August 2, 2007

Governors Urge Senate to Pass Employee Free Choice Act

In a letter to U.S. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, 18 Democratic governors called on the U.S. Senate to support the Employee Free Choice Act and urged the lawmakers to restore workers' rights.

The governors are Bill Ritter, Colorado; Rod Blagojevich, Illinois; Chet Culver, Iowa; Kathleen Sebelius, Kansas; John Baldacci, Maine; Martin O'Malley, Maryland; Deval Patrick, Massachusetts; Jennifer Granholm, Michigan; Brian Schweitzer, Montana; Jon Corzine, New Jersey; Bill Richardson, New Mexico; Eliot Spitzer, New York; Ted Strickland, Ohio; Ted Kulongoski, Oregon; Edward G. Rendell, Pennsylvania; Chris Gregoire, Washington; Joe Manchin, III, West Virginia; and Jim Doyle, Wisconsin.

Read their letter here, under What's Hot.

CWA Members Want Real Answers from Candidates

Democratic and Republican presidential candidates heard from CWA this week. The candidates are being asked for specific responses on three very important issues for CWA members and working families – the Employee Free Choice Act, health care and trade and jobs. The candidates' answers will be posted on a special CWA election website and will be a factor in CWA's endorsement process.

Candidates have been asked to respond to these questions: 

  1. We would like to hear if you support the Employee Free Choice Act and what you would do as president to lead the fight to get that legislation past the hurdle of a Senate filibuster and onto your desk for signature.
  2. Please tell us how you would fund universal health care to ensure that all Americans have coverage and to make U.S. jobs more competitive and not disadvantage those employers who currently provide quality health benefits to their employees.
  3. Please detail specific steps you would offer to cut the trade deficit – now more than $700 billion a year – and help spur the retention and growth of jobs in this country.   

Democratic presidential candidates invited to provide their specific responses are Senators Joseph Biden, Hillary Clinton, Christopher Dodd, John Edwards, and Barack Obama; Rep. Dennis Kucinich; Governor Bill Richardson; and former Senator Mike Gravel. 

Republicans are Senator John McCain; Representatives Ron Paul and Tom Tancredo; former Governors Mike Huckabee, Mitt Romney and Tommy Thompson; and former mayor Rudy Giuliani.

District 13 Launches Drive in Pennsylvania for Broadband, Cable TV Franchising

District 13 has launched a grassroots campaign to create a statewide franchise for cable TV and to bring high-speed Internet access to residents across Pennsylvania.

Jim Short, CWA vice president for District 13, urged members to visit the district's website and participate in an e-mail campaign to pass the Consumer Choice Cable Franchising and High Speed Broadband Promotion Act, introduced in the State Legislature by Majority Policy Chair Todd Eachus.

"Far too many of our fellow citizens have been left behind in the information age, and this bill would be a huge step toward closing the digital divide," Short said. "First and foremost, this bill would require companies to provide service to residents of rural Pennsylvania and low-income households, as well as schools, hospitals and government agencies."

CWAers in District 13 are also working to build a strong coalition of organizations with interest in the bill including municipal governments and consumer groups.

The legislation:

  • Allows statewide cable franchising, replacing the current system in which cable providers negotiate with each of the state's 2,500 municipalities.
  • Sets buildout requirements.
  • Redefines franchise fees to more accurately reflect the value of cable services to local governments.
  • Sets standards for cable companies to provide access to public institutions such as schools and hospitals, and
  • Provides real oversight of the cable industry by the public utility commission.

To send an email to state legislators, visit the District 13 website here and click on the button labeled "It's about having a choice."

Verizon Workers Put Company on Notice

Thousands of CWA and IBEW members at Verizon rallied at "One Year 'til Expiration" actions from Boston, Mass., to Virginia on August 2, sending a message to Verizon that CWA will safeguard good jobs, quality health care, and other benefits in contract negotiations that begin next June.

Union members and activists also criticized the company's assault on the rights of Verizon Business and Verizon Wireless workers who want union representation, as well as Verizon's plan to sell telephone lines in New England to FairPoint Communications.

Contracts covering some 70,000 CWA and IBEWers at Verizon East – Verizon territory from Maine to Virginia – expire August 2, 2008. "All of us want to win a good contract, to stop the sale, and tear down the wall at Verizon Business," said CWA District 1 Vice President Chris Shelton. "This can only be accomplished through mobilizing and building community support, and that's our plan for 2008."

Rallies were held in Boston, Mass.; Baltimore, Md.; Richmond, Fredericksburg and Petersburg, Virginia; Morgantown, Charleston, and Poca, West Virginia; and other locations.

CWAers at Verizon West held a support rally in Upland, Calif., to show their solidarity with next year's Verizon bargaining. The Verizon West contract, covering 6,000 workers, does not expire until March 2010, but workers spotlighted management's interference earlier this year in an organizing effort by DSL technicians in California.

In New York City, more than 3,000 CWA and IBEW members held their "One Year 'til Expiration" rally on June 27; Verizon West workers also rallied that day in Long Beach, Calif., to protest the company's union-busting. 

Dow Jones Workers Fight for Quality Publications, Quality Contract

Dow Jones workers are determined to win a fair contract despite the news that Rupert Murdoch's $5 billion bid for the company was accepted by the Bancroft family, which currently owns the company. 

"The employees of Dow Jones are the most important asset of this company and that's true regardless of who owns Dow Jones & Company," said Steve Yount, president of the Independent Association of Publishers' Employees. "IAPE will continue to do everything it can to ensure that the employees of Dow Jones are recognized and rewarded for their contributions — the very contributions which make Dow Jones & Company worth $5 billion."

"Going forward, IAPE members will continue to band together to fight for their interests. That includes negotiating a quality collective bargaining agreement," he said. Negotiations for a new contract got underway last October.

Murdoch has been criticized by media watchdogs for letting his politics and business interests influence news coverage. Murdoch owns News Corp., the tabloid New York Post and other news operations.

"Our members at Dow Jones demonstrated throughout this process that the reporters and others who work at The Wall Street Journal and other Dow Jones publications are committed to doing everything possible to maintain the editorial integrity and independence of newsroom operations," said TNG-CWA President Linda Foley.

TNG-CWA represents more than 2,000 Dow Jones professionals at The Wall Street Journal, WSJ.com, Dow Jones newswires, Barron's MarketWatch and SmartMoney.

IN BRIEF:

  • CWA is prepared to do whatever it takes to make certain that Embarq Corp., formerly Sprint Corp.'s local telephone operations, lives up to its commitments to active and retired workers. CWA represents about 4,000 active workers at Embarq.

The company announced that it would eliminate health care coverage for Medicare eligible retirees beginning January 1. In meetings with Embarq officials, CWA has stressed that this breaks a clear promise that Sprint and Embarq made to workers about their health care coverage in retirement. Retirees and their families will face higher costs and a likely reduction in services covered, depending on their medical needs. 

"Sprint and Embarq actively pressed workers to retire within certain timeframes and said that retiring workers would maintain their health care coverage. Those workers not choosing to retire on the company's timetable were shifted into another health care plan. Clearly, Embarq is reneging on its commitment to workers and CWA isn't going to let that happen," said Jimmy Gurganus, vice president for telecommunications at CWA.

  • If you can't be at Chicago's Soldier Field for the AFL-CIO presidential candidates' forum Tuesday night Aug. 7, consider hosting or attending a house party to watch it with other union members.

The AFL-CIO has prepared a "Planning a Watch Party" toolkit, which can be downloaded here (Acrobat, 267 Kb). It includes party tips, a sample invitation and a working families' issue guide on topics that include good jobs, trade, health care, education, retirement and the Employee Free Choice Act.

Hosts are asked to let the AFL-CIO know about their parties by sending an e-mail to aomens@aflcio.org that describes the event, where it's taking place and how many people are expected.

The forum, which will feature questions from union members, runs from 7 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. EDT and will be carried on MSNBC and XM radio. Keith Olbermann, who hosts "Countdown" on MSNBC, will moderate.

  • Calling it "More than just a dream come true, because I never could have dreamt this," Rick Hummel, a veteran sports columnist for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch and a member of TNG-CWA Local 36047, was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame last weekend along with baseball greats Cal Ripken and Tony Gwynn.

Hummel, known to Post-Dispatch readers as "The Commish," has covered the St. Louis Cardinals for 36 years. A story on the Hall of Fame website said he was honored for "his strength, persistence and sharpness of his wit, not on the pitcher's mound but in the press box."