September 15, 2006 

AT&T Agrees to Return Contracted Tech Support Work 

CWA reached a new agreement with AT&T to return Internet/DSL support work to the CWA bargaining unit, which potentially could create 2,000 new union jobs. This work currently is being contracted out both within the United States and overseas.

Beginning next year, more than 800 new jobs will come under CWA representation, with more to be returned to the U.S. from foreign call centers starting sometime later in the year.

"Reversing the flow of work from contractors back to our bargaining units is a terrific achievement," said CWA Executive Vice President Jeff Rechenbach. "We're also pleased that the wages and benefits we've negotiated, in addition to being superior to those in the industry, will provide a base for CWA to build career opportunities for even more workers," he said.

CWA and AT&T negotiated the wage rate, benefits and job duties for the new position of Tier 1 customer assistant as part of the 2005 National Internet Contract. That contract expires July 21, 2007

The agreement does not change any of the work performed by CWA-represented customer service representatives under the core contract. Job duties under the new customer assistant title include first tier customer care services — related to customer registration, e-mail creation, DSL line signal testing, modem/filter assistance and e-mail, browser and modem troubleshooting.

Cingular Worker Briefs Congressional Candidates

More than 25 congressional candidates from around the nation learned what a difference card check and neutrality makes to workers trying to organize a union when Local 13000 member Peter Braunston addressed a candidate forum in Washington, D.C., organized by the AFL-CIO and the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee.

Braunston spoke of the ease with which he and colleagues near Philadelphia gained recognition by Cingular after signing cards last November — the same process as outlined in the Employee Free Choice Act.

"We are thrilled that we joined a union," Braunston said at the forum Sept. 13 at AFL-CIO headquarters. "We now have a voice in our destiny and are able to realize better wages though organization."

A substitute teacher, Braunston said he went to work for Cingular part-time because he could not afford health insurance for himself, his wife and infant son. When he came under the union contract in February 2006, his health care expenses dropped from $400 to $40 per month.

Other workers at the forum, an emergency room nurse and a manufacturing worker, spoke of the firings and intimidation they endured in traditional organizing campaigns to join AFSCME and the Sheet Metal Workers.

Mesaba Flight Attendants Win Major Court Ruling

A federal judge in Minneapolis this week blocked Mesaba Airlines from slashing pay and benefits for its 450 flight attendants' by nearly one-fifth when he overturned an earlier ruling by a bankruptcy judge that gave the airline permission to abrogate its labor contracts.

"This is a monumental victory for Mesaba workers and employees everywhere," said Tim Evenson, president of AFA-CWA's Mesaba master executive council. He said the union hopes management now "will come back to the table for productive discussions — this time with a proposal that is fair."

He noted that, "Over 100 days ago, we presented the company with a cost savings proposal that met their targeted concessions. We have heard nothing from them since. It is time for management to drop litigation and negotiate fairly."

Mesaba sought to use the bankruptcy process to impose wage-benefit cuts of 19.4 percent, which would have meant that some flight attendants would take home less than $10,000 a year after paying health insurance costs.

IN BRIEF:

  • Bankruptcy court Judge Robert Drain on Sept. 15 cancelled the resumption of a hearing scheduled for Monday on whether to allow Delphi Corp. to cancel its contracts with IUE-CWA and five other unions, following a status conference in his chambers with management and union attorneys. The move allows more time for the two sides to achieve a negotiated agreement.

    Drain will assess the progress made in bargaining during another status conference in his chambers on Sept. 28.

    IUE-CWA President Jim Clark said some progress was made in talks this week between Delphi management and IUE-CWA bargainers concerning staffing levels at various locations.

     

  • If the lies being spread by anti-union smear merchants make you so angry that you're tongue-tied, check out a new website that will help you refute the outrageous claims.

    The Anti-Union Network, launched by American Rights at Work, profiles the various union-hating groups and challenges their distortions. Featured prominently is the egregiously misnamed "Center for Union Facts," with a diagram of the corporate money trail funding the project.

    The U.S. Chamber of Commerce and National Right to Work Foundation — another misnamed organization — are among the other groups profiled. The site also looks at links between the U.S. Department of Labor and the anti-union groups.

    The site also includes a news feed and an e-mail sign up for breaking news about unions and union-busters. Check it out at http://www.americanrightsatwork.org/antiunionnetwork/

     
  • AFA-CWA is preparing to appeal a federal judge's ruling today that prohibits Northwest Airline flight attendants from striking over management's imposition of drastic pay and benefit cuts.

    "Management and the courts can gang up on us but they cannot defeat us," said Mollie Reiley, interim president of the union's master executive council at Northwest. "This is yet another example of how the legal system fails to protect working families."

    The airline used the bankruptcy process to impose over $200 million in wage and benefit cuts and a 20 percent increase in work hours after the workers rejected an earlier settlement agreement. AFA-CWA maintains that workers have the right to strike under the Railway Labor Act — even during bankruptcy — if an employer unilaterally imposes contract terms.

    AFA-CWA general counsel, David Borer, said, "We believe this decision is obviously an incorrect reading of the law and the rights of workers in the United States. We will appeal."