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August 27, 2009
When it comes to Internet speed, the United States is
improving -- at a snail's pace.
CWA's third annual Speed Matters report on Internet speed is
getting a lot of buzz, with industry officials, regulators and
lots of others talking about it. It's been covered by national
and local newspapers and radio and television stations across
the country.
The United States ranks 28th in the world in terms of
Internet speed, with countries like Japan, South Korea, Sweden
and others far ahead. "At our current rate of progress, it will
take the United States 15 years to catch up with current
Internet speeds in South Korea which are currently four times
faster than the U.S.," CWA President Larry Cohen said.
Check out how your state and county compare at www.speedmatters.org. The report found that
only 20 percent of users had Internet speeds anywhere those of
South Korea and other top-ranked countries and nearly 20 percent
of those taking the speed test didn't even measure up to the
FCC's definition of high speed, a slow 768 kilobits per second.
Speed matters, Cohen said, because new jobs and America's
ability to compete in a high-tech age are directly linked to
Internet speed and access. "Continued job growth, innovation and
rural development require high-speed, universal networks," he
said, as do advances in tele-medicine, distance learning and new
applications being developed every day.
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CWA Local 2222 members Tim Firebaugh, Joe
Cooper, Don Lewis and Dolores Trevino-Gerber served as marshals
for a town hall meeting in Virginia with Rep. James Moran.
Below, CWAers from D6 and other union activists stand up for
health care reform at a town hall meeting in Beeville, Tex.,
with Rep. Ruben Hinojosa. |
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CWAers helped staff a town hall meeting in northern Virginia
that drew an overflow crowd of people in favor of health care
reform, as well as the antis carrying Nazi signs and
bullhorns.
"It was 80 percent to 20 percent, in favor of people who
support reform," said Tim Firebaugh, congressional district
coordinator for CWA Local 2222. "The problem was the 20 percent.
They were there to disrupt. When Governor Howard Dean was
introduced they got so loud that you couldn't even hear the man
speak."
Dean, former head of the Democratic National Committee and a
physician, joined Rep. Jim Moran (D-Va.) at a local high school.
Long lines formed outside hours before the 7 p.m. event, with
the vast majority of people chatting quietly and holding
pro-reform signs.
Firebaugh and other union members, coordinated by the
Northern Virginia Area Labor Federation, acted as marshals to
keep the lines in order and direct people to the auditorium and
restrooms. Their peaceful demeanor didn't stop opponents from
calling them "union thugs."
One woman in line accosted CWA's health care campaign
coordinator Dolores Gerber when she saw a CWA insignia on
Gerber's shirt. Gerber said: "She asked why 'union thugs' were
at the event. I told her I was a union member and proud of
it and I was a constituent of congressional district 8, was
she? She fumbled around and said it was a public
meeting."
In a media statement, CWA President Larry Cohen expressed the
sorrow that CWAers felt on the death of Senator Edward Kennedy.
Throughout a lifetime of public service, Senator Kennedy made
improving the lives of working men and women his cause. Health
care for all, an end to discrimination, fairness and respect for
workers, these were Senator Kennedy's passions, CWA President
Larry Cohen said. "He has a special place in the hearts of CWA
members," Cohen said.
Cohen met with Kennedy the day before President Obama's
inauguration, and said Kennedy was determined to complete two
goals -- passage of the Employee Free Choice Act and real health
care reform. "That dream will go on, and we will do so in
his name," Cohen pledged.
Every major advance, every step forward for working families
came about because of Kennedy's efforts: Medicare and Medicaid,
family and medical leave, workers' rights, retirement security,
equal rights and fair treatment for women, civil rights for
people of color, the list goes on and on.
"We will extend that legacy when we achieve one of Senator
Kennedy's greatest passions, health care for all," Cohen said.
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RMC President Bobby Brown at CWA
convention. |
Bobby Ray Brown, president of CWA's Retired Members' Council
and a Local 6201 member for nearly 60 years, died Aug. 24 in
Texas.
"Bobby was a leader, not only for the RMC and District 6, but
across CWA," CWA President Larry Cohen said. "He was also a
force throughout AT&T and provided constant representation
to retired workers on the issues most important to them."
"But mostly I will remember Bobby as the best of CWA.
He always put our union first, inspiring so many of us to be the
best we can be," Cohen said.
Brown, who was 79, had been recently diagnosed with a brain
tumor, but gave a dynamic address to CWA convention delegates
this past June.
Brown got his start as a communications technician during the
Korean War, serving in the U.S. Army attached to an Air Force
unit. When he returned, he began a 40-year career at SBC (now
AT&T), and joined CWA. Always an active member, he served as
one of his local's vice presidents.
After retiring, he was elected president of his
Retired Members' Council chapter, then president of
RMC District 6. He continued in his District 6 role after being
elected RMC president in January 2009. He also continued to
serve on Local 6201's legislative-political committee.
A lifelong Democratic activist, Brown gave his time to
community projects and local politics, serving as a city council
member and mayor pro tem in Haslet, near Fort Worth.
Survivors include his wife, Priscilla, four children, 13
grand-children and 14 great-grandchildren.
Whole Foods shoppers have long paid a premium for wholesome
food they thought they were buying from a socially conscious
retailer. Turns out it's been bait-and-switch all along.
Whole Foods CEO John Mackey has publicly attacked the
Employee Free Choice Act and real health care reform. Now
consumers and unions are fighting back.
In the time since Mackey wrote an anti-reform op-ed for the
Wall Street Journal, outraged shoppers have launched boycotts
that are rapidly spreading through online social networks and
blogs.
"While all of us empathize with those who are sick, how can
we say that all people have more of an intrinsic right to health
care than they have to food or shelter?" Mackey wrote. "This
'right' has never existed in America." A public option is "the
last thing our country needs," he declared.
Mackey has been working behind the scenes to strip out
majority sign-up and other key provisions from the Employee Free
Choice Act, and likes to boast that his stores are "100 percent
union-free."
But union members, consumers and activists are showing up in
force outside Mackey's stores nationwide. This week UFCW members
in St. Paul, Minn., demonstrated in front of a local Whole Foods
as the start of a campaign to educate shoppers about Mackey's
efforts to undermine health care reform and workers' rights.
CWA will press for constitutional amendments that call for
better use of financial resources by the AFL-CIO and changes to
improve governance. The constitutional amendments plus a
resolution on Labor Unity have been submitted for consideration
by AFL-CIO delegates next month.
Rich Trumka, AFL-CIO secretary-treasurer, and certain to be
the next AFL-CIO president, spoke and answered questions at the
August CWA Executive Board meeting.
The resolution on Labor Unity calls on the AFL-CIO to
continue to support the National Labor Coordinating Committee
and the NLCC goal of uniting the labor movement.
The leaders of 11 major unions, including the National
Education Association, plus the AFL-CIO and Change to Win, have
been working for a united labor movement that will best serve
the interests of working people at this critical time in our
history. The NLCC also coordinates work on the Employee
Free Choice Act, health care, and other issues.
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NABET-CWA message makes its way around
Washington, D.C.
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NABET-CWA members in Washington, D.C., are asking local
residents to "Turn Off NBC 4" to support their fight for a fair
contract as the network continues its union-busting
campaign.
Bus ads, mobile billboards and an Internet campaign are the
latest efforts by NABET-CWA activists in Washington and in New
York, Los Angeles and Chicago to build support for a fair
contract. The stations employ 2,500 NABET-CWA members.
The network wants to change workers' job titles, but not
their jobs, to move work out of the bargaining unit. NBC
is also demanding changes in the seniority system that could
hurt longterm employees.
The workers' contract expired March 31.
Join CWA's health and safety team in San Diego in October for
the Occupational Safety and Health Conference, where experts
will help you tackle the flu, ergonomics, toxic materials and
other hazards workers face on the job.
The conference is Oct. 3-5 at the Holiday Inn On-the-Bay in
San Diego. Seminars also will cover recordkeeping, leadership
skills and what the Obama administration is doing to protect
workers and overturn anti-worker rules from the Bush
administration.
Participants should register for the conference and at the
hotel by Sept. 11.
More information and registration details are at http://cwa-union.org/issues/osh/2009conference.html.
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