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September 20, 2007
CWA Puts Off Endorsement, Launches
First-Ever, Union-Wide Political E-Poll
CWA is holding off on an endorsement of a presidential
candidate, for now, but has put in place an innovative on-line
poll for the union's 700,000 plus members and retirees to
indicate the candidates they prefer, based on the candidates'
responses to specific questions asked by CWA.
Those issues are the Employee Free Choice Act, health
care and jobs and trade. CWA's membership-wide poll is the first
of its kind among unions and will be a big factor in CWA's
political action program for the 2008 election season.
"CWA's goals in the political process are first, to maximize
member involvement, second, to keep the focus of our members and
the candidates on critical economic issues, and third, to make a
difference that produces results for our members at the ballot
box and in critical legislation," said CWA President Larry
Cohen.
"We are convinced that over the next 18 months all members in
every CWA industry will see the connection between their
worklife, their families and the electoral and legislative
process more than ever. We will bring back bargaining
rights in the United States, win the fight for real health care
reform and create policies that support American jobs," he said.
Cohen was among three questioners at a political forum in
Iowa in August, where six Democratic presidential candidates
also answered specific questions about workers' rights, health
care and trade and jobs.
CWA's Executive Board reviewed the presidential candidates'
answers. The responses – some in print, some candidates
sent in videos -- will be posted on a special CWA election and
political website for reference.
CWA also is encouraging members to become fully engaged in
political campaigns to run for election as delegates to the
Democratic and Republican conventions.
All the candidates – Democratic and Republican -- were
contacted numerous times and asked to provide specific responses
on CWA's key issues.
Democratic presidential candidates who responded were
Senators Joseph Biden, Hillary Clinton, Christopher Dodd, John
Edwards, and Barack Obama; Rep. Dennis Kucinich; Governor Bill
Richardson.
Not responding were Republican candidates Senator John
McCain; Representatives Ron Paul and Tom Tancredo; former
Governors Jim Gilmore, Mike Huckabee and Mitt Romney; and former
mayor Rudy Giuliani, along with former Senator Mike Gravel (a
Democrat), despite numerous contacts and
opportunities.
The questions were:
- 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.
- 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.
- Detail specifics 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.
Four Local Leaders Named to Executive Board
Diversity Seats
The CWA Executive Board has appointed four members to the
at-large diversity seats established by CWA Convention delegates
this year. They are: Carolyn Wade, president, CWA Local 1040;
Nestor Soto, president, CWA Local 33225 in Puerto Rico; Claude
Cummings, president, CWA Local 6222; and Madelyn Elder,
president, CWA Local 7901.
These members were selected from nominations made by the
Committee on Equity, the National Women's Committee and the CWA
Minority Caucus. They will serve until the 2008 CWA convention,
when elections for the at-large seats will be held.
At the 2007 convention, CWA delegates voted to expand the
Executive Board to ensure that CWA leadership fully reflects the
diversity, experiences and perspective of local union leaders
and membership. The action was a key part of CWA's Ready for the
Future program, a unionwide initiative built on strategic
planning and strong grassroots activism.
Landmark Pact Brings Raises, Grievance
Rights to NJ Child Care Workers
More than 6,000 New Jersey child care workers – members
of the Child Care Workers Union – won a landmark first
contract that provides for pay raises, a first-in-the-nation
grievance procedure and a real union voice, among other
benefits.
The child care workers organized by CWA Local 1037 provide
child care for New Jersey parents who are receiving public
assistance.
Under the contract, a worker earning $533 a month now for one
child will be earning $654 by July 1, 2009. By the same date, a
worker caring for five children will earn $7,200 more annually.
Raises are scheduled for Oct. 1 and July of 2008 and 2009, in
addition to a 3 percent cost-of-living increase the legislature
approved for all state employees in January 2008.
CWA President Larry Cohen praised the activists and leaders
of Local 1037 who went door to door for months with union
supporters, meeting with potential members and building the
organization. "This is an amazing, ground-breaking contract that
puts New Jersey child care workers first," he said.
The contract includes a dispute resolution process with
arbitration rights and other legal and regulatory protections,
said Local 1037 President Hetty Rosenstein. Child care worker
contracts negotiated by other unions in Illinois and Oregon
don't have grievance arbitration, she noted. "I am confident
that this is the best child care contract in the country," she
said.
CCWU will be able to meet with newly hired child care workers
during their orientation and training. Seniority dates will now
be kept and be part of the referral information given to
parents.
The state also has agreed to survey child care workers
regarding their health care status and offer enrollment in the
state's reduced-cost Family Care program to eligible workers.
Data will be shared with the union, which is setting up a health
care committee to address health coverage for members.
Rosenstein said ratification will likely be completed by the
end of October.
LifePath Workers Vote CWA
In one of the biggest NLRB elections this year, a unit of 467
LifePath workers who provide care for developmentally disabled
adults in Pennsylvania voted strongly for representation by CWA
Local 13500 on Sept. 19.
The campaign relied heavily on the Stewards Army to reach
LifePath workers who work at 90 different locations in seven
counties. More than 25 stewards, members and activists of Local
13000 and Local 13500 volunteered their time to talk about the
benefits of union representation, said CWA District 13
Organizing Coordinator Pam Trounser.
LifePath, a non-profit organization that receives most of its
funds from county and state government, initially sought to hold
captive audience meetings and send mailings to workers' homes.
But Local 13500 got state and local legislators to sign on to
public letters of support and to alert the State Auditor General
that public funds may have been used for anti-union activities,
a violation of state law.
A radio campaign also helped let LifePath workers know that
their union colleagues in New Jersey had turned to CWA to
address similar concerns on the job, like firings for no reason
and unfair treatment, said Marge Krueger, administrative
director, District 13.
Tough Contract Talks Produce Tentative Pact
at Dow Jones
Employees at Dow Jones & Company have a tentative
contract after 10 months of tough negotiations that were further
complicated this summer when Dow Jones was sold to News
Corporation, owned by Rupert Murdoch.
The board of the Independent Association of Publishers'
Employees Local 1096, a unit of The Newspaper Guild-CWA,
recommended approval of the settlement; plans for membership
ratification are underway.
If ratified, the three-year contract provides for annual 3
percent wage increases plus a cost of living adjustment that
will take effect when inflation hits 3.25 percent. Increases
will be retroactive to January 2007, when the previous contract
expired.
The IAPE bargaining team retained the full 401k plan and
Money Retirement Plan, a guaranteed schedule of severance pay,
all rights to grievance and arbitration, seniority, due process
in discipline and due cause protections in dismissals, said
Local President Steven Yount.
The contract adds a new wellness/disease management program
and expands coverage for physical exams and immunizations for
employees and family members. Some health care costs will
increase, including some premiums and costs for certain
in-network services.
Yount called the settlement a testament to the
incredible hard work of the IAPE bargaining team and the resolve
of countless IAPE members across the country.
"Obviously, this contract is not everything that we
wanted -- and the board believes it is short of the quality
contract" that members deserve. "But the board also believes --
at this time, under these conditions -- this is the best package
available," Yount said.
The $5 billion deal to sell Dow Jones, including its flagship
publication the Wall Street Journal to Murdoch's News
Corporation is expected to be finalized in November. IAPE-CWA
represents about 2,000 reporters, photographers, editors and
other employees at Dow Jones operations.
1,200 More AT&T Mobility Workers
Organize in Florida
Seeking the benefits and job protections enjoyed by 40,000
other CWA members at AT&T Mobility (formerly Cingular), the
company's 1,166 retail sales workers in Florida have gained
representation under CWA's card check and neutrality agreement
with the company.
The sales associates, spread across the state in 129 stores
from Florida's panhandle to Key West, are among the youngest
group of workers organized by CWA, with most being college age
and many still attending school. "What attracted them to CWA was
how our agreement with AT&T met some of their chief needs as
younger workers – tuition aid, premium pay, and lower
health care costs," said District Three Vice President Noah
Savant. Some 18 CWA Locals worked together in the massive
statewide campaign.
Last month, a unit of 22 network technicians gained
representation in Mississippi.
Virtual Strikers Take on IBM in Second
Life
Second Life is the hottest thing around. It's a virtual,
three-D computer world where political candidates like John
Edwards have an office, where companies sell products, where
governments like Sweden have set up shop, where the local
residents, called "avatars" spend money on everything from
designer clothes to gourmet coffee, and where next week, IBM
Corp. workers will be on strike.
Italian IBM Corp. workers, with the support of Union Network
International, CWA's Alliance@IBM and activists around the
globe, will go on strike beginning Sept. 25, and the strike is
expected to last about a week. Anyone can participate, and UNI
and Alliance@IBM are encouraging union supporters to join in. Go
to www.allianceibm.org
and follow links to UNI's website. There you can get a strike
kit and download software from Second Life that shows you how to
create an avatar – your Second Life persona – who
will join the strike.
"IBM has a very large presence in Second Life, and this is a
very innovative action by Italian unionists," said Local 1701
President Linda Guyer. "The goal of the IBM global unions is to
put pressure on IBM in both the virtual world and the real
world, on issues that affect all IBM employees."
In real-life IBM locations in the United States, those issues
include respect in the workplace and respect for workers' rights
to organize and bargain a fair contract; the erosion of wages
and benefits; and the increased offshoring and contracting out
of jobs, said Lee Conrad, national coordinator, Alliance@IBM.
Local 1701 has about 6,000 members and associate members and
also represents retirees and former employees who are concerned
about what's happening at IBM and in the information technology
industry.
IBM sells products in Second Life and has "islands,"
where the company conducts business. "We expect them to
shut down islands," Conrad said, "but we don't know if they'll
create goon squads or strike breakers – anything is
possible in the virtual world."
IN BRIEF:
- The International Federation of
Journalists has been presented with the George Meany-Lane
Kirkland Human Rights Award, in recognition of the courage of
its members, the journalists and media workers who risk their
lives in the pursuit of truth around the world.
The IFJ --TNG-CWA is a member -- is a worldwide
federation of unions and journalist associations that presses
for global action to defend press freedom and the rights of
media workers. It documents the deaths and targeting of news
workers and fights to bring those killers to prosecution. The
IFJ's International Safety Fund provides humanitarian
relief to news workers in need. Read more about the IFJ's work
at www.ifj.org.
- Workers with employer-paid health
insurance and families to cover are now paying an average of
$3,281 a year toward their premiums – in addition to
higher deductibles and rising co-payments for prescriptions and
doctor visits, according to a recent survey by the Kaiser Family
Foundation and the Health Research Educational Trust.
Although the 6.1 percent hike in health
insurance premiums this year is lower than last year's increase
and less than half the whopping 13.9 percent increase in 2003,
the survey showed that premiums overall have skyrocketed 78
percent since 2001. That's four times faster than wages or
inflation.
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