September 22, 2006

'Speed Matters:' CWA's Campaign for High-Speed, Universal Internet Access to Spur Jobs and Growth

The development of true high-speed Internet access for every home and business is essential for American job creation and economic growth in the digital age.

That's the message CWA is taking to lawmakers and regulators in a broad public policy and awareness campaign, Speed Matters. (For a preview of the campaign website, go to http://www.speedmatters.org/.) Efforts in Congress this year to spur deployment of high-speed networks and push universal service goals have so far stalled.

CWA is pointing out that the United States, the country that invented the Internet, has fallen from first to 16th in the world in high-speed Internet penetration, lagging behind other nations that have government policies to promote deployment of high-speed networks.

The benefits for economic growth are a core part of CWA's message. Analysts estimate that development of a universal high-speed network would boost the economy by at least $500 billion and create hundreds of thousands of jobs in communications and other sectors.

The key points for CWA's Speed Matters campaign are listed below.

Speed Matters — CWA's Key Principles

  • Speed and universality matter for Internet access.
    High-tech innovation, job growth, telemedicine, distance learning, rural development, public safety and e-government require truly high-speed, universal networks.

     
  • U.S. "high-speed" definition is too slow.
    FCC defines "high-speed" as 200 kilobits per second (kbps) downstream. Government policies should immediately set the "high-speed" definition at 2 megabits per second (mbps) downstream, 1 upstream.

     
  • U.S. needs a national high-speed-Internet-for-all policy.
    U.S. must adopt policies for universal access and set deployment timetables: 10 mbps down, 1 mbps up by 2010; with new benchmarks set for succeeding years.

     
  • Open Internet.
    High-speed, high-capacity networks will eliminate bandwidth scarcity and will promote an open Internet. Consumers are entitled to an open Internet allowing them to go where they want when they want. Nothing should be done to degrade or block access to any websites. Reserving proprietary video bandwidth is essential to finance the build-out of high-speed networks.

     
  • Consumer and worker protections.
    Public policies should support growth of good, career jobs as a key to providing quality service. Government should require public reporting of deployment, actual speed, and price.

Board Names Members to Committee on Diversity

The CWA Executive Board this week announced the makeup of the Committee on Diversity, which was established as part of the Ready for the Future program to review options to increase the Board's diversity.

Committee members include CWA Secretary-Treasurer Barbara Easterling, Chair, District 3 Vice President Noah Savant, District 7 Vice President Annie Hill, Public, Health Care and Education Workers Vice President Brooks Sunkett, Committee on Equity members Keith Robinson of Local 6310 and Local 4009 Executive Vice President Jetty Wells, and National Women's Committee members, Local 7704 Secretary-Treasurer Susan McAllister and Local 13500 President Mary Lou Schaffer.

The Committee will follow up on Proposal #10 from the Ready for the Future resolution adopted at this year's convention, which discusses Board diversity. A recommendation will be presented to the 2007 convention. Among options to be discussed are electing at-large members to the Executive Board to achieve balance in keeping with the AFL-CIO resolution on diversity adopted in July 2005.

CWAers Tell AT&T: Don't Contract Out Our Future

CWA activists throughout the new AT&T are mobilizing for "good Internet era jobs" and are sending a message to management that it's time to stop handing work to managers and contractors that should be done by CWA members.

AT&T had promised that CWAers would have opportunity and access to the jobs of the future, but union members are pointing out that much of this work — running video hubs, installing and maintaining Internet routers and hubs and other jobs — is being performed by managers and contractors.

At worksites across the districts, CWAers wore stickers and distributed leaflets that reminded AT&T that CWA members have determined to have access to the jobs of the future. In District 6, busloads of members and retirees rallied in San Antonio, then marched to AT&T headquarters.

More actions are planned for October; check with your district office and CWA staff representative for details.

IN BRIEF:

  • AFA-CWA flight attendants at Northwest Airlines declared negotiations at impasse this week and asked the National Mediation Board (NMB) to release them from further mediation. That would begin a process under the Railway Labor Act that would allow the workers to strike over concessionary terms imposed by management through the bankruptcy process.

    Currently, the flight attendants have been barred from striking by a federal appeals court judge pending continuation of negotiations or a ruling of impasse by the NMB.

    Absent a strike threat, "Management has every incentive to stall these negotiations, hang on to the concessions that they forcibly took in bankruptcy court and never reach a consensual agreement with the flight attendants," said AFA-CWA President Pat Friend.

     
  • CWA-represented Consumer Reports online, an even more detailed version of the buying guide than the magazine itself, is now available at a discount to union members.

    Members of TNG-CWA Local 31003 in New York City pushed for the deal between Consumers Union, the parent company of Consumers Report, and Union Plus, which has made the discount part of its Union Privilege benefits.

    For $19, instead of the regular $26 price, union members have full access to the site's product reviews, ratings, discussion groups and more. Members can search the site's archives and use ConsumerReports.org'  electronics Product Selector to compare brand and model choices.

    Local 31003 represents about 300 people at the Yonkers, N.Y.-based Consumers Union. The workers include writers, editors, customer service reps and the people who test the products.

    To learn more or order ConsumerReports.org with your discount, go to http://www.unionplus.com/ or click on this link: http://www.unionplus.com/consumer-reports-online.cfm.

     
  • The U.S. House this week passed a bill that would require every voter to present a government-issued photo ID with proof of citizenship before receiving a ballot, a bill union leaders decry as a "21st century poll tax."

    With no hearing scheduled in the U.S. Senate, however, the bill is unlikely to go anywhere. If it gets to the floor, Democrats and some Republicans have vowed to filibuster it and should it get any further, a ruling by a state judge in Georgia suggests a court battle lies ahead. Judge T. Jackson Bedford ruled this week that a law passed by the state's Republican legislature earlier this year to require photo ID from voters violates Georgia's constitution.

    Opponents of the U.S. House bill say the so-called "Federal Election Integrity Act" should be titled the "Voter Suppression Act," as photo ID laws disproportionately hurt minorities, the elderly, people with disabilities, rural voters, students, the homeless, low-income individuals and frequent movers.

     
  • Some of America's most famous union members — stars from such shows as Lizzy McGuire, Malcolm in the Middle and The West Wing — want to help get your kids interested in reading.

    For the fourth year, members of the Screen Actors Guild working with the charity Bookpals have produced stories with videos that are available online. Stories include Romeow and Drooliet, the tale of a cat and dog who fall madly in love, Thank You Mr. Falker, about Trisha who starts school and finds the words and numbers are all jumbled up, and White Socks Only, about a black girl in the segregated South who sneaks into town, sees a "Whites Only" sign on the water fountain and thinks it means she has to wear white socks.

    Actors telling the stories include Haylie Duff from "Lizzy McGuire," Bradley Whitford of "The West Wing," Jane Kaczmarek from "Malcom in the Middle,", Elijah Woods from "The Lord of the Rings," actor Lou Diamond Phillips and former SAG President Melissa Gilbert of "Little House" fame. Former U.S. Vice President Al Gore is a narrator. Find the stories on the web at http://www.storylineonline.net/.

     
  • If you missed comedian Stephen Colbert's satirical look at the pending NLRB "Kentucky River" decision that could destroy union rights for millions of workers, check out the video on You Tube.

    Even better, check it out and add a message of support about unions. Comments posted on the site this week included some pro-worker, pro-union messages, and others that don't bear repeating.

    The video, which imagines a world with nothing but supervisors who don't have union rights, is from Colbert's "The Colbert Report" on Comedy Central. It's part of his "Word" segment, which means you've got to listen as well as watch the hilarious text that appears on screen.

    Find the video online at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=arSyu4he-kU.