February 28, 2008

AT&T Mobility Contract Boosts Pay, Upgrades Jobs for District 6 Members
 

Members of Local 6016 stand up to support bargaining.

CWA negotiators reached a tentative agreement covering 9,000 AT&T Mobility workers in District 6 that upgrades more than 5,000 customer service jobs, increases pay across the board and sets up committees to resolve retail scheduling and other issues, among other gains.  

The proposed settlement calls for a compounded wage increase of 11.19 percent over the four-year contract term, as well as a $500 lump sum payment and improvements in call out and overtime pay.

Pension gains include annual pension band increases of 1.5 percent for the next four years for current employees along with a new lump sum payment option. Workers hired after next January will be covered under the cash balance pension plan.  

CWA District 6 Vice President Andy Milburn commended the bargaining committee for its hard work and determination to remain at the bargaining table through the contract's final hours to work out critical issues. The pay raises and upgrades included in the tentative agreement will be a factor in reducing turnover, he added.

Richard Kneupper, assistant to Milburn, said mobilization throughout District 6 to support bargaining made a tremendous difference.  CWAers wore red or black to support their bargaining team, sent postcards showing their support for a fair contract and signed up lots of non-members as negotiations got underway in late January, he said.

Contract explanation meetings will be held beginning February 29 with ratification to be completed before the end of March. Members of the bargaining committee are Jim Murray, Local 6502; John Richie, Local 6200; Eva Sustaita, Local 6143; Michael Neumann, CWA Representative, and Kneupper.

Union Campaign Produces New Commitments from Verizon, FairPoint 

Final approval by the New Hampshire Public Utilities Commission permits the sale of Verizon Communications operations in northern New England to FairPoint Communications to go forward, but the campaign waged by CWA, the IBEW and elected officials and community groups throughout the three states resulted in real improvements in the final deal that will help support quality service.

"One clear result of the effort by union members, concerned elected officials, community and consumer groups, and thousands of residents and activists in Vermont, New Hampshire and Maine is that an additional $970 million – the sum of Verizon's contributions of $362 million and FairPoint's commitments of $610 million as required by regulators as a condition of the sale – will help make FairPoint a stronger operation," said CWA President Larry Cohen. This includes a requirement that FairPoint cut its dividends by at least $200 million in order to reduce its debt.

Yet even with this added financial support, "CWA continues to believe that northern New England would have been better served by the establishment of an independent company, one that would operate without the huge debt load that burdens FairPoint, or by the sale of Verizon lines to an established company that would be capable of bringing true high speed broadband to the region.  As it stands, the benefits of true high speed Internet networks – the economic engine of the 21st century – simply won't be available to many businesses and consumers in this region," said Cohen.

State regulators and the public must make certain that FairPoint meets all of its commitments, he said. The New Hampshire Public Utilities Commission also recognized that FairPoint should meet its health care and other obligations to retirees by requiring FairPoint to establish an external trust fund to help cover its liabilities.

About 2,500 workers, members of CWA and the IBEW, now will make a transition to employment by FairPoint, and negotiations are underway. 

First-Ever Blog Strike Helps Hawaii Guild Restart Talks

Honolulu Advertiser workers fighting for a fair contract at their Gannett-owned newspaper made union history last week when reporters staged what's believed to be the country's first "blog strike."

Their action and a landslide strike vote a few days earlier combined to push management to back down from its "last and final" contract offer and agree to new talks next week.

For three days, members of The Newspaper Guild-CWA Local 39117 refused to post to the paper's online blogs, including an especially popular sports site. Many writers left messages for readers explaining their absence. Reporters, photographers and artists withheld bylines and credit lines from the print edition, a more traditional form of protest among Guild members.

The previous Sunday, the Guild, along with members of CWA's Printing Sector Local 14921 and four other unions at the newspaper voted overwhelmingly to authorize a strike if necessary. The vote, 358-17, also rejected the so-called final contract offer. The previous contract expired last June.

Gannett, the largest newspaper company in the United States, is seeking big hikes in the Honolulu workers' out-of-pocket health care costs. The meager 1 percent pay raise and one-time 1.5 percent bonus offered not only wouldn't cover the increase but would set workers back by about $150 a month, union leaders say.

Even so, they believe the company was stunned that workers rejected it so fiercely and that so many of the 600 workers represented by the six unions showed up to vote. "I think they thought our people would be cowed, and have no choice but to accept it," Guild Administrative Officer Wayne Cahill said. The Guild is the largest union at the paper with 355 members.

U.S. Rep. Neil Abercrombie, a Democrat who has long represented Hawaii, met with the paper's publisher last week, then rallied the next day with newspaper workers outside the Advertiser building to decry the health care cuts.

"They just want even more," Abercrombie said, quoted in Honolulu's Star Bulletin. "They've lost all perspective on what this business is all about. Their position is indefensible."

In the middle of the blog and byline strike, Gannett announced that it would return to the bargaining table. Talks are set for March 6-7.

The unusual strike even caught the attention of The New York Times. TNG President Linda Foley told the paper it appears to be the first time reporters have refused to blog as part of a contract dispute. The closest previous job action, she said, was probably in 2003 when Wall Street Journal reporters refused to appear on CNBC during a contract fight.

CWA and USW Political Activists Train to Join Forces

CWA and the United Steelworkers (USW) have agreed to work together in Virginia and Indiana to get information about candidates in this year's elections to all members in those states and to boost voter turnout in November.

In preparation for the joint effort, 12 CWAers attended the USW Political Activists training in Pittsburgh Feb. 24-26.  The unions will divide up zones in the two states and take responsibility for making sure locals of both unions are actively reaching out to members and have all the materials they need.

CWA and USW have worked closely together on political action in the past, but the new joint approach will allow for better coordination of ground resources.  The joint program may be expanded to other states.

IN BRIEF:
  • Straight-faced, looking straight into the camera, GOP presidential candidate John McCain tells Midwestern working – and out-of-work -- families that, "I know NAFTA was a good idea. It's created millions of jobs."

    Actually, the controversial trade agreement has cost the United States more than 1 million good manufacturing jobs, according to the Economic Policy Institute and the AFL-CIO.

    You can see it yourself and the rest of McCain's homage to the North American Free Trade Agreement on YouTube at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=86QwI-6TWic.

    The AFL-CIO is keeping track of McCain's record on trade and other issues in which he's consistently voted against the interests of workers and struggling American families. A webpage about his record will be online soon and updated regularly.

  • Applications for CWA's annual Joe Beirne Scholarship Foundation awards are now being accepted for the 2008-2009 school year. This year the foundation's Board of Directors has approved the awarding of 30 partial scholarships of up to $3,000 each. Winners will also receive second-year scholarships for the same amount contingent upon satisfactory academic achievement.

    Applications must be received by April 30, 2008. Winners will be chosen by lottery from those submitting the required essay. Eligible for the scholarships are CWA members, their spouses, children and grandchildren, including the dependents of retired, laid-off, or deceased members.  Additional eligibility criteria, program information, and application forms, can be found at  www.cwa-union.org/members/beirne.

  • Materials to help locals prepare for Workers Memorial Day 2008 are available online from the AFL-CIO, and CWA is encouraging union leaders and safety and health activists to use them.

    Workers Memorial Day, which falls on April 28 this year, is an opportunity to focus attention on workplace safety and honor the thousands of workers killed annually and the countless others injured and sickened on the job. Over the last year, CWA has lost four members in workplace fatalities.

    The theme of this year's event is "Good Jobs — Safe Jobs For All." A flier, poster, proclamation and clip art, in English and Spanish, can be downloaded from http://www.aflcio.org/issues/safety/memorial/. The federation is also asking activists to fill out an event form online so your local's activities can be counted and possibly featured. For help planning an event, contact CWA Health and Safety Director Dave LeGrande at legrande@cwa-union.org or by phone at (202) 434-1160.

    Closer to the day itself, the AFL-CIO will be issuing its annual study, "Death on the Job," which examines deaths, injuries and illness by occupation, state and cause. It also looks at the federal government's track record on issuing workplace safety standards and OSHA's record on enforcing or ignoring safety laws.