May 3, 2007

Verizon Shareholders Give Record Support To Labor-Backed Proposals on Executive Pay 

CWA and IBEW members spotlighted Verizon's anti-worker attitude at the May 3 shareholder meeting in Pittsburgh, and shareholders expressed their own dissatisfaction with the corporation by giving record, near-majority support to labor-backed proposals that address executive pay and other governance issues.

Nearly 1,200 workers, including supporters from Pittsburgh-based USW and others, rallied then marched to the meeting, where inside, CWA and IBEW officers and members focused attention on three key shareholder resolutions. All of the labor-supported proposals received enough votes to signify the need for a serious shift in CEO compensation at Verizon.

Activists at the rally, also heard from CWA District 13 Vice President Jim Short, IBEW President Edwin Hill, AFL-CIO Secretary-Treasurer Richard Trumka and other state and local union officers who talked about labor's determination to restore workers' rights, beginning with Verizon.

John Elia, a Verizon Business tech in Burlington, Mass., said a union contract brings "a voice in our future and the security of knowing what to expect in a rapidly changing business environment. All we are asking is that the company drop the intimidation and honor the neutrality and union recognition procedure that other Verizon employees have benefited from," he said.

CWA has called Verizon the poster child for bad corporate behavior, citing its refusal to acknowledge workers' rights and concerns over its corporate governance practices. (Read the report to Verizon shareholders at www.cwa-union.org and http://investor.cwa-union.org/verizon.)

Inside the meeting, Short introduced the resolution sponsored by the CWA Members' Relief Fund which calls for true transparency and full disclosure regarding the work of compensation consultants hired to make recommendations on the compensation packages of senior executives. That proposal received 47 percent of shareholder votes.

Short pointed out that Verizon's Human Resources Committee had allowed a conflict of interest regarding its compensation consultant for far too long and that played a critical role in the "vote no" campaign targeting its six members.

Ron Collins, administrative director for CWA District 2 Vice President Pete Catucci, spoke in support of the proposal calling for a say by shareholders on executive pay decisions. That proposal received at least 49 percent of shareholder votes, with the final count likely to continue into next week.

IBEW President Hill supported an AFL-CIO-sponsored proposal would give shareholders the right to vote on severance agreements. That proposal received 46 percent of shareholder votes.

 

CWA Prepares Major Grassroots Push for EFCA

U.S. senators can expect to hear from tens of thousands of CWA members and their families the week of May 14, as CWA steps up pressure on the Senate to pass the Employee Free Choice Act.

All CWA districts and locals have been given lists of senators and phone numbers and are urged to flood them with phone calls from their constituents. IBEW will also be joining in the week's effort.

"We are going to rise up as if we were bargaining our toughest contract, because we are," CWA President Larry Cohen said in a conference call with local officers this week.

CWA and IBEW are focusing primarily on 11 senators who are considered swing votes on the Employee Free Choice Act, including several who sponsored it in the last Congress.

The 11 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, George Voinovich of Ohio, Gordon Smith of Oregon and Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania.

Union members are also being asked to call the 47 senators who have signed on as co-sponsors to thank them and to counter the pressure being put on them by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and other anti-union organizations bitterly opposed to the bill, which would restore workers' badly eroded rights to organize and bargain contracts. The U.S. House passed the bill in March by a vote of 241-185.

Noting that some senators say they're getting calls almost exclusively from opponents, Cohen said it's critical that working families make their voices heard. "Good jobs, health care and retirement security are not just union values, they are American values, and they are fundamentally tied to the right to bargain collectively," he said.

He pointed to polls – that show a majority of Americans support unions and that more than two-thirds support the Employee Free Choice Act.

To illustrate the critical need for the changes the bill would bring, Cohen addressed Verizon's aggressive union-busting and CWA's campaign to "tear down the wall" the company is building between its existing union workforce and other units Verizon is determined to keep union-free.

On the conference call, Local 9586 President Gregg Gibson described the company's recent campaign to destroy a union drive at its West Coast DSL maintenance-control office in Long Beach, Calif.  Nearly two-thirds of workers signed cards seeking representation but in the days leading to an election, Verizon -- completely violating the neutrality agreement covering this unit -- unleashed a relentless anti-union campaign, slamming CWA, lying about the union and making threats.

The union lost the election by a handful of votes. "We had cards signed by 65 percent of our members," Gibson said. "With the Employee Free Choice Act, we would have had a union."

Public officials around the country have taken a stand for Verizon workers in letters to CEO Ivan Seidenberg. They include Kansas Gov. Kathleen Sebelius and Hartford, Conn., Mayor Eddie Perez, whose letters Cohen has shared with locals.

He urged locals across the country to seek out other leaders to write to Seidenberg and other employers who are stripping workers of their rights.

"We want to send a message to all employers: We are making this a hard-core issue," he said. "We will fight for our rights, we will fight for our future, we will fight for our children."

AFA-CWA, Northwest Reach Tentative Pact

AFA-CWA and Northwest Airlines reached a tentative agreement covering 8,000 flight attendants. The ratification vote for AFA-CWA members will begin on May 7 with voting to end on May 29, and roadshows -- AFA-CWA's contract explanation meetings -- will be held over the next several weeks. 

Northwest flight attendants had voted down two previous tentative agreements.  In June 2006, a federal bankruptcy judge gave Northwest management permission to throw out over 50 years of collective bargaining and imposed wage and benefit cuts. These cuts increased work hours while cutting wages, benefits and working conditions for flight attendants.

The proposed settlement protects a $182 million bankruptcy equity claim and severance option that, if ratified by flight attendants, could provide as much as $18,000 in payments per flight attendant, AFA-CWA said.

Jay Hong, AFA-CWA President at Northwest, said the union will continue the fight to restore members' pay, benefits and working conditions. "We will never rest until we have rebuilt what this bankruptcy has destroyed," he said. The tentative agreement does give members the opportunity to vote on whether to take the $182 million bankruptcy claim and other improvements before the claim is lost when the airline exits bankruptcy, he noted. 

85 Locals So Far Have Reached
10% Stewards Army Goal

At least eighty-five locals so far have met the goal of having 10 percent of their members signed up in the Stewards Army and more are very close to reaching that goal.  CWA has long held that we need one steward or mobilizer for every 10 members.

CWA's Ready for the Future program, adopted at last year's Convention, calls for recruiting 25,000 activists by this summer and 50,000 by the 2008 Convention as frontline mobilizers in the critical fights for jobs, health care, retirement security and bargaining rights.

We know the list below is not complete at this point because some locals haven't updated the local's information in the CWA database.  Locals are urged to submit the information so that they can receive recognition at the CWA Convention this July. Enter traditional stewards as well as mobilizers/activists. Instructions follow:

How to Add Stewards/mobilizers to the Local's Member Database

If locals use MUMS, the new 5.30 version allows you to submit Steward/Mobilizer changes via e-mail.  You can create new records or submit data for existing records.

If locals do not use MUMS, you can create your Steward/Mobilizer records online by going to http://www.cwa-secy-treas.org/sa/.  The local login and password are the same as the ones locals use to access online H-166's.  The Sector login and password are the same as the ones used to access membership development reports.

10 Percent Locals in Current Database

Current records show that the following locals so far have reached the goal of at least 10 percent of their members signed up with the Stewards Army (stewards and mobilizers):  Local 1090, 1102, 1114, 1115, 1120, 1122, 1124, 1126, 1153, 1170, 1301, 2109, 2203, 2206, 2222, 3102, 3105, 3114, 3115, 3150, 3250, 3290, 3313, 3315, 3317, 3412, 3414, 3490, 3504, 3513, 3601, 3602, 3606, 3609, 3616, 3672, 3681, 3719, 3790, 3802, 3804, 3907, 3908, 3971, 3972, 4008, 4032, 4101, 4103, 4108, 4290, 4300, 4321, 4370, 4385, 4390, 4470, 4474, 4475, 4485, 4818, 4998, 6007, 6137, 6174, 6178, 6202, 6313, 6314, 6372, 6374, 6391, 6407, 6500, 6502, 7150, 7201, 7290, 7704, 7716, 7816, 9413, 13591, 81281 and 84845.

Guild Local Blasts Murdoch Bid for Dow Jones

IAPE Local 1096 of TNG-CWA issued a statement strongly opposing a bid by Rupert Murdoch's News Corp. to buy Dow Jones & Co. this week, noting:  "Mr. Murdoch has shown a willingness to crush quality and independence, and there is no reason to think he would handle Dow Jones or the (Wall Street) Journal any differently."

The family that owns the controlling shares in Dow Jones, the Bancrofts, quickly declined Murdoch's unsolicited offer of about $5 billion for the company, but Murdoch said he would continue to talk to shareholders and press the deal.

Murdoch's media empire includes the less than "fair and balanced" Fox News channel and other cable, broadcast, publishing, Internet and entertainment holdings around the world.

"The staff, from top to bottom, opposes a Rupert Murdoch takeover of Dow Jones & Co.," Local 1096 stated.  "Despite our differences of opinion with current management, we strongly encourage the Bancrofts to continue to stand up for the institution's independence, and to walk away from the offer.

"Moreover, the massive premium Mr. Murdoch is offering suggests only one recourse to make the acquisition profitable:  gutting the enterprise and slashing the staff that make it the leading financial news organization."

TNG-CWA President Linda Foley stated: "The value of Dow Jones lies with the expertise and experience of its staff. The concerns of Dow Jones employees, therefore, must be addressed and are critical to Dow Jones' future sucess."

The union currently is in negotiations with Dow Jones and is battling demands to cut back health benefits and job protections.  Local 1096 represents about 2,000 Dow Jones employees in the United States and Canada.

Card Check Victory at AT&T, Breakthrough at GE

Seeking fair wages and job security, 76 of the 91 workers at the AT&T Local Services customer service maintenance center in Monmouth Junction, N.J., gained representation with CWA Local 1150 under the union's card check and neutrality agreement with the AT&T. The workers' majority union support was certified on May 1 by the American Arbitration Association.

The card-signing campaign took just one week, according to Local 1150 New Jersey Area Director Nancy Brett who, along with Local President Laura Unger, assisted the workers. A wide disparity in wages was a major issue along with worries over the impact of future job consolidations. The workers, responsible for maintaining service for the company's business customers, were strongly supported by a unit of CWA members who worked for AT&T in the same building.

Meanwhile, workers who install and service GE appliances for residential and business customers along Florida's east coast voted 9-3 for representation with IUE-CWA Local 712 on May 2. GE used captive-audience meetings and supervisor one-on-ones to scare off the workers, but "the desire to get a union won out over fear tactics," according to IUE-CWA Organizing Director Howard Foshinbaur.

They were last group of unorganized service and installation employees at GE along the state's east coast. It was also the first organizing victory by GE workers in nearly two decades. IUE-CWA Local 712 President Raul Garcia and Vice President Lance Bergmann assisted the workers.

IN BRIEF:

  • CORRECTION TO CWA NEWS:  The April/May CWA News incorrectly stated that the Employee Free Choice Act had passed the U.S. House within the first 100 hours of the congressional session, when it should read, the first 100 days.  The error appeared in the Working Together column by President Cohen on page 2 and in the article and caption on page 3.

  • IBM has quietly laid off more than 1,300 workers in the U.S. over the past week as part of its ongoing effort to shift work to low-wage workers in India, China and Brazil. The cutbacks were not officially revealed by the company but were uncovered by a coast-to-coast network of IBM employees who belong to CWA Local 1701, Alliance@IBM.  The union's announcement of the job cuts prompted widespread media coverage this week.

    The company is required by law to notify targeted workers, so Alliance members were able to piece together an accurate picture of the number of workers affected, according to Lee Conrad, national coordinator of the Alliance.

    The cuts are in IBM's fastest-growing Global Services division, where management has been steadily replacing long-time U.S. employees with lower-paid new hires from both the U.S. and overseas. Currently, 15 percent of the company's 355,000 employees worldwide are based in India, but that percentage is projected to grow quickly. The Alliance says that as many as 12,000 additional workers could be trimmed from the company's U.S. workforce within the next year.

  • Last January, they had demonstrated outside the state capital over their low salaries – and this week 30 Local 2055 members in Charleston, W.Va. rallied at the same spot to thank lawmakers and the governor for boosting pay for corrections officers by $2,000 with the prospect of another $3,000 the next two years.

    "Labor unions are often recognized for their picket lines and demonstrations for raises.  Well this local wanted to show we can demonstrate to say thank you, too," CWA Rep. Elaine Harris told the Charleston Gazette.

    The employees work for the Division of Corrections, Division of Juvenile Services and Regional Jail Authority.

  • As part of the AFL-CIO's broadest effort ever to involve union members in the process of endorsing a presidential candidate, the federation has set up an interactive website that examines each candidate's stand on working family issues.

    The site, Working Families Vote 2008, provides news, blog links, video and a forum where participants can discuss issues and candidates. An "action center" link lets people e-mail candidates with questions.

    Candidates will be grilled and evaluated on issues from the Employee Free Choice Act to good jobs, trade, health care, retirement security and more. Check it out at www.aflcio.org/issues/politics.