May 24, 2007

Nine-Month Toledo Blade Lockout Heads to an End

Thirteen members of CWA's Printing Sector who have been locked out at the Toledo Blade for nine months are getting ready to head back to work after reaching a tentative agreement with the newspaper's management.

Contracts are also pending for 200 workers at six other unions who were also locked out last August. Members of The Newspaper Guild-CWA, the paper's largest union, weren't locked out but agreed to concessions in order to end the standoff.

Despite sacrifices in wages and health care costs for the Guild and other unions, "some very important things - jurisdiction, grievance and arbitration, severance, union security and sick pay, to name a few - are still intact," TNG-CWA Representative Jay Schmitz said.

Printing Sector President Bill Boarman said the Blade has agreed to pay $3.5 million to the locked-out unions as part of a back-pay settlement.  Money will be used to shore up the health care and pension funds, with any leftover dollars going directly to workers who were locked out.

"The back pay they owe is probably about $5 million," Boarman said. "That was the 800-pound gorilla at the table. We got them to agree to $3.5 million." In exchange, he said, the unions will settle the unfair labor practice charges that the National Labor Relations Board brought against the company alleging an illegal lockout and bad-faith bargaining.

Boarman said the unions recognize that the company is in financial trouble and showed their willingness to help by making economic concessions. But they drew the line at anti-union language that the company's attorney, Bob Ballow of the notorious union-busting firm King & Ballow, tried to insert. When the parties resumed bargaining last week, Ballow had been replaced by lawyers from another firm.

"Our people really stuck together. Their unity was tremendous," Boarman said. "No one caved in. We drove Bob Ballow out of town and most of the really terrible anti-union proposals he wanted – management rights, no strike, and no union shop – all went to the side. From that perspective, it was a major victory."

Members Keep the Heat on Senators in Fight for EFCA

Eleven senators who have been on the fence about the Employee Free Choice Act and many more deserving of a "thank you" for favoring it received thousands of phone calls, as well as e-mails, postcards and letters, from CWA members and their families during the union's "week of action," May 14-18.

The bill, critical to restoring workers' badly eroded rights to organize unions and bargain collectively, was passed overwhelmingly in the U.S. House in March and is pending in the Senate.

"Last week, thousands of CWAers called their senators to urge support for the Employee Free Choice Act and get it on the Senate floor for a vote," CWA President Larry Cohen said. "This week, all union presidents committed to continuing calls to all supporting senators to demand a vote in June. We must continue making calls and talking to our members about our top priority."

CWA members and retirees are being asked to make personal visits to senators' home offices next week while they are out of Washington, D.C., on their Memorial Day break.

CWA and the AFL-CIO have singled out 11 senators who have shown interest in the bill but haven't signed on as supporters. They are Democrats Blanche Lincoln and Mark Pryor of Arkansas,  Ken Salazar of Colorado and Ben Nelson of Nebraska and Republicans Susan Collins and Olympia Snowe of Maine, Norm Coleman of Minnesota, John Sununu of New Hampshire, John Voinovich of Ohio, Gordon Smith of Oregon and Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania.

As local leaders spurred members to make calls last week, they also served as Employee Free Choice Act educators. Through meetings and flyers, they helped union members and others understand the bill and why it matters.

"We really tried to show people what's at stake," said Chris Lane, president of CWA Local 2201 in Richmond, Va., who put his 145-member Stewards Army to work. Each was tasked with making 10 phone calls and getting 10 other people to call. They reached out not just to U.S. senators but state legislators as well, and Lane said several wrote back to thank the union for its efforts. The local also worked with Jobs with Justice, sent out press releases and had a story published in a local newspaper.

Across the country in southern California, officers of Local 9510 took advantage of a half-dozen tailgate meetings with technicians at AT&T facilities, asking them to take a couple of minutes on their break to make calls. "The meetings were already scheduled and we thought it was a great opportunity to bring up the Employee Free Choice Act," Local President Joseph Venegas said.

It was especially advantageous, he said, because the technicians they met with are relatively new members of the local who are installing AT&T's new high-speed U-verse lines. "We were able to help them understand that if it wasn't for organizing rights in the past, we wouldn't have the benefits we have today," he said. 

Development of National Telecom Office Moves Forward

Moving ahead to develop CWA's new National Telecom Office, Executive Vice President Jeff Rechenbach announced that Teri Pluta, a District 4 staff rep for the past 10 years, is coming to CWA headquarters to serve as administrative director for the office.

Rechenbach was named to head the new office in March by the Executive Board, which continues to review CWA's structure in telecom and other sectors as part of the Ready for the Future process.

"Teri Pluta's knowledge of telecom and her incredible work ethic will make for a potent combination as we begin to put the Telecom Office in order," Rechenbach said.  "Her advice and expertise will be a welcome addition to the talented leadership we already have working to coordinate our efforts in this area."

The National Telecom Office is charged with mapping strategies and coordinating staff activities in each district together with the Telecommunications and Communications & Technologies offices at headquarters.

In the telecom sector, the Executive Board so far has launched Strategic Industry Fund campaigns at Verizon and Alcatel Lucent, and also the Speed Matters campaign to promote the roll-out of high-speed Internet for job and economic growth.

Kucinich Promises Hearings on Verizon-Fairpoint Deal

Public anger and concern over Verizon's planned sale of its rural access lines in New England to the tiny telecom, Fairpoint Communications, boiled over last weekend, as nearly 1,000 labor and community activists united in a "stop the sale" rally in Portsmouth, N.H.

Demonstrators cheered speakers who condemned the sale as a tax dodge for Verizon that would greatly diminish telephone and Internet service for the 3 million residents of New Hampshire, Vermont and Maine. Speakers included CWA local and district leaders, Portsmouth's mayor, and presidential candidate and Rep. Dennis Kucinich (D-Ohio).

Rep. Kucinich, who chairs a House subcommittee that has jurisdiction over the Federal Communications Commission and Securities and Exchange Commission, promised to convene hearings on the matter. "This deal doesn't pass the smell test," he said, stating that it would leave "rural communities on the other side of the digital divide. Verizon doesn't want to service rural communities" and "based on its finances, Fairpoint can't."

Kucinich said the deal was also a way for Verizon to "break" its workers' unions by "spinning off to a company that has serious financial troubles and a poor track record for protecting jobs and benefits." CWA District 1 Vice Pres. Chris Shelton said Verizon selected such a small company as its deal partner so it could take advantage of a tax loophole and pocket the proceeds of the $2.72 billion sale tax free. "Verizon picked tiny Fairpoint because it allows Verizon to end up controlling more than 50 percent of the company's voting rights and economic value while reaping huge tax savings," he told demonstrators.

Portsmouth's mayor, Steve Marchand, praised citizens for rallying together on "common interests." "Working together we can make our voices heard until the great potential of the information age is actually fulfilled," he said.

Verizon Shareholders' "Say on Pay" Resolution Adopted

An independent recount of shareholders' votes on the "Say on Pay" resolution at Verizon's May 3 annual meeting confirmed late last week that the CWA-backed executive compensation measure won majority support from stockholders, passing by 50.18 percent.

It was the first time that a resolution calling for shareholder approval of executive pay packages has been adopted at a major corporation.

While shareholder resolutions in the United States are non-binding, the measure sends a strong message to the company's board, which like many others has continued to grant excessive compensation packages to top executives despite growing public ire. The resolution asks the company to submit future executive pay packages to a shareholder vote.

Two similar resolutions dealing with executive compensation fell just short of approval but received substantial support. One, sponsored by the CWA Members' Relief Fund on full disclosure by executive compensation consultants, gained 47.01 percent support. Another, sponsored by the AFL-CIO Reserve Fund on executives' severance packages, won support from 46.94 percent of shareholders.

Reflecting the public's growing anger over corporate pay, the House of Representatives passed a "say on pay" measure sponsored by Rep. Barney Frank (D-Mass.) on April 20 that would mandate shareholder votes on the compensation for corporate executives. Presidential hopeful Sen. Barrack Obama (D-Ill.) is expected to introduce a companion bill in the Senate.

Union Activists Take on Immigration Provisions

As Congress began debate on a new immigration bill, members of TechsUnite and the Washington Alliance of Technology Workers (WashTech), CWA Local 37083, sent a message to Senators and Representatives: Increasing the number of H1-B visas issued is bad policy, for high tech workers and the U.S. economy.

A May 24 ad in Roll Call, the Capitol Hill newspaper on legislative issues, urged Congress not to expand the H1-B visa program and to keep opportunity for U.S. workers. TechsUnite and WashTech members from 32 states contributed funds to place the ad; 337 members participated in the Internet fund drive, WashTech said. (See the ad and read more at www.washtech.org.)

The AFL-CIO Department for Professional Employees reinforced the call to limit H1-B visas, noting that college graduates with math, science and engineering degrees will see fewer jobs as a result of the H1-B expansion. Industry claims there are "widespread and pervasive shortages of qualified workers, but no independent, unbiased statistical evidence substantiates these claims," said DPE President Paul Almeida.

AFL-CIO unions are organizing actions next week when Senators are at home for recess. Union members are mobilizing to change key provisions in the proposed immigration legislation that the Senate began debating on May 21.

The union movement strongly opposes the proposed "guest worker" program, which would bring in hundreds of thousands of temporary workers every year, with no job protections, said AFL-CIO Executive Vice President Linda Chavez-Thompson. This provision "will ensure that America has two classes of workers?and that all workers will suffer as employers will be able to exploit" both native and immigrant workers.

As the Senate considers changes to the bill, it so far has voted to cut in half the number of guest workers permitted to temporarily enter the country, to 200,000, by a 74-24 vote.

News Guild, CWA/NETT Develop Digital Skills Courses

It's nearing deadline, TNG-CWA members: There's just one week before the first round of digital media classes being offered by The Newspaper Guild and the CWA/NETT Academy begins.

The online classes include digital photography, videography, web design, Photoshop and copy editing. The first round of classes begins June 1, with a second round starting June 11.

Recognizing that technology is putting more demands on journalists and that many employers aren't providing adequate – or any – training, the Guild and the academy are working together to prepare members for new and changing jobs. CWA members in other sectors are also invited to sign up for the courses.

Guild members at MediaNews Group-owned papers are eligible for scholarships for the classes on a first-come basis. A total of 300 scholarships will be awarded as part of TNG-CWA's Strategic Industry Fund (SIF) project at MediaNews, which employs Guild members at the Denver Post, St. Paul Pioneer Press, San Jose Mercury News, Long Beach Press Telegram, Los Angeles Daily News, Monterey Herald, the York Daily Record and York Dispatch and Alameda Newspaper Group.

"We're building a union work force that can meet the demands of today's high-tech media market," TNG-CWA President Linda Foley said. "We know there are enormous pressures on the industry to cut payrolls and outsource work, but the more valuable our members are in terms of skills and training, the harder it's going to be for employers to make an economic argument to cut their jobs."

Most of the courses cost $300 to $450 and will run six to eight weeks. Students with scholarships must be members in good standing with the Guild and make a commitment to participate in five union mobilization activities in support of other Guild members.

Full details about the classes and scholarships are available online at www.medianewsmonitor.org. More information about CWA/NETT is on the academy's website at www.cwanett.org.

IN BRIEF:

  • Locals have one more week to submit entries for the CWA Local Newsletter Awards competition and have a chance to receive recognition at the Convention this July for their communications efforts.  Entries must be postmarked no later than June 1.

    Entry in the contest is free.  Just go to http://www.cwa-union.org/newslettercontest/ to download an entry form and instructions.   First-place and Merit awards will be presented for General Excellence in several categories based on local membership size, as well as for Best News Reporting, Best Human Interest Feature, Best Opinion Column, Best Layout, Best Photo and Best Cartoon.

    For questions or further information, contact the Communications Dept. at 202-434-1168.
  • A year after then-Gov. Mitt Romney vetoed the right of state workers to join unions when a majority of them sign cards, the Massachusetts House has passed a new version of the bill and the Senate is expected to follow suit.

    The House voted overwhelmingly last week, 135-19, to pass the bill. It applies only to public workers but is similar to the federal Employee Free Choice Act now pending in Congress, which would give private-sector workers the chance to join unions free of delays and intimidation tactics.

    "It comes down to employees who want to organize should be allowed to do so without impediment," said state Rep. Robert DeLeo, a Democrat and the bill's sponsor. "This creates a new system by which they can do so and that system is fair and efficient."

    Romney, who is running for the Republican nomination for president, vetoed other workers' bills as well, including a minimum wage hike. He also used a line-item veto to block a provision in a health care bill that would have required employers who don't provide health insurance for their workers to pay a small amount into a state fund.


  • The Bush White House has declared that the mere $6 a month – six dollars – that Democrats want to add to a pay package for America's troops is "unnecessary" and that the country's service members are already sufficiently compensated.

    Democrats are trying to boost the proposed raises for 2008 to 3.5 percent but the administration "strongly opposes" anything over 3 percent, according to media reports. "For President Bush to begrudge our troops a pay raise of (one-half) percentage point is outrageous, appalling, and just unacceptable," said John Bruhns, an Iraq veteran and spokesman for VoteVets.org. At a time when Army deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan have been extended from a year to 15 months, he said more compensation is badly needed.

    Senator John Kerry has been leading a Senate effort to raise the pay beyond the White House's proposal. In letters to his colleagues and to Bush he chided the administration for lobbying Congress for more tax cuts while claiming the country can't afford even a few extra dollars for service members putting their lives at grave risk every day.