, when the last contract was negotiated, the bargaining unit had 17 full-time and five part-time technicians. Since then, six full-timers have lost their jobs and the number of part-timers has more than doubled. Management is attacking job security provisions negotiated in the last contract and wants to limit NABET-CWA's jurisdiction over existing work. The KETV workers, who just merged their Omaha local with Local 54041 in Chicago, are wearing red shirts to show solidarity. A website, www.7canthelp.tv, and bus bench ads are making sure that the public gets the message. The unit bargained this week with a federal mediator and more sessions are schedule in late August. Boarman Nomination as Public Printer Cleared for Senate Action The nomination of William Boarman, president of CWA's Printing, Publishing & Media Workers Sector, to become the nation's next Public Printer was approved by the Senate Rules Committee and sent to the full Senate. Upon confirmation by the Senate, Boarman would serve as the chief executive officer of the Government Printing Office, which publishes thousands of documents every year for the federal government. Boarman was nominated by President Obama in April but his nomination has been slowed because of the Senate's broken procedures. Filibusters by Republican leaders and secret holds by anonymous senators attached to nominees at every level have virtually brought the process to a halt. Usually, all but the highest level of presidential nominees have been confirmed by unanimous consent in the Senate, but unanimous consent is nearly impossible in this Congress and an objection by a single senator requires a cloture vote to cut off debate. CWA President Larry Cohen said CWA's legislative staff worked hard to get the nomination cleared by the Senate Rules committee. "We celebrate not only the vote for Bill, but our growing legislative and political clout and work," he said. Write comment (0 Comments)
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