Cohen: Don't Miss the Bus for Historic 'One Nation' Rally in Washington

In 1963, more than 200,000 Americans rallied at the Lincoln Memorial for civil rights, led by Rev. Martin Luther King and other leaders. On Oct. 2, our coalition will again make history.

With just five weeks until more than a quarter of a million One Nation marchers gather at the Lincoln Memorial, now's the time to sign up for a CWA bus ride to make your voice heard.

In a new video, CWA President Larry Cohen is asking CWAers, their families and friends to take part in the historic Oct. 2 march and rally at the Lincoln Memorial. "We believe that across this country working families want change, that working families have had enough with 'Go Slow,'" he said. Watch the video here. 

The website is also the place to sign up for one of the buses, which will be available from 11 states within driving distance from D.C. in the East and Midwest.

More than 200 organizations have signed on to the event, united around quality jobs, bargaining rights, retirement security and a government that works for all of us.

In its official call for participants, the One Nation coalition says, "We are determined to build a more united America - with jobs, justice and education for all...We are students and newly-returned veterans persevering in the face of mounting debt, determined not to be the first generation to end up worse off than our parents. We are baby boomers and seniors…We are conservatives and moderates, progressives and liberals, non-believers and people of deep faith, united by escalating assaults on our reason, our environment and our rights. We are workers of every age, faith, race, sex, nationality, gender identity, ethnicity, sexual orientation and ability who have suffered discrimination but never stopped loving our neighbors, or our nation."

Tell us why you're getting on the bus! Email news@cwa-union.org.

Dayton Job Training Program Wins Praise from Governor, Dislocated Workers

Dislocated workers are signing up for high tech and green job training at the IUE-CWA Service Center. From left, CWA Pres. Cohen, Ohio Gov. Ted Strickland, Lee Gillis, Jr., who starts a new job next week, and IUE-CWA Pres. Jim Clark.

Ohio Governor Ted Strickland applauded CWA and IUE-CWA for providing state-of-the-art high tech and green job training to dislocated workers. The governor spoke to students and CWAers at the IUE-CWA Service Center in Dayton.

Through a $4 million job training grant from the Department of Labor and CWA/NETT, more than 60 Ohio workers have received skill training, with 1,500 expected to graduate by the end of 2011. A green production skill training module also is being developed as part of the grant.

Classes are free and open to all dislocated workers.

IUE-CWA President Jim Clark said area employers "are already starting to take note of the program's graduates." He introduced one of them, 43-year-old Lee Gillis, who starts a new job Monday after two years out of work.

Gillis described being in a room recently with eight other people seeking the same manufacturing job. Proudly holding up his certification, Gillis said that when he showed it to the interviewer, "everything changed. They hired me."

CWA President Larry Cohen said having a "Labor Department in Washington that actually listens" made all the difference in pursuing the grant. "It was an honor to fight for this program and for this funding," he said. "Anyone can lay off workers, the question is, how do you get companies to hire workers."

CenturyLink Behind Schedule on Embarq Integration

CWA Telecommunications Vice President Jimmy Gurganus submitted testimony to the Minnesota Public Utilities Commission, outlining potential risks surrounding the proposed CenturyLink-Qwest Communications acquisition. Gurganus will testify before the Minnesota PUC in October.

CWA represents about 15,000 workers at Qwest and about 3,700 at CenturyLink.

CenturyLink's own documents show that the company is concerned that it might not be able to "integrate successfully the businesses of CenturyLink and Qwest and realize the anticipated benefits of the merger," Gurganus said.

CenturyLink already is experiencing problems in integrating systems from Embarq, which CenturyLink acquired in 2008. "If these issues are not successfully addressed with the former Embarq operations, then the much larger task of integrating Qwest has a great potential to cause serious damage to CenturyLink and the customers it serves," he said.

CWA members at Qwest and CenturyLink are contacting their state and local officials, raising concerns about jobs, service quality, and the ability of CenturyLink to provide 21st Century communications to customers across Qwest's 13 state territory.

At a special CenturyLink shareholders meeting Aug. 24 in Monroe, La., Gurganus also pointed out that the Embarq systems were not being properly integrated into the CenturyLink system.

Click here for the latest developments.

Puerto Rico Local Fighting for Members on Many Fronts

TNG-CWA/UPAGRA members at Puerto Rico's WAPA-TV turn out in force for an informational picket in their fight for a fair contract. The 140-member unit has voted unanimously to strike if necessary.

A long-sought back pay award, a court date Monday in the case of 107 locked-out newspaper workers and a strike vote at TV station WAPA are among the victories and battles on the busy calendar at Puerto Rico's TNG-CWA Local 33225, known as UPAGRA.

Last week, a U.S. District Court judge in San Juan ordered four years of back pay for five employees that the San Juan Star laid off in 2005. In 2006, an arbitrator found that the company falsely claimed financial hardship and ordered the workers reinstated. The owners refused, shutting down the Star two years later. But TNG-CWA refused to give up its fight. "This is a lesson for all owners who insist on ignoring arbitration awards that favor their workers," UPAGRA President Nestor Soto said.

Another 107 workers who were locked out of their jobs at the newspaper El Vocero 14 months ago could get injunctive relief following a U.S. Federal Court hearing Monday. The case, which involves multiple ULP charges, a sham outsourcing company and misuse of federal stimulus funds, is before the NLRB, but workers and their families continue to suffer. Marta Figueroa, NLRB regional director in Puerto Rico, called for the hearing and described the company's campaign of fear and intimidation against remaining workers and the hardship on those fired. In the island's "dismal job market," she said the workers have lost homes, gone bankrupt and delayed critical medical care.

At WAPA-TV, the company's refusal to fairly address key issues of seniority and job security led the 140-member wall-to-wall UPAGRA unit to vote unanimously for strike authorization.

Judge Rules Albany Newspaper Broke Law, Orders Laid-Off Workers Reinstated

New York's Albany Times Union broke the law by dismissing 11 workers last year when the newspaper was supposed to be negotiating lay-off criteria with TNG-CWA, an administrative law judge ruled. His decision also finds the company guilty of unlawfully declaring impasse in contract talks.

Judge Mark Carissimi ordered the company to reinstate the workers within 14 days and make them financially whole. The publisher has said he will appeal to the full NLRB, putting workers' return on hold.

"We won the case and they have an uphill battle now, because the judge's decision is very solidly in our favor," TNG-CWA Local 31034 President Tim O'Brien said.

Carissimi rejected the Times Union's claim that the TNG-CWA local wasn't willing to negotiate layoffs, noting that the union made a proposal the day before impasse was declared that even the company had described as "movement."

O'Brien said the 11 workers have had a tough time financially since the layoffs in July 2009. While some have found jobs, they are making significantly less money. "They deserve better after all they have been through than a long, drawn-out appeal meant only to drag the case out," he said. "Justice may be delayed, but it will not be denied."

Virginia AFL-CIO Elects CWAer as First Woman President

Virginia AFL-CIO President Doris Crouse-Mays with CWA Pres. Larry Cohen.

The 200 delegates to the Virginia AFL-CIO Convention elected the state fed's first woman president, and she's a CWAer. Doris Crouse-Mays had been a CWA organizer with District 2 until her election as secretary-treasurer of the Virginia AFL-CIO in 2006.

Among resolutions adopted was a call to accelerate the build out of high speed broadband networks, submitted by the CWA Virginia State Council.

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