VOLUME 70, #1 January/February/March Printed in the U.S.A.CWA. Notice Regarding Union Security Agreements and Agency Fee Objections page 7

Transcription

1 VOLUME 70, #1 January/February/March 2010 Printed in the U.S.A.CWA news Communications Workers of America, AFL-CIO, CLC { Notice Regarding Union Security Agreements and Agency Fee Objections page 7

2 2 CWA News / Jan/Feb/March 2010 W O R K I N G Together We re Fighting for Jobs...Our Jobs Wall Streeters say the recession is just about over. That s surprising news for the nearly 16 million Americans who are unemployed, and for millions more worried about losing their Larry Cohen jobs. In 2009, 30,000 CWA union jobs CWA President were lost, the highest number ever in a single year. We all know that Wall Street reacts in a peculiar way to what happens on Main Street. When companies cut jobs, stock prices often go up. When companies move operations offshore, stock prices often go up. But for most of us, little has improved and fear of job loss is as great as ever. The Obama administration s economic recovery plan helped counter the worst of the Wall Street and banking abuses that, left unchecked, would likely have pushed our country into a deep depression. Economists across the board agree that the stimulus worked to create and save about 1.8 million jobs. And let s not forget the immediate support it gave working families, like extending unemployment benefits and making health care a little more affordable by subsidizing their COBRA costs, temporarily at least. But much more must be done, to put our economy on a path that sustains good, quality jobs. CWA believes it s time that mergers, trade deals and other initiatives that need government and regulatory approval have a required jobs analysis, to assess the impact on jobs. That s a start, at least, to make sure that policy makers recognize how government policy and regulatory decisions affect quality jobs. I raised this issue at the recent White House Jobs Summit and on Capitol Hill where I testified about the proposed Comcast/NBCU merger. It s time our policy makers give jobs and job creation at least as much attention as the synergies that Wall Street loves. There are too many instances, facing workers within our own union, of mergers and plant closings that promise to make money for CEOs and sometimes shareholders but harm workers, families and communities. Our fight at Whirlpool is just the latest example. Whirlpool gets tax dollars from a program to encourage the manufacture and sale of energy efficient appliances. It received a grant from economic recovery funds. But instead of being a good corporate citizen and doing what it can to keep quality jobs in the U.S. during our economic downturn, Whirlpool wants to close its Evansville, Ind., plant and put 1,100 workers on the street so it can build a new facility in Mexico. (Read more on page 3). The proposed Comcast/NBCU merger is another real threat to quality jobs and to the needed investment in high speed broadband build out. NBCU would take on $8 billion in new debt if the merger goes forward, and that means three actions are possible: the company cuts There are no warranties to enforce any of the promises Comcast and NBCU might make, about jobs or anything else. jobs, raises prices for consumers, or reneges on its debt. Again, given Wall Street s peculiar slant on Main Street, cutting jobs is what these financial interests look to first. There are no warranties, no cop to enforce any of the promises Comcast and NBCU might make, about jobs or anything else. (Read more on page 4). That s why it s time our nation started doing business in a different way. It s time that our elected officials did more than talk about jobs, and actually assessed financial actions in the frame of keeping quality jobs. That s when we ll start to see a real economic turnaround. CWA news Volume 70, No. 1 JAN/FEB/MARCH 2010 Official Publication of the Communications Workers of America (AFL-CIO, CLC) International Union Headquarters 501 3rd Street, N.W., Washington, D.C Phone: (202) Address changes: Inquiries or corrections for CWA News subscriptions should be addressed to CWA Membership Dues Dept. subscribe@cwa-union.org Produced by CWA Communications Department Director/Executive Editor Candice M. Johnson Senior Writer/Editor Janelle Hartman Media Campaign Coordinator Stephen Chapman Editorial Specialist Alicia Nestor Technical Assistant Sarah Splitt CWA News (ISSN ) is published quarterly Jan/Feb/March, April/May/June, July/Aug/Sept, and Oct/Nov/Dec by Communications Workers of America, 501 3rd Street, N.W., Washington, D.C Periodical Postage Paid at Washington, D.C. Postmaster: Send address changes to CWA, 501 3rd Street, N.W., Washington, D.C Printed at Kelly Press, Cheverly, Md. Design by Chadick+Kimball, Washington, D.C. CWA Executive Board President Larry Cohen Secretary-Treasurer Jeff Rechenbach Executive Vice President Annie Hill Vice Presidents District 1, Christopher M. Shelton District 2, Ron Collins District 3, Judy Dennis District 4, Seth Rosen District 6, Andy Milburn District 7, Mary Taylor District 9, Jim Weitkamp District 13, Edward Mooney Communications and Technologies, Ralph V. Maly Jr. Telecommunications, Jimmy Gurganus Public, Health Care and Education Workers, Brooks Sunkett Printing, Publishing and Media Workers, William Boarman Broadcast and Cable Television Workers, Jim Joyce The Newspaper Guild-CWA, Bernie Lunzer IUE-CWA Industrial Division, Jim Clark Association of Flight Attendants-CWA, Pat Friend At Large Board Members: Claude Cummings, Madelyn Elder, Nestor Soto, Carolyn Wade Director TNG-SCA Canada, Arnold Amber Sign Up Now for Free Online Training Members & Retirees Can Hone Skills for Work or Pleasure Join hundreds of CWA members who have taken advantage of training courses offered online by Lynda.com, or Your Own Pace. The program is open to all CWA members and retirees. Learn about or better your skills on everything from software applications to photography graphics, web design and audio programs. Users have access for Lynda.com for 14 days, with requests granted in the order received. Lynda.com is part of CWA s innovative and growing CWA/NETT Academy, which has helped thousands of members expand their career opportunities. Go to to schedule a training session or learn more.

3 CWA News / Jan/Feb/March Fighting Back in Tough Times Today s economic climate isn t good and that means tough times for workers. Whether it s the loss of good jobs to contracting out and offshoring or bargaining with companies that insist on short-term profit over long-term gain, today s tough times call for innovative plans and action. Across every CWA sector, in the following pages, you ll find strategies to save jobs, expand opportunity and build members employment security, now and for the future. In the 1960s, union members stood together to fight for quality jobs at General Electric and other companies. Today it s the same fight with new faces, as Whirlpool looks to send good jobs offshore. Shame on Whirlpool Union Fights to Keep 1,100 Jobs in the U.S. The Shame on Whirlpool campaign is going strong, with CWA, IUE-CWA and AFL-CIO activists pressing the company not to close its Evansville, Ind., refrigerator plant and move those jobs to Mexico. Union leaders have been reaching out to state and local elected officials to find ways to keep the plant on site. About 5,500 union members and supporters rallied in Evansville to fight for their jobs and community. IUE-CWA President Jim Clark said Whirlpool s decision to shut down and move our work to Mexico is greed-driven and an atrocity. We know companies need to make money, but moving jobs out of the country during this economic crisis is shameful, he said. CWA District 4 Vice President Seth Rosen said that it s time that corporations in the United States take some responsibility for helping to reverse around the economic downturn. It s time for our government at all levels to hold corporations accountable for their behavior, especially when they have received millions in taxpayer dollars. AFL-CIO President Rich Trumka, community leaders and activists and supporters across the region also joined the rally. A group of about 40 demonstrators, including Clark and Rosen, delivered petitions to the front door of the factory, calling on Whirlpool to keep the plant open. Apparently, Whirlpool is trying to keep the shutdown a secret, because Paul Coburn, division vice president for Whirlpool's Evansville Division, told workers not to participate in the march and rally, warning them that these negative activities will only hamper employees when they look for future jobs. Whirlpool s threat was reported in the Huffington Post and other media, and IUE-CWA filed an unfair labor practice charge with the National Labor Relations Board over the company s interference with workers rights. Some 5,500 union members and supporters rallied in Evansville, Ind., to protest Whirlpool s plans to close the plant and move 1,100 jobs to Mexico. The plant is slated to close this year so that Whirlpool can spend $110 million to build a new facility in Mexico, and refrigerators manufactured at this plant mainly will be sold in the U.S. market. If the plant closes, about 900 members of IUE- CWA Local and 200 managers will lose their jobs. Whirlpool currently is Evansville s seventh largest employer. IUE-CWA is keeping a bright spotlight on Whirlpool, putting up billboards with the shame message and leafleting local stores that buy Whirlpool products, including Lowes and Sears. Whirlpool s decision to abandon these workers and Evansville during such tough economic times is being partly subsidized by taxpayers, because Whirlpool continues to remain eligible for some of the $300 million in taxpayer dollars available to companies that produce energy efficient appliances. Whirlpool is a bad corporate citizen who is twisting this country s desire to reduce energy usage and using it to export jobs, said Clark. We are pushing to ensure that good intentions on going green don t help fund loss of good manufacturing jobs. Local President Darrell Collins said, Americans are sick of companies turning a blind eye to what is happening out there. They need to tell Whirlpool to act responsibly. We ve got 1,100 people who are going to be out of a job. Bill Robertson, a member of Local and a 16-year Whirlpool veteran said our country must stop exporting U.S. jobs. We re not the first ones to go over CWA Green Grant Provides Job Training for Ohio Workers CWA is working to help laidoff workers in Ohio train for clean, green energy and manufacturing jobs through a new federal government grant. Workers who lost jobs in auto and auto-related communities across the hard hit state are first in line for the skills training program being funded through a $4 million grant that CWA and CWA/NETT Academy received from the Department of Labor. Just 15 percent of grant proposals submitted were selected to get a CWA invests in your future CWA will pay for Certification exams in 2010! It s all part of the 2,010 students in the year 2010 campaign. Check it out. Visit to learn more. and we won t be the last if we don t do something about it now and overturn unfair trade agreements. A petition campaign by IUE-CWA asks activists to send a message to Whirlpool CEO Jeff Fettig that calls grant, and CWA was one of only 25 organizations and labor unions that won a grant from the department. This is tremendous and welcome news for our members who ve been hit hard by outsourcing, offshoring and the recession, said IUE-CWA President Jim Clark. The training that this grant makes possible will lead to good, sustainable jobs and give a thousand families a more secure future. The program is designed to provide training to 1,000 dislocated workers. The hiring of instructors has been completed, and the first pilot 2010 IN on Whirlpool to be a good corporate citizen and keep the Evansville plant open. Go to org/campaign/whirlpool to send the petition. class got underway on Feb. 1. The training is designed to provide job skills in energy related, energy storage and clean manufacturing environments. Participants can take training courses online or in the traditional classroom, instructor-led setting. Courses offered focus on five work functions for manufacturing and production occupations: safety, quality practices and measurement, manufacturing processes and production, maintenance awareness, and green manufacturing. Laid off manufacturing workers already have many of the skills necessary for new, greener production processes and manufacturing, said CWA/NETT Administrator Kevin Celata. CWA/NETT will provide the new training on line. For information, go to

4 4 CWA News / Jan/Feb/March 2010 CWA Warns Congress Against Merger Comcast/NBCU Deal Will Harm Jobs, Competition CWA President Larry Cohen told the House Judiciary Committee that the proposed Comcast/NBC Universal 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 at At the hearing, Roberts and Zucker said they will meet with Cohen on issues around this merger and to help resolve the on-going negotiations for NABET- CWA members at NBC, who have been bargaining for more than a year for a new contract. 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 CWA Pres. Larry Cohen testifies against Comcast/NBCU merger at House Judiciary Committee hearing Feb. 25. Jay Mallin 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. In the 1930s, Joe Beirne traveled by Greyhound bus to unionize Western Electric employees across the country. I d come from one stop and I had nothing left, and we d pass the hat. Whatever we got out of the hat would tell me what city I could go to next, 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. Opposition Mounting To Verizon-Frontier Deal CWA members in West Virginia and other states are keeping up the fight against Verizon s plan to sell 4.8 million landlines in 14 states to Frontier Communications. A broad coalition of union members, consumers, public interest groups and community leaders are flooding elected officials and other decisionmakers with thousands of letters and phone calls. The main battleground is in West Virginia, where the deal could have a devastating impact on quality telecommunications and high-speed broadband build out. Gov. Joe Manchin has received more than 2,000 letters opposing the deal and state legislators received more than 3,200. Currently, 75 state lawmakers have signed on to CWA s Reject the Verizon/Frontier Deal petition that is available to sign online at the union s campaign website CWA also is urging West Virginians to call (877) 55-NO-WAY ( ) and leave a message expressing their views on the deal. Teams of CWA members across the state are continuing to meet with lawmakers and have held more than a dozen meetings with county commissions on the Verizon-Frontier sale. At one hearing, first responders from Vermont testified how 911 systems failed in Vermont and Maine after Verizon sold its landlines to the much smaller FairPoint Communications in a similar deal in As first responders in Vermont we were outraged, firefighter Matt Vinci said. We can have a big impact on whether this deal goes through as proposed. Union members need to continue the phone calls and letters to politicians, said CWA District 2 Vice President Ron Collins. This deal could seriously impact the jobs of hundreds of CWA members in West Virginia and a devastating impact on affected communities. Public opposition continues to grow as West Virginians learn more about the effect of the sale on local communities currently being served by Verizon. In February, CWA filed a brief with the Public Service Commission that shows that the deal is financially and technically unsound. Frontier s own filings have produced no evidence that its proposals would be sufficient to repair, maintain or upgrade the copper network, CWA said, adding that the company s most recent financial reports show that it lacks the resources necessary to take on Verizon s operations. Frontier has not obtained the necessary financing to take on $3 billion in additional debt that would be part of the transaction, but Verizon and Frontier have asked the state PSC to approve the deal before financing is approved. The staff of both the state s Public Service Commission and its Consumer Advocate Division have recommended that commissioners reject the deal as proposed. The commission is now deliberating whether to approve the deal. Verizon picked Frontier as a deal partner so it could qualify for $600 million in tax-free profits from the transaction under a tax loophole called the Reserve Morris Trust. TU: Building Our Union on Both TU, the joint union formed by CWA and the German union ver.di to represent T-Mobile workers on both sides of the Atlantic, is sending a strong message to management: end the double standard that keeps U.S. workers from having the bargaining rights they want. At T-Mobile, workers are unionized in Germany, but in the United States, the company fights workers who want to form a union and bargain collectively. Multinational companies work together, why not unions? At a meeting in Washington, Mobilization and lobbying are building support for CWA's campaign against the proposed Verizon-Frontier deal. At recent rally, West Virginia Gov. Joe Manchin, right, with Dist. 2 Vice President Ron Collins, pledged to oppose the deal if it hurts jobs and quality service. workers from T-Mobile USA and German workers from T-Mobile operations talked about ways to build TU and met with NLRB, Labor Department and other government officials about T-Mobile s assault on workers in the U.S who want a union. There are about 20,000 T-Mobile USA wireless workers who can join a union. T-Mobile is the nation s third largest wireless company after AT&T Mobility and Verizon. German workers were stunned at how American workers are treated by T-Mobile and the atmosphere of fear and repression that the US workers live under, especially as they work to get a union voice. That message quickly got back to German parent Deutsche Telekom (DT), Ado Wilhelm, a ver.di official and leader of the German worker group, said. German workers who leafleted at a Richmond T-Mobile facility with

5 CWA News / Jan/Feb/March NABET-NBC Bargaining Mobilizing Keeps Spirits Up, Talks Moving It s been 18 long months of bargaining with NBC, but NABET- CWA members are energized, using creative strategies to build support from viewers and make sure that management knows members are determined to gain a fair contract. In fact, company officials have admitted that ads on NBC s Facebook page, a mobile billboard and informational picket signs outside the Today Show s windows are giving the news and sports divisions big headaches. Innovative mobilization can be very effective, new NABET-CWA President Jim Joyce said. We re still in talks, but after many months with no movement we are making progress. The ads, along with our members willingness to turn out for pickets and rallies, have made a big difference. NABET-CWA represents 2,500 technicians, camera operators, Sides of the Atlantic CWA Pres. Larry Cohen tells reporters how T-Mobile harasses union supporters. U.S. workers saw first hand how U.S. management denies workers their rights. T-Mobile USA workers reported that they re told not to take newswriters, and other behind-thescenes employees at the network, and at NBC-owned stations in New York, Washington, Chicago and Los Angeles. Their last contract expired in March 2009, six months after they begin bargaining. Until January, the major sticking points were seniority issues and NBC s ongoing transfer of NABET- CWA work to non-union content producer jobs, a subject pending before the National Labor Relations Board. "In our evaluation the work itself hasn t changed, only the job title, Joyce said. The debate over content producers continued during four days of negotiations in late February. But because of progress made on some key issues a few weeks earlier, NABET-CWA temporarily halted its Today Show pickets and online ads that in earlier months targeted Sunday Night Football viewers and the Rockefeller Center tree lighting or even read a union leaflet, and they re warned that management is watching them if they do. At a media briefing at the National Press Club, CWA President Larry Cohen said the goal of TU was to overcome the double standard that allows T-Mobile s U.S. operation to harass and intimidate workers. A T-Mobile USA employee told reporters how workers are forced to listen to anti-union messages at closed door meetings and intimidated about even taking union leaflets. The worker insisted on being disguised, because people who support a union are just fired, gotten rid Mobilizing for a fair contract, members of NABET-CWA Local picket outside the network-owned station in Washington, D.C., during Meet the Press. New York members have held similar pickets outside the Today Show. ceremony. That meant no actions during the Olympics, Joyce said. We are all professionals and we take pride in our work, and the exceptional job our members did covering the of. That s why I m wearing a disguise. That s why I can t even let you hear my voice. The campaign also is encouraging institutional investors to look at the effect of the double standard on its business and to contact DT s chief executive officer Rene Olbermann. For more information on TU, go to New research by John Logan of San Francisco State and the University of California, Berkeley Labor Center, fully exposes this double standard. His report, Lowering the Bar or Setting the Standard? Deutsche Telekom s U.S. Labor Practices, points out how T-Mobile threatens U.S. workers who want a union. It Olympics speaks to that, he said. But our members also have families to support, and NBC needs to know that we will continue to fight as long and as hard as we have to for a fair contract. How High Speed Broadband Can Build a Green Future There s a real connection between high speed broadband and building a greener economic future. A new report released by CWA and its green partners shows how improving broadband technology can revolutionize energy use and management in the United States, boosting our economy. The report was released at a Capitol Hill briefing with Rep. Ed Markey (D-Mass.), who chairs the Select Committee on Energy Independence and Global Warming; Nick Sinai, Energy and Environment Director, Federal Communications Commission; CWA Executive Vice President Annie Hill and others. Hill said universal, high speed broadband is a central component of the effort to build sustainable communities for the 21st Century economy. Linked with a smart grid, broadband can help create quality jobs by promoting the efficient use of resources and energy. That s why the National Broadband Plan that the FCC is developing must be implemented with a relentless focus on job creation while at the same time ensuring that all Americans have access to necessary technology. The report is a project of the Progressive States Network, the Sierra Club, the Blue Green Alliance and CWA. also spotlights the aggressive antiunion training managers receive and the steps T-Mobile takes to limit and interfere in workers ability to organize. Go to and click on the link for publications to download the report. It s time to hold Deutsche Telekom and T-Mobile USA accountable, Cohen said. In 2000, CWA supported Deutsche Telekom s application to bring T-Mobile into the U.S. based on the company s strong record of respecting workers rights. Since then, we have experienced eight years of intolerance and hostility toward workers and complete disregard of their rights to organize and bargain collectively. NABET-CWA President John Clark Retires After 43 years in the union he joined while working at NBC Radio in New York City, NABET-CWA President John Clark retired at the end of January. Clark, whose father and grandfather were early union members in the radio and TV industry, was a vacation relief engineer at the radio network when he joined NABET Local 11 in That local is now John Clark NABET-CWA Local At the local, Clark rose through the ranks from steward to president. In 1986, he was elected NABET s international vice president and president in Clark said he s most proud of his work on NABET s 1994 merger with CWA. I m proud to have played a leading role in bringing our organization into a union with greater impact, visibility, influence and resources, he said. The merger was a major step forward for our membership in every way, and expanded CWA s footprint into the media industry. It was a winwin for everyone. CWA President Larry Cohen praised Clark s brilliance in bargaining, mastery of the subject matter as well as his near perfect ability to work with our national teams at Disney/ ABC and General Electric/ NBC. NABET-CWA s new president is former Vice President Jim Joyce, who also is the past vice president of Local in New York. The NABET-CWA Executive Board named Joyce as Clark s successor pending election this summer at NABET-CWA s sector meeting. Lothar Schroder, who heads ver.di s Telecommunications and IT Sector, said TU is a good basis for German-American labor relations. We believe that through this new union, we will contribute to working conditions for workers in both countries. Management must get used to the idea that we are representing the interests not only of German workers but of American workers as well.

6 6 CWA News / Jan/Feb/March 2010 United Flight Attendants Being Paid 1994 Wages We re Willing to Do Whatever it Takes More than seven years ago, United Airlines flight attendants took steep pay cuts when their company filed for bankruptcy. Management also terminated workers pensions, cut retiree health care and eroded working conditions. Those cuts were scheduled to end on Jan. 7, when the contract became amendable. Today, United is out of bankruptcy, and the airline s CEO and other top executives have received bonuses, pensions and pay raises. United s 15,000 flight attendants, members of AFA-CWA, however, are paid nearly 40 percent less than what they earned before bankruptcy. Flight attendants are being paid at 1994 wage levels but are working 48 percent more. But management is only interested in more concessions from flight attendants. "Negotiations began last April, but United has shown no interest in discussing improvements or reaching a new contract unless we agree to concessionary demands, said Greg Davidowitch, president of the AFA-CWA United Master Executive Council. Flight attendants are angry because management seems only interested in delaying a new contract, refusing to discuss any improvements. AFA-CWA flight attendants have launched a huge contract mobilization campaign Whatever it Takes to get a fair deal and focus public attention on management s tactics. The campaign s name comes At any given moment at Boston s Logan Airport at least 1,000 union members are on the job. Flight attendants and pilots, gate and ticket agents, ramp workers and mechanics and rental car agents all have bargaining rights and a union voice. Now, these workers, members of CWA, AFA-CWA, IUE-CWA and other unions are forming an airportwide workers coalition to help build workers power. And they re joining forces to support the campaign by transportation security officers, the agents hired by the Transportation Security Administration, to gain collective bargaining rights at airports across the country. By joining together, we will be a In January, thousands of United flight attendants protest the airline's unfair bargaining proposals. from the commitment that flight attendants have said they will bring to the fight. One after another flight attendant said the same thing, Whatever it takes, when they were asked what they would be willing to do to get the contract that they deserved, said Sara Nelson, AFA- CWA United MEC communications chair. It really is our battle cry. More than 3,000 United flight attendants have joined the Flight Attendants Negotiations Network to CWAers rallied with hundreds of union activists in late February to support full collective bargaining rights for the nation s 40,000 airport security officers. At a rally at the AFL-CIO, activists build support and get the word out about bargaining and mobilization. Weekly, network activists meet oneon-one with coworkers, updating them on the status of the negotiations and information about campaign activities. In January, thousands of flight attendants at airports across Europe, Asia and the United States joined a global protest over United s continuing demands for concessions. More mass demonstrations are planned for April, which marks one year since the start of negotiations. AFA-CWA members also have taken their campaign to passengers, winning support from a frequent flyer named by management as one of the airline s top customers. Jim Anderson, selected by United in 2008 as its Passenger of the Year for Los Angeles, posted an appeal to passengers and shareholders on his blog to do all they can to support these dedicated individuals. At United s annual shareholders meeting, Anderson told United CEO Glenn Tilton that the airline s poor treatment of its workers only hurt the airline s image. Unions at Boston s Logan Airport Join Forces force to be reckoned with, said Northwest Airlines flight attendant Robert Cannatelli, President of AFA- CWA Local 21092, one of the first unions to join the growing coalition. Whether it s providing each other support during contract negotiations, organizing drives, or other important campaigns, working together for our common good makes sense. Cannatelli said the coalition also could play an important role in reaching out to the next generation of airport workers who need to know just how important unions are. Other unions participating or planning to join are AFA-CWA Locals and 21069, representing United and US Airways flight 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. The American Federation of attendants; IUE-CWA Local members who work at Avis/Budget Rent-A-Car; CWA Local 1171, representing US Airways passenger service agents; AFGE, which already represents 13,000 of the TSA s 40,000 workers, and the Machinists and Transport Workers Union. At Logan airport, the union coalition already is preparing for the TSA agents campaign and is posting their message of support and solidarity on a highway billboard near the airport. Helping these workers organize is huge, said Cannatelli, a 21-year veteran at Northwest. Every union airport worker in the country will benefit if the 40,000 TSA agents organize and get a strong contract. Since 1930, when the first female flight attendant came on board, flight attendants faced workplace discrimination. Flight attendants were fired if they got married, wore eyeglasses, turned age 30 or 32, or got pregnant. By the 1980s and 1990s, AFA-CWA had successfully fought to end these practices and win recognition of flight attendants as safety professionals. Partnering to Prevent Furloughs A Partnership Program negotiated by AFA-CWA is helping save jobs of more junior flight attendants at United. Here s how it works: When United announces an involuntary furlough, a voluntary program negotiated by AFA-CWA first kicks in. Flight attendants who may be better able to afford some down time volunteer for furloughs while keeping their seniority, medical and 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, Cohen said. This is also a message to every employer that this labor movement is back. We re fighting back, and we re going to win. Because of low pay, poor morale, dental care, and flight benefits. If there aren t enough volunteers for furlough, the union s Partnership Program enables flight attendants to basically share their job with another flight attendant working from the same location. Both agree to work a half schedule for six months. These programs helped save the jobs of 2,000 flight attendants during the past three furloughs announced by United from last July until March This Is The Time For All Workers To Have Collective Bargaining Rights Union activist and TSA agent Kim Kraynak thanks union members for supporting the agents' fight for bargaining rights. At left is CWA President Larry Cohen and AFA-CWA President Patricia Friend. 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.

7 Guild Foot Soldiers on Front Lines Of Battle to Save Journalism Working with the founders of Free Press, TNG-CWA is preparing to build an army of foot soldiers to ensure that journalism survives even as the industry itself is changing. Our members understand better than anyone what is lost when media companies consolidate, when once-independent newsrooms share reporters, when ad revenues dry up and newspapers close, said Bernie Lunzer, president of The Newspaper Guild-CWA. Journalists lose their jobs. But the public loses even more when one-sided press releases are passed off as news and no one s really watching City Hall, he said. Free Press is a national, nonprofit organization working to promote diverse and independent media ownership, quality journalism and universal access to communications. CWA has worked with Free Press on several initiatives, including the current campaign opposing the Comcast/NBCU mega-merger and efforts to persuade the Federal Communications Commission to bar further media consolidation. As a general matter, employees covered by a collective bargaining agreement containing a Union security clause are required, as a condition of employment, to pay an agency fee equal to normal Union dues (and, where applicable, initiation fees). While the wording of these clauses is not perfectly uniform, none requires more than the payment of this agency fee to retain employment. The Communications Workers of America policy on agency fee objections is the Union s means of meeting its legal obligations to employees covered by Union security clauses and of effectuating those employees legal rights as stated in the applicable decisions of the United States Supreme Court (including Beck v. CWA) and the companion lower court and labor agency decisions. Under the CWA policy, employees who are not members of the Union, but who pay agency fees pursuant to a Union security clause, may request a reduction in that fee based on their objection to certain Members are Worried Our members are deeply concerned, Lunzer said. They ve seen first-hand the failure of the traditional business model. They are horrified by the outcomes already of clustering, layoffs, buyouts, furloughs and reduced wages. Some Guild locals have been pursuing new strategies for several years, including employee ownership of newspapers that would otherwise be sold to conglomerates or shut down completely. A major effort by the Northern California Media Workers Guild includes partnering with the new, nonprofit Bay Area News Project, a news service that has already signed up the New York Times. Media Workers President Michael Cabanatuan said that instead of CWA News / Jan/Feb/March Notice Regarding Union Security Agreements and Agency Fee Objections kinds of Union expenditures. The policy provides an objection period each year during May, followed by a reduction in the objector s fee for the twelve months beginning with July and running through June of the following year. Briefly stated, CWA s objection policy works as follows: 1. The agency fee payable by objectors will be based on the Union s expenditures for those activities or projects germane to collective bargaining, contract administration, and grievance adjustment within the meaning of applicable United States Supreme Court decisions. Among these chargeable expenditures are those going for negotiations with employers, enforcing collective bargaining agreements, informal meetings with employer representatives, discussion of work-related issues with employees, handling employees work-related problems through the grievance procedure, administrative agencies, or informal meetings, and hunkering down with our hands over our heads, we re trying to become more efficient and effective, to provide training and assistance to our current and former members, to organize freelancers (including many of our laid-off members), and to help build the future of news. Brainstorming TNG-CWA is planning a May strategy session in Cleveland and is encouraging broad attendance from U.S. and Canadian locals. Free Press founders John Nichols and Robert McChesney have been NY Guild Files ULP Charges Against Reuters TNG-CWA Local has filed charges with the National Labor Relations Board over Thomson Reuters illegal and unilateral pay cuts that drastically cut the compensation of journalists, technicians and other employees by 10 percent. Thomson Reuters falsely claimed that bargaining was at impasse, said Local President Bill O Meara. This dispute is really about saving quality journalism in this country. If a healthy company like Thomson Reuters, whose CEO made almost as much in 2008 as our 420 members annual salaries, cuts pay, it will Union administration. In the past, approximately 70-75% of the International Union s expenditures have gone for such activities. The percentages of Local Union expenditures on chargeable activities have generally been higher. Among the expenditures treated as nonchargeable, which objectors will not be required to support, are those going for community service (including participating in charitable events), legislative activity, cost of affiliation with non-cwa organizations, support of political candidates, participating in political events, recruitment of members to the Union, and members-only benefits (including members-only social events). In the past, approximately 25-30% of the International Union s expenditures have gone for such nonchargeable expenditures. The percentages of Local Union expenditures on nonchargeable activities have generally been lower. 2. Objectors will be given a full explanation of the basis for the In 1933, Heywood Broun and newsmen from the New York Post, New York Times and Herald Tribune founded the American Newspaper Guild. First formed to win better pay for journalists, over the years, the Guild has fought to end race and sex discrimination in the industry and to safeguard quality journalism. invited to be a big part of the discussion that will focus on ways TNG- CWA and other groups concerned about democracy can help maintain the vital role of a free press. This should not be a discussion about journalism. It should not be a discussion about newspapers, or a discussion about media. This is a discussion about democracy, TNG-CWA Local members fight for a fair contract at Reuters. cause less healthy news organizations to cut even more. Soon, many of the journalists our democracy depends on won t be able to afford to stay in the business. TNG-CWA members have been out in force, picketing company headquarters and other locations where Reuters executives make appearances. Mobile billboard trucks have been all over Manhattan with the message, Reuters is bad news for its employees. Is it bad for your bottom line? aimed at the company s Wall Street and financial customers, and an online campaign has been sending lots of new viewers to TNG-CWA Local represents news, photo, television, technical and other workers at the company. Negotiations have been underway for more than a year, but Thomson Reuters continues to refuse to provide legal and other information that the local requested. That, plus the phony claims of impasse, are the basis of several Nichols said. The founders were very, very blunt: Freedom of the press meant not just a free press but a press something real. That doesn t necessarily mean a printing press, but it does mean ensuring that there s a new generation of trained, experienced and paid reporters and editors doing the hard work of real journalism. NLRB charges, the local said. The local also charged Thomson Reuters with illegally implementing a Twitter policy, not negotiated with the Guild, that bars employees from tweeting anything that would damage the reputation of Reuters News or Thomson Reuters. One activist was reminded of the policy after he responded to a tweet from a senior manager who asked employees to join the conversation on making Reuters the best place to work. The member had responded: one way to make this the best place to work is to deal honestly with Guild members. reduced fee charged to them. That explanation will include a more detailed list of the categories of expenditures deemed to be chargeable and those deemed to be nonchargeable, and the independent certified public accountants report showing the Union s expenditures on which the fee is based. In addition to any other avenue of relief available under the law, objectors will have the option of challenging the Union s calculation of the reduced fee before an impartial arbitrator appointed by the American Arbitration Association, and a portion of the objector s fee shall be held in escrow while he or she pursues that challenge. Details on the method of making such a challenge and the rights accorded to those who do so will be provided to objectors along with the explanation of the fee calculation. 3. Objections for the period of July through June must be sent during May. In addition agency fee payers who are new to the bargaining unit may object within thirty days of receiving this notice, and employees who resign Union membership may object within thirty days of becoming an agency fee payer. Employees filing late objections for either of these two reasons should so indicate in their letter of objection. New bargaining unit members are to receive this notice prior to any demand being made upon them for the payment of agency fees. If, however, for any reason a new unit member begins paying agency fees prior to the receipt of this notice, he or she may object retroactively to the commencement of such payments and for the duration of the current annual objection period. The letter of objection should include name, address, social security number, CWA Local number, and employer. Objections must be sent to the Agency Fee Administrator, CWA, 501 Third Street, NW., Washington, DC

8 8 CWA News / Jan/Feb/March 2010 We Will Continue to Fight For Workers at UC It took two years of tough bargaining, but University Professional and Technical Employees/CWA Local 9119 has won a tentative agreement 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. 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, won support from students who were protesting a huge hike in student fees, to $10,000 and gained public and community support through a media campaign. In other improvements, the contract sets up a $1.7 million equity pool Two years of mobilizing by UPTE-CWA Local 9119 members at the University of California helped secure a strong contract. 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 1 percent contributions by employees in 2011 and 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. In 1981, 32,000 state workers in New Jersey vote CWA all the way, after the the public employment relations commission finally ordered a statewide election. That success continued the drive to unite all New Jersey public workers and gain the strong voice they needed to improve their standard of living. AZCOPs: Where Will the Kids Go? In Arizona, CWA s largest public safety local, the 8,000-member Arizona Conference of Police and Sheriffs (AZCOPS Local 7077), is battling to stop the governor from shutting down the state s juvenile corrections system. The move would close Arizona s four juvenile correctional facilities, dumping 600 youth offenders on the state s counties, and costing the jobs of more than 350 AZCOPS members. We re fighting for our members, but as sworn public safety officers, our job is making sure that our communities are safe, said Larry Lopez, local president and a police officer in Tucson for 21 years. Shutting down the juvenile system works against public safety, he warned. The state s juvenile facilities focus on rehabilitation, working with youthful offenders and providing education, counseling and guidance to help keep juveniles from following a criminal path. Where will these kids go if the system is shut down? Lopez asks. Under the governor s plan, all juveniles would be turned over to county facilities, a move opposed by all of the state s counties. AZCOPS has mounted a statewide campaign to save the facilities and members jobs, and some members of the state legislature seem to listening. In January, a bill to extend the department s operations for five years was unanimously approved by a committee in the state House of Representatives. Public Workers Pay the Price for New Jersey Budget Crisis Hundreds of CWA public workers rallied outside the state capitol calling on the state legislature to stop the blame game directed at public workers and work for a fair resolution of the state s budget crisis. Public workers are under attack by the state legislature, where the Senate voted new cuts in workers pension and health care benefits, and by the governor, who has called public employees a special interest and has refused to meet with public worker representatives or consider rolling back tax breaks for the rich. Public workers have stepped up and made hard sacrifices already, nearly half a billion dollars in wage and benefit concessions over the last three years, CWA s public worker locals stressed. We did not cause the state budget crisis. Our benefits are not unsustainable. We have a contract and the governor and legislature must respect it, said CWA District 1 Vice President Chris Shelton. We know that the Governor will have even more draconian cuts in the next budget and we know that we will have to bargain a new contract in We re ready, but it will take the will of our members to stay strong and unified, he said. Some 55,000 CWA members already have given up 4 percent of wages lost to 10 furlough days and a 3.5 percent deferred pay raise. The state is wrongly blaming union workers who have made every single required contribution to the pension plan. But management has shortchanged the pension plan and only made 10 percent of the required employer contributions in the past 12 years, said CWA state director Hetty Rosenstein. We are the rank and file workers who plow the roads, staff the DMV and food stamp office and rescue abused and neglected children We change diapers of adults. We protect the public health and the environment. We maintain the roads, collect the tolls and send out the tax bills, Rosenstein said in testimony to a Senate committee. We keep the wheels turning and we don t get paid a lot of money to do so. Meanwhile, the governor has cut taxes for New Jersey s wealthiest citizens, those making more than During a meeting in Trenton, hundreds of CWA stewards from New Jersey public worker locals march through the state capitol after a morning of calling and writing lawmakers to fight devastating cutbacks. $400,000 a year. CWA is working with all of the public sector unions and is continuing the mobilization campaign, with Collective Bargaining Rights for Public Safety Officers Public safety officers in the United States at the state, county and local level (police, fire fighters, first responders, etc.) would have the right to form a union and have collective bargaining rights under legislation introduced in both the House and Senate last year. more rallies and events planned for March when the governor unveils his budget. In another development, CWA Both versions of the Public Safety Employer-Employee Cooperation Act (S. 1611) and (H.R. 413) would grant public safety officers collective bargaining rights in states that currently don t provide them. States can write and administer their own laws that must meet these minimum standards: CWA Local 1039 and three other unions filed a legal challenge to a unilateral executive order issued by the governor that drastically restricts the ability of workers and their families to participate in the political process. Christie is trying to govern by fiat, bypassing the legislature and making up new laws as he sees fit. That s not the way democracy works, Rosenstein said. And he s trying to take away the First Amendment free speech and association rights of working families to participate in the political process. We won t let that happen. Keep up on CWA s ongoing battle in New Jersey at the right to bargain over wages, hours and working conditions. the right to use a dispute resolution mechanism, like fact finding, mediation or arbitration. the enforcement of contracts through state courts. Both the House and Senate versions have strong bipartisan support.