November 3, 2006

CWAer's Join 'Final Four' GOTV Drive

CWA activists are joining union members across the country for the AFL-CIO's "Final Four" GOTV push to get out the vote for friends of working families. Executive Vice President Jeff Rechenbach will lead CWA's participation during the final four days culminating in the Nov. 7 elections, joining a Labor-to-Labor walk in District 2 as labor turns out more than 100,000 union activists to support worker-friendly candidates.  Rechenbach will join CWA and other union members in Lanham, Md., visiting union households on Saturday, handing out literature and talking with union members on behalf of Democratic candidates Martin O'Malley for governor, Anthony Brown for lieutenant governor and Ben Cardin for U.S. Senate. Elsewhere in District 2 and around the country:

  • Across Maryland, CWA members have been phone banking and leafleting in efforts to unseat incumbent Gov. Robert Ehrlich (R). Some polls put Democratic challenger Martin O'Malley ahead, while others showed a close race, said District 2 Legislative-Political Coordinator Charles Buttiglieri. Also in a close race, Ben Cardin (D) is running against Lt. Gov. Michael Steele for the open Senate seat vacated by Paul Sarbanes. "We need a large African American turnout in Maryland to put anyone in office," Buttiglieri said.

    CWA Secretary-Treasurer Barbara Easterling joined CWA and other union activists at a rally in Northern Virginia on Oct. 29, where Democrat Jim Webb is challenging incumbent George Allen in a tight race for U.S. Senate. CWA locals working with the Northern Virginia Labor Council have knocked on at least 10,000 doors.
     
  • In District 1, Legislative-Political Coordinator Bob Master said hundreds of CWA members will join an expected 2,000 New Jersey labor activists on Election Day for GOTV activities on behalf of incumbent Sen. Robert Menendez (D), who polls showed pulling ahead of challenger Thomas Kean, Jr. (R). Members were also expected to turn out in support of labor-friendly candidates in other key races in the district. Over the last three weekends, about 250 members did precinct walking in Bridgeport, Conn., where Democrat Diane Farrell is challenging incumbent Rep. Chris Shays (R). Others were phone banking in New Hampshire, where Paul Hodes (D) is challenging Rep. Charles Bass (R).
     
  • In District 3, said Legislative-Political Coordinator Beverly Hicks, "the locals have been very cooperative. Every big local has sent out one letter, some two, urging members to get out and vote." In Tennessee last weekend, CWA members were among 200 labor activists driving people to the polls for early voting. "We have a chance to take the Senate there," where Rep. Harold Ford (D) is facing Bob Corker (R) for an open Senate seat.  CWA volunteers were also turning out in Georgia to support Democrat Mark Taylor in an uphill race for governor against incumbent Sonny Perdue (R) and in support of incumbent Rep. Jim Marshall (D), who was enjoying a lead against Mac Collins (R) for the 8th District House seat.
     
  • In Pennsylvania, CWA members have been pushing to reelect Gov. Ed Rendell (D) and elect Democrat Bob Casey to unseat Senator Rick Santorum. District 13 Legislative-Political Coordinator Terry Tipping said polls looked favorable in both races. CWAers also were hoping to elect friends of working families in four House races.
     
  • In District 4, Rep. Ted Strickland (D) enjoyed a lead over Republican Ken Blackwell in the race for Ohio's open governor's seat, said District 4 Legislative-Political Coordinator Larry Handley. CWA members have also been pushing hard for Rep. Sherrod Brown (D), who was enjoying a big lead in challenging Mike DeWine for the open U.S. Senate seat. Members also were working hard for incumbents Gov. Jennifer Granholm (D-Mich.), Sen. Debbie Stabenow (D-Mich.) and Gov. Rod Blagojevich (D-Ill.). "We've sent lists of drop-off voters to all of our locals throughout the district for phone-banking," Handley said.
     
  • In District 6, AFL-CIO Sec.-Treas. Richard Trumka, CWA local presidents and members are expected to participate in GOTV activities Sunday in Missouri, where Democrat Claire McCaskill is challenging Republican Sen. Jim Talent in a close race and where minimum wage is a key ballot initiative, said Legislative-Political Coordinator Rita Voorheis. Members were also participating in phone banking and other activities throughout the district.
     
  • District 7 Legislative-Political Coordinator Kevin Mulligan said several staff throughout the District have been released to join CWA members in GOTV activities. He said incumbent labor-friendly senators throughout the district appeared to be safe.  Things also looked hopeful for Bruce Braley (D), running for the open House seat in Iowa's 1st District.
     
  • In District 9, said Legislative-Political Coordinator Jim Weitkamp, released staff were out working with local members in an uphill battle to help challenger Phil Angelides (D) to unseat Gov. Arnold Schwarznegger. In bright spots in the district, said Weitkamp, labor-friendly candidate Jack Carter (D) is expected to win the Nevada Senate seat held by incumbent John Ensign (R) and, district wide, friends of working families may take at least two congressional seats.

New International Trade Union Confederation to Defend Rights and Fight 'Race-to-the-Bottom Globalization'

Delegates from unions and labor federations from around the world came to Vienna, Austria, this week to create an International Trade Union Confederation representing 190 million workers on five continents, dedicated to strengthening workers' rights and fighting "race-to-the-bottom globalization."

CWA President Larry Cohen joined AFL-CIO President John Sweeney as part of the U.S. delegation, and Cohen addressed the gathering on the topic of Global Organizing.

The ITUC's charter declares: "More than ever in its history, confronted by unbridled capitalist globalization, effective internationalism is essential to the future strength of trade unionism." The ITUC will fight "for the emancipation of working people and a world in which the dignity and rights of all human beings is assured."

Sweeney declared: "We are uniting the global labor movement despite all the forces that try to tear us apart — hostile governments, corporate abuses, massive poverty, ethnic conflict and unjustified wars.  We come together united in our belief that a stronger global labor movement will 'bend the arc of history towards justice.' "

The ITUC combines and replaces 10 existing world labor federations, creating the largest-ever global labor organization.

Dayton Newspaper Workers Call for Contract Talks

TNG-CWA President Linda Foley joined officers of TNG-CWA Local 34157, representing workers at the Dayton Daily News, as they delivered a letter to newspaper management calling for the start of contract negotiations. 

At a news conference in Dayton, Lou Grieco, the local's first vice president, said newspaper workers were concerned about maintaining quality jobs and quality coverage at the newspaper, and also wanted to remedy ongoing unfair management practices, including the inequitable treatment of part-time workers.

Also on hand were Susan Baxter-Fleming, CWA District 4, and supporters from the Dayton-Miami Valley AFL-CIO and other groups.

Local 34157 represents about 120 editorial employees at the Dayton Daily News. Their independent union affiliated with TNG about 20 years ago and workers have been covered by the same contract over that time. However, they haven't been able to negotiate improvements in wages, benefits and working conditions.

A growing number of unfair management moves at the newspaper has convinced the newspaper workers that they need a new contract. In a recent action, more than 70 workers wore black to demonstrate their concern about conditions at the Daily News. 

Cox Ohio Publishing also has been reducing benefits and working conditions for workers not in the bargaining unit, Grieco said. For example, Cox recently announced an "accounting change" that eliminated vacation time accrued last year for hundreds of employees across the company.

So far, TNG-CWA members are protected by the contract in place, although the pay scales, night differential, and mileage reimbursement clauses are extremely outdated, Grieco said. "The fact that Cox Ohio Publishing now wants to deny workers full rights to arbitration makes the push for a new contract more urgent than ever," he added.

Flight Attendants Reach Tentative Pact at Mesaba

Flight attendants have reached a tentative agreement with Mesaba Airlines that allows both parties to move forward while management navigates the airline out of bankruptcy, AFA-CWA reported. 

"We fought to ensure that flight attendants would not bear the full burden of our airline's recovery, but we are willing to do what it takes to make sure that our company is successful once again," said Tim Evenson, president of the AFA-CWA Mesaba Master Executive Council. 

Some 400 AFA-CWA flight attendants have been mobilizing against Mesaba's threat to tear up their contract through the bankruptcy process and impose harsh wage and benefit cuts of more than 19 percent. A regional carrier for Northwest Airlines, Mesaba filed for bankruptcy in October 2005.

The tentative agreement now is being reviewed by the Mesaba MEC and if approved, will be presented to the membership for ratification. No details will be announced until the agreement is presented to AFA-CWA members for a vote.   

IN BRIEF:

  • A calendar of key CWA meetings, conferences and leadership schools for the upcoming year is online at CWA's website at www.cwa-union.org/news/calendar/.

    Yvette Taylor at HQ keeps the listing up to date.  To submit additions, contact her at ytaylor@cwa-union.org.

     
  • Go to You Tube and check out two short videos detailing the action as TNG-CWA mobilized recently for fair contracts at the York, Pa., Halloween parade and at offices of the Catholic News Service in Washington, D.C.

    At www.youtube.com/watch?v=GGdOELSNwsc you'll see CWA officers and members raising a ruckus at the headquarters of the U.S. Conference of Bishops in D.C., chastising church leaders for stalling talks with Catholic journalists for nearly a year. The demonstration took place on All Saints Day, Nov. 1. (Video also linked from www.cwa-union.org.)

    In York, TNG-CWA Local 32818, representing workers at the York Daily Record, had been banned from performing a skit in the Halloween parade, where they planned to have cartoon characters Scooby Doo and his friends chasing a masked "union-buster." The paper's publisher told the media that the ban had nothing to do (of course) with the fact that he sits on the board of the YWCA, which sponsors the parade.

    Undaunted, Guild members donned costumes anyway and performed street theater on the sidelines, where they unmasked the union buster as Dean Singleton, Denver-based owner of the Daily Record. Go to www.youtube.com/watch?v=CXwGApxTEaw to view the video.

     
  • In the key battleground state of Virginia, Senator George Allen targets voters in the rural southwestern part of the state by wearing cowboy garb, talkin' folksy and hosting barbeques, but his Democratic challenger Jim Webb is literally walking the walk when it comes to standing up for wage earners in the region.

    Webb joined the USW picket line this week with Goodyear Tire and Rubber strikers in Danville, and pledged that union workers would have a voice in Congress if he is elected. Allen, however, has not been seen near the picket lines, and the last time the USW struck in 1997 he was quoted in the Danville Register and Bee as calling their action "moronic."