July 5, 2007

Pension Reform Bill Could Thwart ABC Attack

Corporations that give executives lavish retirement plans would have to provide a guaranteed, defined benefit pension for their other employees under a CWA-supported Senate bill (S.1725) that aims to fix problems created by the federal Pension Protection Act of 2006.

The bill, introduced last week by Sen. Tom Harkin (D-Iowa), could impact ABC's scheme to freeze the pensions of NABET-CWA members. The network sprang the pension demand on NABET several weeks into contract talks in March, prompting members to vote strike authorization.

"'ABC wants to take our healthy, successful, well-funded pension plan and freeze it, and they're using the current Pension Protection Act as an excuse to do it," NABET-CWA President John Clark said.  "This law needs to be changed and we commend Senator Harkin for his efforts in that direction."

Clark and other critics of the 2006 pension legislation say that rather than ensure a secure retirement for workers, the law has led even hugely profitable companies such as ABC-Disney, Lockheed Martin and IBM to freeze their defined benefit plans; Verizon froze its defined beneift plan for non-union employees. The problem is that under the bill's funding requirements, many companies would have to make large contributions to their pension funds in a short period of time. Instead, some are simply dumping their plans.

"This is just plain wrong," Harkin said. "If a company is profitable enough to afford gold-plated pensions for executives, then it can provide a pension for workers who generated the profits by paying for those pensions."

CWA research economist, Bob Patrician, who spoke about the ABC situation at a news conference with Harkin on June 28, said the threatened freeze "would reduce the benefits that our members will receive by 25 percent - a minimum of $18,000 per year at age 65."

ABC-Disney, which earned more than $4.5 billion in profit last year and had more than $35 billion in revenue, sponsors several other defined benefit plans for employee groups as well as pension benefits for its executives in the form of deferred compensation. The network has said nothing about changes to those plans.

"According to the company's 2007 proxy statement, the combination of Disney's qualified plan for salaried employees and the deferred compensation plan for executives will pay Robert Iger, president and CEO of the Disney Company, $972,291 per year beginning at age 65 - after seven years of service," Patrician said.

The Harkin bill would further protect workers by establishing a pension participant advocacy office at the Department of Labor to identify and fix recurrent pension problems. It would also prevent employers from using mergers as an excuse to dump promised early-retirement pensions, among other protections.

"The premise of this bill is that pensions are critical to retirement security and companies should not raid or slash pensions in order to cut costs or boost profits," Harkin said.

250 Colorado Taxi Drivers Organize with CWA

A union of taxi drivers who organized four years ago with the assistance of CWA has affiliated with CWA Local 7777 to increase their clout with local and state authorities who regulate operators in the cutthroat industry. Based in Denver, the union, called Protaxi, has a membership of more than 250 drivers who operate as independent contractors and work for one of three taxi companies in the city. The workers are tired of paying exorbitant fees to the companies ($600 or more a month) in order to drive a cab in Denver.

"They want to be part of CWA so they can take advantage of our political clout and connections with state regulatory bodies and the legislature to improve their working conditions," said Kevin Mulligan, administrative director to District 7 Vice President Annie Hill.  One of their first goals will be improving drivers' access, and the number of drivers, who cover Denver International Airport. The drivers' ultimately want to form their own cooperative so they can lower their costs and compete directly with the city's existing cab companies.

Union members are urged to ask for a "Protaxi-CWA" driver whenever they are hailing a taxi in Denver. The drivers are being assisted in their efforts by Local 7777 President Suzie Miller, Secretary-Treasurer Dale Feller and Organizer Ron Harleman.

Dow Jones Employees Take Stand against Murdoch Bid

Determined to keep one of the country's best newspapers from falling into the hands of tabloid king and Fox News owner Rupert Murdoch, reporters at the Wall Street Journal staged a half-day absence last week and continue to be outspoken in their opposition.

Members of IAPE Local 1096, part of The Newspaper Guild-CWA, took part in what the union calls "The Statement" on June 28 in New York and bureaus across the country, protesting consideration of Murdoch's bid to buy the paper's parent company, Dow Jones. After staying out all morning, they walked in together at their worksites at 2 p.m.

"Support was just about universal," IAPE leader said in a joint statement to members. "We believe that even a few people in management quietly found ways to be away from the office for the morning."

The action also called attention to the union's battle for a fair contract against company demands for rollbacks in both health care and pay. "At a time when Dow Jones is finding the resources to award golden parachutes to 135 top executives, it should not be seeking to eviscerate employees' health benefits and impose salary adjustments that amount to a pay cut," the union leaders said.

Several months ago, Murdoch's News Corp. made an unsolicited $5 billion offer for Dow Jones. The Bancroft family, which owns Dow Jones, initially told Murdoch it wasn't interested in selling but now appear on the verge of making a deal.

 "The Wall Street Journal's long tradition of independence, which has been the hallmark of our news coverage for decades, is threatened today," IAPE leaders said. "We, along with hundreds of other Dow Jones employees represented by the Independent Association of Publishers' Employees, want to demonstrate our conviction that the Journal's editorial integrity depends on an owner committed to journalistic independence."

TNG-CWA President Linda Foley said the solidarity of Journal workers will continue to make a critical difference at the paper, regardless of the outcome of the talks with Murdoch. "No matter who winds up owning Dow Jones and no matter who gets to decide to hire the editor of the Wall Street Journal, last week's 'stay out' demonstrates that the employees and IAPE control the newsrooms," Foley said.

AT&T Offering 10% Union Member Discount on Wireless

CWA members and members of other AFL-CIO unions can now receive a 10 percent discount on AT&T wireless phone service, along with a $50 savings on new phones and accessories when they sign up for service through Oct. 31, 2007.  (The union member discount previously was 5 percent.)

AT&T (formerly Cingular) is the only wireless company that is virtually 100 percent union, with 40,000 CWA members under contract.  "For union families, the choice in wireless is clear," said CWA President Larry Cohen.  "And now members can take advantage of these special savings while supporting their fellow union members at AT&T and dealing with a company that respects workers' rights to organize."

The 10 percent discount is available off the regular monthly rate for any AT&T individual or family plan.  Current AT&T/Cingular customers will need to renew their contracts for two years to be eligible for the new discount. 

The offer is only available at AT&T-owned retail stories, not by phone or online.  When signing up or renewing service, give the store clerk the following AT&T Union Discount FAN number:  00113662.

For information on AT&T store locations, and to download a coupon to take to the store with the FAN information, go to www.unionplus.org and click on Union-Made Savings.

IN BRIEF:
  • Verizon's anti-union tactics and business policies were spotlighted last week by thousands of CWA and IBEW members who held simultaneous rallies in front of the corporation's offices in New York City and Long Beach, Calif.

    In New York, more than 3,000 cheered Verizon Business technician John Sweeney who spoke passionately about the need for the technicians to keep up their struggle to organize. He challenged management to respect the wishes of a majority of techs who have already signed cards to join the union. View his remarks at You Tube at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RWf0IlGI1is.

    In Long Beach, hundreds of union members protested the company's violation of its neutrality agreement with the CWA earlier this year when it used heavy-handed tactics to frighten unrepresented employees into voting against representation. Top executives were sent from New York to visit workers at their cubicles, literally going desk to desk to discourage employees from joining the union. Union members in California also protested the company's overtime policies and the outsourcing of jobs.

    At both demonstrations, workers spoke out against the company's planned sale of its local access lines in New England to a tiny and ill-equipped North Carolina-based company called Fairpoint.

  •  AFTRA is applauding Oprah Winfrey and her Oprah & Friends XM satellite radio program for being the only XM show to sign a union contract with its on-air talent.

    "The work of AFTRA members in Chicago to bring union standards to employment opportunities in satellite radio can serve as a model for all broadcasters working in this new service," AFTRA Executive Director Kim Roberts Hedgpeth said. "The new agreement outlines pay for program hosts and guests, health and retirement benefits, union security, grievance and arbitration, dues check-off, nondiscrimination, late penalties and the right to participate in pre-tax savings plans."

    The agreement, covering nine hosts and one announcer, expires in August 2009.

  •  A Denver city councilman and Avaya executive has filed an anti-union "right to work" ballot measure that Colorado voters may decide in November if backers get 70,000 signatures on petitions.

    The so-called right to work proposal would make it harder for Colorado unions to grow and collect dues by banning agency shop agreements and barring employers from deducting dues from workers' paychecks.

    The measure was filed by Ryan Frazier, a councilman in the Denver suburb of Aurora. According to vague language on his campaign website, he is a businessman who is charged at Avaya with "helping grow the business through continuous improvement engagements." He has made no public statements about the ballot measure. State Rep. Mike Garcia, who recently sponsored a bill that would have made it easier for unions to organize – legislation vetoed by the Democratic Gov. Bill Ritter – pledged to fight Frazier's proposal.

    "Right-to-work laws benefit corporate executives with six-figure salaries, period," Garcia said. "Unions are good for working men and women."