February 25, 2010

UPTE-CWA Gains Tentative Contract at UC After 2-Year Fight

It took two years of tough bargaining, but University Professional and Technical Employees/CWA Local 9119 won a tentative agreement last week covering 9,000 researchers and technicians at the University of California.

The five-year agreement provides for pay increases of 14.5 percent over the contract term, plus a $1,000 lump sum payment to be paid this July.

The tentative settlement will be sent to members for a ratification vote.

"Local 9119 achieved this settlement during the worst economy in the history of California. I'm proud of the bargaining committee, the local leadership and everything they have done to protect members," said CWA District 9 Vice President Jim Weitkamp.

Progress in bargaining was delayed by university officials who refused to fairly address workers' concerns about their pay and retirement security.

Union members kept up a constant mobilization campaign, lobbied the state legislature, and gained public and community support through a media campaign.

In other improvements, the contract sets up a $1.7 million equity pool to help address pay inequities for workers in some job titles. The university will contribute 4 percent into the workers' pension plan this year, and has agreed to match or exceed additional one percent contributions by employees in 2011 and 2012.

The contract also limits increases in workers' health benefits and parking fees.

"This is a great agreement, especially considering the terrible state of California's economy," said UPTE-CWA Local 9119 President Jelger Kalmijn. "We won good raises and placed real limits on how much the university can charge for health care and other benefits. We will continue to fight for workers at UC, especially in the area of job security," he added.

CWA: Comcast/NBC Merger is a Bad Bet  

CWA President Larry Cohen tells the House Judiciary Committee that the Comcast/NBCU merger threatens quality jobs, investment and the future of the Internet.

CWA President Larry Cohen told the House Judiciary Committee that the proposed Comcast/NBC merger should be assessed in terms of jobs, the impact on competition, and the likely negative effect on the emerging Internet video marketplace.

Cohen testified on a panel with Comcast CEO Brian Roberts, NBCU CEO Jeff Zucker and other witnesses representing independent film makers, consumers and public policy groups. Read the testimony here.

Cohen told the committee that the proposed merger would saddle the company with $8 billion in new debt and that "NBCU will be under pressure to cut jobs, raise prices or renege on that debt." CWA can cite firsthand many examples of media and communications mergers that did just that. "There are no warranties, no guarantees for consumers, workers and communities. Companies make lots of commitments but don't have to carry them out," he said.

With the nation's unemployment near 10 percent, it's critical that our government evaluate and assess corporate restructurings with regulatory review in terms of the impact on jobs, he said. 

Cohen also stressed Comcast's low-road labor policy, one based on a strategy to stop workers from gaining bargaining rights and using aggressive action to stop workers from organizing or getting contracts at companies that it has acquired.

The merger also would create a company with the market power to increase cable rates, block competition in the video marketplace and control content, Cohen said. "No other nation allows this degree of connection between content and pipe, and with good reason," he said.

"In the end, consumers lose innovation and an open Internet.  The Internet, once a source of expanding consumer choice and diversity of programming content, would now become mainly a vehicle to protect the current cable incumbents," Cohen said.

UT Activists Rally to Save Jobs, Higher Education

Hundreds of University of Tennessee employees, members of United Campus Workers-CWA Local 3865, rallied against the proposed budget that would cut jobs and harm quality education.

Hundreds of university employees, members of United Campus Workers-CWA Local 3865, rallied at the University of Tennessee in Knoxville to fight against the proposed budget that would cut jobs and wages for hundreds of support staff and nontenured faculty members and harm quality education.

The group then marched to the president's office and delivered a letter that called on university administration to look at other strategies before laying off workers. Over the past 10 years, top administrative salaries have nearly doubled to $76.1 million, while salaries of operational support workers, including programmers, secretaries, library staff, police force and others, have actually decreased. "Cuts must start at the top, whether those cuts are layoffs, salary or benefit reductions, furloughs or other cost-saving measures," said UCW President Tom Anderson. The average salary of workers slated to be laid off is $23,500 a year.

CWA District 3 Vice President Judy Dennis and CWA Organizing Director Ed Sabol joined Anderson, union members and students in the march to the president's office.  

The governor wants to cut $61 million from higher education, and university administrators have targeted lower-paid workers for layoff. UCW says that's unfair and shortsighted, citing the university's own research that shows that for every one job at the university, at least two additional jobs are created in nearby communities.

UCW represents 1,000 university workers at seven University of Tennessee campuses. Union members will hold a lobby day with state legislators in March.

CWA: Bargaining Rights Now for Nation's Airport Security Officers

CWAers join hundreds of union members in Washington, D.C. at a rally to support bargaining rights for the nation's 40,000 airport security officers at the Transportation Security Administration. Kim Kraynak, one of the first TSA union activists, thanks labor for its support. Left, are CWA President Larry Cohen and AFA-CWA President Patricia Friend.

CWAers rallied with hundreds of union activists this week to support full collective bargaining rights for the nation's 40,000 airport security officers.

At a rally at the AFL-CIO, activists called on the Obama administration to carry out its pledge to grant the workers, employees of the Transportation Security Administration, bargaining rights like other federal workers have.

The American Federation of Government Employees, which is working with the transportation security officers, or TSOs, to gain bargaining rights, filed a petition with the National Labor Relations Authority calling for a union election. AFGE already represents 13,000 TSOs.  

At the rally, AFGE President John Gage called on the Obama administration and Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano to move forward now.

CWA President Larry Cohen said the workers' struggle for collective bargaining rights should be supported by everyone who wants a union, or belongs to a union.

"Every one of us carries the message proudly that this is the time for all workers in this country to have full collective bargaining rights," said Cohen. "This is also a message to every employer that this labor movement is back," he said. "We're fighting back, and we're going to win." Because of low pay, poor morale, and often unsafe working conditions, airport screeners have among the highest turnover rates of any job in the federal government.

AFA-CWA President Patricia Friend dismissed claims that TSA workers should not have bargaining rights because it would threaten national security.

"In the airport cabin, flight attendants are the last line of defense to keep airline passengers safe," said Friend. "As airport screeners, you are the first line of defense and deserve to have the same rights to improve your working conditions."

CWA and Free Press: Saving Journalism is Key to Saving Democracy

CWA and allies like Free Press are working together to save quality journalism and the democracy it protects.

"We're losing 1,000 newsroom employees every month, and we've lost 30,000 over the last two years," John Nichols of The Nation said during a discussion with CWA and TNG-CWA staff and officers. "And that's come after the culling out of radio and television. Roughly 20,000 people are no longer on the air."

Founded by Nichols and University of Illinois Professor Robert McChesney, Free Press successfully built a grassroots movement in the early 2000s that helped millions of Americans understand how and why concentrated media power reduces their access to information. Free Press continues to work to promote diverse and independent media ownership and quality journalism.

Their latest book, "The Death and Life of American Journalism," looks at media consolidation, the Internet and other factors that are reducing the number of journalists and news stories produced in the United States.

As part of their book tour, Nichols and McChesney met with regulators and elected officials in Washington. 

TNG-CWA President Bernie Lunzer has pledged "an army of foot soldiers" from locals to engage their communities in the battle to save their newspapers.

Flight Attendants at Mesa, Atlantic Southeast Ratify Agreements

Mesa/Freedom/Go! flight attendants have ratified a two-year contract that raises salaries, improves work rules and lays a foundation for the next round of negotiations in 2012.

Negotiated with help from the National Mediation Board, the contract recognizes the flight attendants' "dedication and professionalism during this challenging time (and) provides a framework for working alongside management in rebuilding our airline," said AFA-CWA Mesa President Brian Manning.

In another AFA-CWA victory, Atlantic Southeast Airlines flight attendants ratified a Memorandum of Understanding that the union and management reached in January.

"This agreement gives ASA flight attendants much deserved improvements while providing for management's requests as well," AFA-CWA Atlantic Southeast President Jeannie Babb said. "It is a good example of the power of negotiations and what can be accomplished through productive discussions."

Don't Miss Spring Deadlines for Beirne, Bahr College Scholarships

CWA members and their families are encouraged to apply now for scholarships that can help them attend college or pursue a distance-learning degree in the 2010-11 academic year.

An annual scholarship from CWA's Joe Beirne Foundation provides 15 students up to $3,000 toward their college tuition, an award that can be renewed for a second year if winners have a satisfactory academic record.

The deadline for the Beirne scholarship, named for CWA's founding president, is March 31. CWA members, spouses, children, grandchildren and dependents of active, retired, laid-off or deceased members are eligible. Winners will be chosen from a lottery of eligible applicants.

Applications are available online only at: www.cwa-union.org/members/beirne.

The second scholarship, named for CWA's President Emeritus Morton Bahr, covers full tuition and fees for college courses offered by Empire State College's Center for Distance Learning.

CWA members, their families and domestic partners are eligible to apply. Scholarship winners can continue to receive funding as long as they make satisfactory academic progress and enroll in four to eight credits at least two terms per year.

The Bahr deadline is May 15. Forms are available online at www.esc.edu/bahr. To request an application by mail, e-mail special.programs@esc.edu or call (800) 847-3000, ext. 2492.