Retiree Center

We now have a new retiree chapter up and running in Omaha, Nebraska. On October 15, 2007 we elected officers, Virginia Busch President, Sharon Walton Secretary, Dorothy Sandmeier Vice President and Rose Palmer Treasurer.

They have had three meetings and are off to a great start. Next they are working on their by-laws.

Left to Right: Rose Palmer, Sharon Walton, Virginia Busch, Omaha, NE Officers

CWA President Bud Speakman from Local 13101 meets with RMC 70901 Retirees in Cedar Rapids, IA. To the far right is Joyce Hermanstorfer - President 70901 and to her right is Bud Speakman - President 13101.

Bud shared his personal relationship with Senator Joe Biden and why he is supporting of him for President.

On October 4, 2007, CWA RMC 70901 and LOCAL 7108 join together with "Speed Matters" at Senator Obama's event at the Boys and Girls Club of Black Hawk County in Waterloo, Iowa.

12 members of CWA Local 7108 and 5 retirees from retiree chapter 70901 attended.

In the back row are Steve Abbott "Speed Maters" and Local 7108 President Matt Porter.
Front row far right RMC 70901 President Joyce Hermanstorfer.

At the beginning of the year, over 128,000 CWA retirees who were not CWA Local Retiree chapter members were sent a letter and brochure announcing the new Lifetime Council membership program and inviting them to sign up. It’s easy for retirees to join –they can go to the Council’s website www.CWAretirees.com and join on-line. I would also like to echo this invitation.

I would also encourage you to join and participate in your Local’s Retiree Chapter. The purpose of a CWA Retired Members' Chapter is to bring retirees into an organization for the betterment of themselves and their Union. Chapters provide retirees with a vehicle to protect and fight for the issues that affect them as retirees and family members. Through the CWA retiree chapters, our members are able to speak out with a united voice. The establishment of the chapter also provides advantages for the sponsoring Local. The chapter provides a wealth of experienced, knowledgeable and available members for picket lines, rallies, organizing and legislative activities.

All retirees who were members in good standing of CWA or its merger-partner unions at the time of their retirement and who are Life Time Members of the CWA Retiree Members Council are eligible to join the chapter, regardless of their home local.

Spouses of these retirees are eligible to join as "associate members” of the Retired Members' Chapter and enjoy all privileges except voting.

Some of the advantages of being a member and participating in your Local’s retiree chapter include:

A. To Unite CWA retired members in a cohesive organization that can, in conjunction with the CWA Retired Members Council, other unions, church, and community groups, develop effective support for programs on federal, state-wide, and community levels to bring a better life for older people.

C. To assist retired members secure housing, medical care, drugs and other consumer goods and services at prices they can afford to pay.

D. To inform retired members about useful, social and recreational opportunities.

In CWA District 7 we have established a District 7 Retiree Committee. This committee provides a direct link to CWA District 7 on issues and concerns of our CWA retirees. The District 7 Retiree Committee is responsible for developing plans and programs to establish Local Retiree Chapters in Locals and areas where there is an interest from retirees, as well as recruit volunteers to actively participate in Local chapters and other activities that may be determined as necessary to maintain the lifestyle each retiree expected when they retired.

CWA District 7 has also added this retiree page to our CWA District 7 web site. While this page is still new and a work in progress we hope to provide information of interest to our CWA retirees.

The following are the names and contact numbers for our CWA District 7 Retiree Committee:

I have attached to this correspondence a section for you to indicate your desire to participate in your Local chapter. Once we have received your information, I will forward your information to the appropriate Local chapter or Local to contact you and invite you to the next meeting. (Please download the letter.)

Ann Cummings, our District 7 Retiree Council representative was recently honored by the Minnesota State AF-CIO with the following resolution:

Ann Cummings is the only First Vice President of the Minnesota State Retiree Council has known. She was a founder of this organization, and has been a leader in building this organization.

Ann was prepared for that role by her lifetime of service and leadership in the labor movement with the Communications Workers of America, and in the AFL-CIO. Ann has been a union member for longer than some of us--even in this room of oldsters--have been alive.

There is really no adequate way to say "thanks" for all of the dedication, sacrifice, service and leadership Ann has shared with us.

But what we can do is make our sister Ann Cummings a Lifetime Vice President Emeritus of the Minnesota State Retiree Council, AFL-CIO, with never-ending rights of voting and participation on our Board of Directors. So to Ann Cummgs we present this certificate, naming you a Lifetime Vice President Emeritus, reading.....

In recognition of you eleven years as First Vice President of the Minnesota State Retiree Council, AFL-CIO,

And in recognition of a lifetime of service and leadership on behalf of the Unions and working people of the State of Minnesota.

CWA held it's Annual Retiree Members' Council meeting this year in Toronto, Canada, July 14th, 2007. The first speaker of our meeting was CWA District 1 Vice President, Chris Shelton. He welcomed us to District 1 and to Canada. He talked about the passing of Council Chair Ed Creegan. He is missed by everyone. Vice President Shelton opened his presentation by stating that retirees will play a big part with bargaining. The Department of Labor has tried to convince CEO’s employee benefits are not necessary. The Department of Labor under President Bush is not our friend. All benefits are under attack. He stated, “We absolutely need retirees out there to help, we are committed to keep what retirees have.”

The meeting was turned over to Retired Members’ Council Chair James Starr. After roll call of the RMC Board members the minutes were approved. James Starr then started giving us a history of the creation of the RMC Board when it started in 1971 in Denver. They are attempting to put this together so we will know when and how the RMC began. We spent a short amount of time discussing a By-Law change to Article XIII, it was adopted, but by then end of the day it had been changed to a resolution to be presented at the CWA Convention on Monday. More on this resolution later.

CWA District 6 Vice President Andy Milburn spoke next. He said health care is one of the most important issues going to bargaining now. He said CEO’s talk about the two tier healthcare proposal. New hires would have no healthcare. Of course that’s not acceptable. We need to build a Steward’s Army and continue to build up our Retiree’s Army.

Addie Brinkley, RMC Board member gave the COPE report. Addie said we have to maintain healthcare for Lucent people. She mentioned legislation HR676 and said to check out the web site www.singlepayer.com We discussed further having a member from the RMC sit on the CWA National Executive Board. We agreed to support this and push for a vote at the convention.

Vice President of CWA for Communications and Technologies Ralph Maly spoke next. He said the Lucent 420 Transfer passed and thanked everyone for their support getting this through. This will

protect CWA members through 2012 their next bargaining. VP Maly said the company can still take their obligation out. He will put more details about this on their web page. VP Maly said Alcatel is not one to help pay for our healthcare. Letters helped to push legislation through. He went on to say, “Retiree healthcare can not be fixed by bargaining.” Alcatel has more non-union workers; by 2012 there will be fewer people to support bargaining issues. This is why “Employee Free Choice Act” is very important.

A question was asked about the kick back Lucent received for the drug program they have that is as good as or better than Medicare Part D.

Vice President Maly said yes this is free money to the company from Medicare for those 65 and older.

Another question was asked about the lost computer disk. Ralph Maly explained what happened according to the company and said they will continue to watch over this the next several years.

CWA Secretary-Treasurer Barbara Easterling swore in 2 new officers to the Retired Members’ Council. She said the CWA Executive Board supports the CWA Retired Members’ Council. She said it is our role and goal to increase retiree involvement. CWA will work on issues of retirees. We support the retiree movement. We have many of the same goals. The resolution that we will be passing will be the conduit to connect our goals and agendas together.

CWA President Larry Cohen spoke about a National Coalition on healthcare. He said many large companies don’t have a plan in place yet. Some of the proposals they are looking at are Medicare down to 55 years of age, and Medicare for All. President Cohen said, “We want to rebuild the bargaining power of CWA. We want to build a stronger political movement in the US. The US collective bargaining rights are the weakest in the country. We have to build a larger retiree movement and get stronger. Healthcare, social security, retiree security, worker’s rights, are just some of the issues. We have to believe every retired CWA member will join with us.”

CWA Executive Vice President Jeff Rechenbach said, “We want to keep retirees engaged. How do we build your power? How do we connect with retirees if we don’t know where they are?” VP Rechenbach said President Cohen asked District 7 Vice President Annie Hill to head up a Strategic Industry Fund project to educate our members and shape the debate over health care. CWA supports Universal Healthcare. The committee with the help of CWA staff Louise Novotny has a web page for us to check out, www.healthcarevoices.org.

Much time was spent reviewing a proposal put together by the CWA RMC and CWA Executive Board on Working Together and Building Our Power. To save room I will report only on the first paragraph and the final resolutions. For anyone wanting the complete proposal we can get you a copy. The CWA Executive Board and the Retired Members’ Council Executive Board are committed to working together to ensure the growth of both organizations. Our shared goal is to increase the political, organizing and bargaining power of both organizations while respecting and maintaining the autonomy of each. Resolved: That the RMC will develop an action plan with specific goals to work with locals to organize new chapters, increase membership and build active participation in CWA campaigns. Resolved: That the Executive Boards of CWA and RMC will meet annually in joint session in conjunction with the Legislative-Political Conference and the CWA Convention.

Resolved: That the Executive Boards of CWA and RMC will, by 2008 CWA Convention, determine additional ways to work more closely together, including providing direct representation from the RMC to the CWA Executive Board.

Since the 2006 Convention, the Retired Members’ Council membership has grown by more than 10,000 for a total of 39,000. The Council has added 26 new retiree chapters, bringing the total to 157. Locals can benefit immensely from active retiree chapters and are encouraged to support the work of the Council. They continue to organize chapters to strengthen the union at large. We need to stay focused on retirement security, especially health care. Unlike pension benefits, health coverage for retirees is not guaranteed or protected by the law. Instead, strong collective bargaining agreements backed by mobilized union members and retirees are what protect health coverage for retired workers. They said the Council will stand with CWA in the fight to maintain quality and affordable health benefits for those they represent in every round of negotiations with all employers.

There was talk about getting more space in the CWA News for retiree issues, it was agreed by the CWA Executive Board that we could have more room.

If you would like to read the Executive Board speeches from the National CWA Convention you may go to www.cwa-union.org .

It was decided the next CWA Retired Members’ Council Annual Membership meeting will be June 21, 2008, in Las Vegas, NV.

To help retired members stay connected to CWA, and to harness their energy for protecting key retiree issues -- pensions, health care, Social Security and Medicare -- CWA is now offering a special Lifetime Membership in the Retired Members' Council for a one-time payment of $25.

"We must do a better job of realizing the tremendous potential that CWA retirees can play in our employer and legislative campaigns to maintain and protect the hard-won benefits we all count on when we retire," said CWA's national officers in announcing the program to locals.

The Executive Board created the lifetime Council memberships in response to CWA's Ready for the Future convention resolution calling for doubling the number of Council members to 50,000 by 2009. Previously Council membership required payment of annual fees.

Under the program, the 20,000 current members of CWA local retiree chapters will automatically be enrolled in the program.

CWA last week mailed a brochure and application form to 128,000 retirees who don't now belong to local chapters outlining the new program. To become lifetime members of the Council, retirees can either return the form with a check or credit card information or else join directly online at a new website -- www.cwaretirees.com .

On the website, retirees will find information about the activities of the Retired Members' Council as well as money-saving discount programs available to Council members through the CWA Union Privilege program.