August 11, 2006

 
 

Campaign Underway to Block Verizon Sale in Maine, Vermont and New Hampshire

CWA and the IBEW, with the support of state and local AFL-CIOs, are engaged in a massive campaign to block Verizon's plan to sell 1.6 million local access lines in Vermont, Maine and New Hampshire.

Prevent Rural Telecom Redlining, Protect the New England Economy, Defend 3,000 Good Union Jobs — that's the message that union members are taking to the public throughout the three states.

The sale would adversely affect some 2,700 IBEW members who work as technicians, clerks, operators and service reps and 350 CWA members employed as service reps throughout the three states. Estimated by the Wall Street Journal to be worth as much as $3 billion, the sale would shrink the Maine-to-Virginia area where Verizon now provides landline telephone service and reduce the unions' bargaining power.

For customers, it's also bad news, said Cheryl Ahern, president of Local 1400. "Verizon would abandon its telephone customers in these rural states to smaller companies that do not have the assets to maintain the network or provide the same level of service — just dump them and stick with the more densely populated and more profitable states. Some of these customers would never get the same level of service again."

About 75 union leaders met to put together the campaign shortly after learning of Verizon's plans in mid-May.

"As in the 2004 New York 'Stop the Sale' campaign, our goal is to pursue every available legal, political and contractual avenue to protect our members affected by the dismembering of Verizon in New England," said District 1 Vice President Chris Shelton.

Members of the two unions marched in July 4 parades in all three states to call attention to the proposed sale, Ahern said. Local 1400 Treasurer Sarah Rotcovich and Vice President Karen Cusson coordinated a phone bank in New Hampshire, alerting members of other unions. CWA and IBEW activists held a town hall meeting in Hooksett, N.H., where members expressed their concerns to former Democratic Senate Leader Tom Daschle and New Hampshire State House Leader Jim Craig.

Along with IBEW and other union activists, CWA Local 1400 District Vice Presidents Mike O'Day in Vermont and Ann Mussenden in Maine met with governors, lawmakers and legislative staffers, asking them to contact Verizon CEO Ivan Seidenberg and express their concerns about the planned sale. Several of these public officials have already done so, including Maine Gov. John Baldacci and Reps. Tom Allen and Michael Michaud, as well as Vermont U.S. Sens. Patrick Leahy and James Jeffords and Rep. Bernie Sanders.

"It has been explained to me that this offer for sale represents abandonment from Verizon's commitment to provide reliable service to rural areas such as those in Maine. Such an action would not square with the responsibilities reasonably expected of a provider of telephone service," Governor Baldacci wrote.

"Any sale would be reviewed by the Maine Public Utilities Commission and other regulatory bodies at the state and federal level," Allen wrote. "Verizon management should organize a meeting with representatives of IBEW and CWA on the potential impact on wages, benefits and working conditions of the hundreds of employees that would be involved," he said.

Plans to ramp up the campaign include Jobs with Justice Workers' Rights Board hearings in all three states, meetings with the state public service commissions, continuing workplace education and mobilization, and letter-writing by concerned union members.

Send your own message to Ivan Seidenberg, Chief Executive Officer, Verizon Communications at 140 West Street, New York, NY. 10036.

AFL-CIO Joins CWA's Campaign for Universal High-Speed Broadband

The AFL-CIO has endorsed CWA's campaign to bring high-speed Internet access to all Americans, recognizing that the United States has fallen far behind other countries in connection speeds and affordability.

"A vibrant national economy depends upon world-class digital networks to stimulate job-creating innovation and economic growth. "Moreover, investment in high-capacity networks by union employers creates opportunities for good union jobs," the AFL-CIO Executive Council statement said.

CWA President Larry Cohen presented the resolution, "Speed Matters: High-Speed Internet for All," at the council's Chicago meeting this week.

The resolution calls for a national broadband policy in the United States. The goal is to make a digital network available to all Americans by 2010 with connection speeds of at least 10 megabits per second.

The resolution notes that the United States has fallen to 16th in the world in terms of the availability of broadband for citizens. And Americans' access is slower and more costly: DSL averages $30 to $50 a month for speeds of 3 megabits per second or less while cable modems cost $40 to $50 for speeds of 3 to 5 megabits. In Japan, for instance, a connection with a speed of 26 megabits per second costs about $22. And many Americans in rural and low-income urban areas don't have access to any high-speed connection.

"Union members develop the content, build and maintain the networks and service the customers of high-speed communications networks. We must take the lead to ensure universal, affordable access to high-speed networks, quality service and quality jobs, and responsible corporate practices and consumer protections," the statement said.     

CWA, Indian Unions Join Forces on Call Center Work 

CWA is working with unions and organizations in India to document the impact of outsourcing and offshoring on call center workers in the United States and India. 

A joint project of several Indian union coalitions and organizations, including the New Trade Union Initiative, the Young Professionals Collective, the Centre for Education and Communication and Jobs with Justice-India, and CWA, the final report will be a comprehensive, bi-national review of offshore outsourcing. It will be released in conjunction with Customer Service Week when unions around the globe spotlight customer service workers and their working conditions.

A key goal of the project is to build alliances among U.S and Indian unions to defend and expand workers rights in both countries. The report also will be an important resource on the nature of work at call centers in both countries. 

The report reviews conditions and summarizes research on U.S. call center workers and in separate case studies, analyzes the conditions of mainly lower-paid workers at major call centers in India that employ 1,000 to 6,000 people, said Anannya Bhattacharjee, the Jobs with Justice coordinator for the U.S. and India.

It also examines profiles of companies that have offshored CWA-represented work and recommends how workers in both countries can build organizations to help improve their conditions.

For more information on what CWA is doing on outsourcing and offshoring, look for the September issue of the CWA News, "Fighting the Attack on Good Jobs."

Report Documents Impact of Radio Consolidation on Jobs, Communities

A new report by the CWA-backed Future of Music Coalition documents how the consolidation of media ownership in radio has hurt workers, diversity of programming and local communities.

The analysis was released as the Federal Communications Commission announced it will again seek to weaken ownership limits among media outlets.

Consolidation of ownership has virtually eliminated the ability of radio stations to provide unique coverage of local news, music and community issues, the report found. As the FCC opens its review process, "it should understand the impact that deregulation has had on jobs and communications," the coalition said.

Since 1996, when the cap on the allowable number of radio stations owned by one entity was lifted, radio operations including programmers, reporters, engineering and broadcast technician jobs, and on-air disc jockeys have been centralized and consolidated as owners seek to cut more costs.

NABET-CWA President John S. Clark, whose sector represents technicians and other workers in the radio industry, said "the consolidation of radio ownership has been a disaster, for employees and citizens who once could rely on their community radio stations for local news and the opportunity for diverse opinion. Instead, pre-recorded, automated and nationally directed programming has resulted in the loss of thousands of jobs for radio workers, and has deprived listeners of the local voice they want."

Linda Foley, president of TNG-CWA, said the study reinforced what news professionals already know about consolidation of media ownership: it results in fewer newsroom jobs and fewer resources devoted to reporting the news.

Health Care Key Among Women's Economic Worries

An overwhelming majority of the 22,000 women who answered the AFL-CIO's "Ask a Working Woman" survey this summer say they are worried about health care, retirement security, wages failing to keep up with inflation and other economic issues.

Paying for health care topped the list of women's concerns, with 97 percent of respondents — across race and age lines — saying they are worried about rising costs. Half of the African-American respondents and about two-thirds of white respondents said health care should be the top legislative priority.

Meanwhile, they said they are working harder, working longer and most are shouldering at least half the burden for their family's financial welfare.

"Could working women be more loud and clear about what they want and need?" said Linda Chavez-Thompson, AFL-CIO executive vice president. "Affordable health care. A paycheck that keeps up with the cost of living. A secure retirement. Quality child care. And they want CEOs held accountable when workers' jobs are on the line."

The survey, the sixth the AFL-CIO has conducted among working women since 1997, showed that women often have erratic schedules and long hours. A third of all women work evenings, nights, and weekends.  At least two in five women work different shifts than their partners or husbands. More than 20 percent work two or more jobs.

The poll results will be finalized and presented to federal and state lawmakers in time for Labor Day and the beginning of the fall election season. To see the survey and more results, go to http://www.aflcio.org/.

IN BRIEF:

  • AFA-CWA members are continuing their plans for CHAOS at Northwest Airlines that could begin Aug. 15. The airline wants to block flight attendants from carrying out the union's selective strike strategy and sought a preliminary injunction in bankruptcy court.

    AFA-CWA points out that it has the right to strike because Northwest violated the Railway Labor Act when it unilaterally imposed cuts in wages and working conditions on July 31. The changes slash a flight attendant's total compensation by 40 percent, AFA-CWA said.

    Northwest flight attendants voted for AFA-CWA representation on July 6. They rejected a contract that would cut wages, benefits and working conditions by $195 million and after Northwest imposed changes in pay and working conditions, AFA-CWA gave notice Aug. 1 of its intent to exercise the right to strike.

     
  • As the National Labor Relations Board considers a decision that could strip workers rights from millions of workers, hundreds of nurses at risk of losing their union voice marched in front of the American Hospital Association headquarters in Chicago.

    The AHA and the employers it represents are urging the labor board to reclassify many nurses as supervisors, a decision that could affect more than 8 million workers in all types of jobs and industries. Workers with little or no oversight duties still could be designated as supervisors, making them ineligible for union representation.

    "Charge nurse duties have nothing to do with managerial work," Ohio nurse Linda Warino said at the Chicago rally. "Everyone knows I'm not their boss, the only people who don't are the National Labor Relations Board. If the NLRB thinks this change will help health care, that is absolutely not true. These decisions will further compromise patient care by taking away nurses' ability to voice their concerns in a safe environment."

    A decision in what's called the Kentucky River case could be handed down before the end of summer. CWA-represented nurses and thousands of other members rallied across the country in mid-July to call on the NLRB to hear oral arguments on this important case and to raise public awareness.