Resolutions 73rd Convention

Transcription

1 Resolutions 73rd Convention Communications Workers of America July 11-13, 2011 Las Vegas, Nevada

2 INDEX Resolutions rd CWA Convention No. Page 1 Strategic Industry Fund Distribution to Strengthen Our Union 2 2 Protect Medicare, Strengthen Social Security 4 3 Oppose Voter Suppression Laws that Weaken Our Democracy 5 4 Oppose Colombia Free Trade Agreement 7 5 State Campaigns and Movement Building 9 Resolutions and Rules Committee John C. Smith, Executive Vice President, CWA Local 3204, Chair Kevin Sheil, Vice President, CWA Local 1103 Paula Vinciguerra, President, CWA Local 2106 Mary Lou Schaffer, President, CWA Local13550 Sheldon Neeley, President, NABET-CWA Local54046/N46 1

3 Resolution 73A-11-1 Strategic Industry Fund Distribution to Strengthen our Union 1 These are challenging times for all unions. Our contracts and the fundamental right to 2 collective bargaining are under attack across the country. At a time when we have more fights 3 than ever, all unions are seeing significant membership losses as a result of job cuts. This is a 4 unique moment in time for the labor movement, and it requires that we allocate our resources to 5 the frontline struggles. 6 7 CWA has taken unprecedented action to reduce expenses in order to focus on 8 supporting our frontline representation, as well as political and organizing campaigns. Over the 9 past several years, CWA has reduced the number of employees by 161, including 76 who 10 worked in CWA headquarters. Currently, more than 50 percent of CWA building space in 11 Washington D.C. is leased to outside tenants, with continuing efforts to lease more space. In 12 keeping with our "Ready for the Future" commitments and, with the support of local leaders, at 13 this convention the C&T and Telecommunications offices will combine and Districts 2 and will merge, thus reducing the number of Vice Presidents by two and providing for a projected 15 future savings of$1 million a year In keeping with this same commitment to right size the CWA Executive Board and 18 further reduce expenses, this Convention is considering a proposal to eliminate the Executive 19 Vice President position at an additional projected savings of $500,000. CWA has negotiated an 20 agreement with the Unions representing CWA employees who recognized the economic strains 21 of the times and agreed to a wage freeze as well as significant pension and health care changes. 22 CWA withheld wage increases for Administrative Staff and elected Officers over the previous months, who will forgo future wage increases. CWA will apply pension and health care 24 changes consistent with the negotiated agreements Locals have made similar sacrifices and face the same strains. While this Strategic 27 Industry Fund (SIF) Distribution is not a long-term solution, it is an important temporary 28 measure which will allow CWA to maintain and build power under these difficult financial 29 conditions and at the same time grow our Union and make it stronger both at the International 30 and local union level. This action will provide CWA with some breathing space to fight the 31 attacks on collective bargaining and develop longer-term solutions Resolved: Based on membership records for the 2011 CWA Convention, the 34 International Union and Local Unions will each receive $20 per member payable from the 35 Strategic Industry Fund for each CWA-member-paying one-quarter hour, or (.15 %) into the 36 Members' Relief Fund/Strategic Industry Fund allocation Resolved: Currently there are 305,461 CWA members participating in the Members' 39 Relief Fund. The income generated by the participants is approximately $22 million annually. 40 This distribution would generate approximately $6 million each for the International Union and 2

4 41 Local Unions. The remaining estimated $10 million would be directed to continuing grassroots 42 Strategic Industry Fund campaigns Resolved: The $20 per member distribution would be made once in the 2011/ fiscal year and again in the 2012/2013 fiscal year. Distributions would be made no later than 46 January 1, 2012 and January 1, Resolved: The CWA Executive Board will evaluate progress and will work with locals 49 to bring longer-term options to the 2013 convention Resolved: To that end, the Executive Board will present to the 2012 Local Presidents' 52 Meeting draft proposals to address the long-term financial and structural needs of our union and 53 provide the opportunity to fully discuss and evaluate our options. 3

5 Resolution 73A-11-2 Protect Medicare, Strengthen Social Security 1 The House Republican Budget Resolution, approved on a near party-line vote in April , would end Medicare as we know it. Under the House Republican plan, Medicare would 3 be converted from a guaranteed benefit paid by the government into a voucher program in 4 which the federal government would provide seniors with a fixed contribution to purchase 5 medical coverage from private insurers. The change would take place in the year There is a major flaw in the plan. Due to the rising cost of health coverage, there would 8 be a growing gap between the amount of the government contribution and the actual cost of 9 health coverage. Seniors would have to pay out-of-pocket to make up the difference simply to 10 maintain the same level of coverage Under the House Republican plan, people turning 65 in 2022 (those who are age 54 this 13 year) will have to spend half of their Social Security check on health costs no longer covered 14 by the new Medicare plan. At age 80, the amount of health costs not covered by Medicare will 15 eat up 90 percent of the Social Security benefit The Republican Medicare plan will cause a huge shift in costs from the government to 18 seniors. This represents a major transfer of wealth from our most vulnerable citizens to private 19 insurers, which are among the most profitable corporations in the nation As if this were not bad enough, the Republicans also propose to change the method of 22 calculating the cost of living adjustment (COLA) for Social Security benefits. Today, Social 23 Security benefit payments are adjusted annually based on the change in the consumer price 24 index (CPI). Under the Republican plan, the COLA would be based on a smaller so-called 25 "chained CPI," adjusting the CPI downward to reflect the fact that people buy less or cheaper 26 goods when prices increase. The effect of this change in the COLA calculation would cut 27 Social Security benefits by a total of $108 billion over ten years Requiring seniors to pay more for Medicare and cutting Social Security benefits is not 30 the way to protect older Americans, nor does it conform to our vision of a humane society Resolved: CWA will stand with seniors to protect Social Security and Medicare and 33 will oppose all attempts to cut these important social insurance programs Resolved: CWA will join together with our progressive allies in a campaign to oppose 36 the Republican House plan to cut the federal Medicare program. As part of the campaign, 37 CWA will work through our LPAT structure to get a strong CWA presence at congressional 38 home district town hall meetings during the upcoming August 2011 congressional recess to 39 drive home our united opposition to any plan that would reduce federal Medicare support. 4

6 Resolution 73A-11-3 Oppose Voter Suppression Laws that Weaken our Democracy A new attack on the right to vote is spreading across the country. Anti-democratic forces are working in many state legislatures to pass laws designed to make it more difficult for many Americans to exercise the most basic right in a democracy the right to cast a ballot. These are the same extremist elected officials and their supporters - emboldened by gains in the 2010 elections - who are passing legislation to eliminate collective bargaining, rescind or dramatically reduce healthcare and pension benefits, and gut public services. To consolidate their power in the 2012 elections, these forces are proposing and enacting state legislation to make it more difficult for certain segments of the population to vote. They are pushing laws that would require stringent voter identification, limit early voting, end same-day registration, and make it difficult for groups to register new voters. In twenty states that do not currently require voter ID at the polls, legislation has been introduced to institute such a requirement, making it more difficult for many voters to cast their ballots on Election Day. Texas, Kansas, Wisconsin, South Carolina and Tennessee enacted voter ID laws this year. Indiana and Georgia already had such requirements. The Maine legislature ended sameday voter registration. Florida shortened the early voting period and imposed onerous restrictions on voter registration drives. Wisconsin requires a government-issued ID in order to vote. In Texas, the law allows handgun licenses but not student IDs for voter identification. Minnesota passed a new voter ID requirement this year but it was vetoed by the governor; supporters have vowed to pass a new bill next year. There are two types of Photo Voter ID requirements. Some legislation mandates every voter to show a photo ID in order to vote, requiring voters who do not have a photo ID to cast a provisional ballot which is counted only if the voter returns to election officials within several days after the election to show a photo ID. Other legislation requires voters to show a photo ID in order to vote, or, if they do not have a photo ID, they must meet other criteria in order to cast a ballot. Voter ID requirements disproportionately affect students, minorities, senior citizens, and those in the lower-income brackets. These criteria are reminiscent of darker times in our nation's history when voters had to pay poll taxes, pass literacy tests, or demonstrate ownership of property in order to vote. Such practices were used to intimidate and deny the right to vote to minority citizens and women. The new voter ID requirements are a poll tax by a different name. In Wisconsin, where the legislature passed one of the strictest Photo Voter ID laws in the nation, a 2005 study by the University of Wisconsin found that 55 percent of African-American men, 49 percent of African- American women, 46 percent of Latino men, and 59 percent of Latino women do not 5

7 44 have a driver's license. A 2006 nationwide study by the Brennan Center for Justice at New 45 York University found that one in four African-Americans lacks a government-issued photo 46 ID. In Missouri, the Secretary of State identified nearly 240,000 registered voters-- mostly 47 elderly, disabled, poor, and minority citizens-- who lack a government-issued photo ID In 2008, African-Americans, Latinos, and youth voted overwhelmingly for Barack 50 Obama. It is no coincidence that the Photo Voter ID requirements and other recently enacted 51 challenges to the right to vote will suppress the vote in these populations This is the civil rights issue of our time and it must be stopped Resolved: CWA will educate members about the nationwide attempt to adopt new 56 voter ID laws and the threat that these laws pose to our democracy by suppressing some 57 citizens' right to vote Resolved: CWA will join with allied groups to expose the true intent of voter ID laws 60 and work with allies to eliminate them Resolved: CWA will inform members about what they must bring to polling places in 63 each state in order to vote so that our members, their families, and people they know will be 64 able to cast their ballots and not be denied the fundamental right to vote Resolved: CWA will participate with the AFL-CIO and other allied groups in the election protection program and will document abuses and the consequences of these laws on 68 voters. 6

8 Resolution 73A-11-4 Oppose Colombia Free Trade Agreement Colombia has institutionalized an economic and legal system that has virtually eliminated workplace protections and the right to collective bargaining for most workers. In a framework of Orwellian doublespeak, Colombia has defined away workers' rights, effectively stripping 85 percent of the workforce of any legal protections. By re-defining a workplace as a "cooperative" or a person's employment status as ''temporary," Colombian law effectively exempts 15 million of the nation's 18 million workers from all worker protective and collective bargaining legislation. Fewer than three million or only 15 percent of Colombian workers are officially classified as "workers" with even nominal legal protection, only four percent of Colombian workers are members of a labor union, and only two percent are covered by collective bargaining agreements. In essence, Colombian employers - with government acquiescence-- have free reign to trample on the rights of workers. Over the past 25 years, nearly 3,000 union activists and leaders have been murdered in Colombia, many after being kidnapped and tortured. During this period, more trade unionists were killed in Colombia than in all other countries combined. In 2010, even as Colombia should have been on its best behavior as the Colombia Free Trade Agreement was considered in Congress, 51 trade unionists were murdered, more than in Yet, the Colombian conviction rate for these murders and other forms of violence against trade unionists is in the single digits. This type of rampant violence against workers must stop before Congress approves a Colombia Free Trade Agreement. The Colombia Free Trade Agreement as currently structured, including the Colombia Action Plan Related to Labor Rights side letter, legitimizes a global economy based on disregard for workers' rights and labor standards. The Obama Administration intended that the Labor Action Plan would fill the gaping omission in trade agreements negotiated by the Bush Administration. But the Labor Action Plan is not part of the trade agreement, and therefore does not have full enforcement powers. At a minimum, the Labor Action Plan must be incorporated into the Colombia Free Trade Agreement. Congress should not approve the Colombia Free Trade Agreement until there has been demonstrable progress in protecting workers' rights. To date, this has not happened. While the attack on workers' rights in the United States has not reached Colombian proportions, it is clear that in our country, workers' rights in the public and private sector are also under assault. The recent wave of state initiatives to roll back or eliminate collective bargaining rights for public sector workers, to ease union decertification, to ban project labor agreements, and to introduce "right to work" laws are some of the ways in which workers' rights are under attack in this country. The failure to pass much needed federal legislation such as the Employee Free Choice Act, which would help to restore the collective bargaining protections guaranteed under the National Labor Relations Act, makes efforts to form unions or bargain first contracts difficult at best. As in Colombia, the U.S. has experienced a steep decline both in union density and collective bargaining coverage. 7

9 43 Resolved: CWA opposes the U.S.-Colombia Free Trade Agreement and will work to 44 educate leaders in the U.S. about how this Free Trade Agreement moves our global economy in 45 the wrong direction by sanctioning an economic and legal system designed to prevent effective 46 collective bargaining rights and other workplace protections Resolved: Each CWA local president will write to their Members of Congress to 49 express opposition to the Colombia Free Trade Agreement Resolved: CWA will take immediate action to have at least 5,000 members contact 52 their Members of Congress urging them to oppose the Colombia Free Trade Agreement and 53 asking for their commitment to the protection of workers' rights, collective bargaining, and 54 trade unions. 8

10 Resolution 73A-11-5 State Campaigns and Movement Building 1 This year, a big part of our fight back effort has been our state campaigns. In too many 2 states, the attacks by over-reaching politicians and their allies have been fierce. Our members 3 have responded with strong action and new alliances, and we have not backed down. 4 5 In Ohio, 10,000 CWA members and other union volunteers collected nearly 1.3 million 6 signatures- six times more than the law requires-- for a November 2011 referendum to 7 overturn SB5, the bill that eliminated public workers' collective bargaining rights. 8 9 In Wisconsin, we are pushing ahead on recall elections of state legislators who voted 10 against working families In New Jersey, CWA activists are taking the fight to the November 2011 elections, after 13 state legislators approved the governor's assault on the right to bargain over health care, 14 stripping bargaining rights from 500,000 public workers and imposing health care cuts that will 15 decimate living standards for families Everywhere that workers' rights are under attack, the fight goes on CWA, the entire labor movement, and our allies all are standing together. Last October, 20 we carne together in Washington, D.C., as One Nation. On the steps of the Lincoln Memorial, 21 10,000 CWA members stood with members of the NAACP, Sierra Club, and progressive 22 organizations to fight together for economic and social justice On April4, "We Are One" was our message as we marched together again, in memory 25 of the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., who was brutally killed while standing 26 strong for the rights of sanitation workers in Memphis. In unity, we reaffirmed the collective 27 bargaining rights Dr. King died defending This summer, we are turning up the heat to hold our elected officials accountable. We 30 will make our voices heard and build our momentum for August Accountability Month by 31 taking action in our Districts, states, and communities through various activities, including 32 attending Congressional Town Hall meetings, visiting with legislators on our issues, and 33 holding house parties. Through concerted political action we will shine a bright light on the 34 elected officials and politicians who have voted to harm working families and our communities. 35 We will provide information about rallies, events, and many other ways to participate at Our Legislative-Political Action Teams (LPATs) are a key component of CWA's effort 39 to restore democracy, build our movement, and gain a progressive majority in our states and 40 our nation. Through our LPAT structure, CWA activists are working in nearly every state and 41 congressional district to build coalitions, get the attention of lawmakers, fight against the attack 9

11 42 on workers, and move forward our agenda that benefits working families at every level of 43 government To build our power, we also need to expand our partnerships with key allies. CWA has 46 been partnering with human rights groups, civil rights groups like the NAACP, citizen groups 47 like Common Cause, and others who share our commitment to keep and strengthen a 48 democratic society for all families, not just the wealthy CWA activists and the Sierra Club members in Virginia formed a partnership to help 51 bring high-speed broadband to communities throughout the state, which is a goal shared by 52 both organizations. In Texas, the Sierra Club and CWA members are also working together to 53 advance our common goals Thousands of CWA members are joining the NAACP because we know that together 56 we are stronger in the fight for economic justice CWA partners with Common Cause to fight for democracy in the U.S. Senate and to 59 restore fairness to current campaign contribution rules that favor dollars over true democracy Resolved: CWA districts and locals will continue to work to build effective coalitions 62 with our allies to protect and fight for the fundamental right to collective bargaining and to 63 build a movement to move our agenda forward Resolved: CWA supports the historic march for Jobs and Justice "From the 66 Emancipator (Abraham Lincoln) to the Liberator (Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.)" on August 27, , in Washington D.C. just one day before the unveiling of the Dr. King Memorial on the 68 National Mall Resolved: CWA activists will participate in the August "We Are One" mobilization to 71 hold elected officials accountable for their anti-worker agenda to eliminate collective 72 bargaining, destroy Medicare and other critical safety-net programs, and restrict workers rights Resolved: CWA will work with Move On this summer, organizing house parties to help 75 activists "Rebuild the American Dream" and build the August 20 Stand-Up for Ohio rally Working together is the way we build our movement. It is the way we fight back and 78 win Resolved: Every CWA local will strive to get 10 percent of its membership 81 participating in Legislative-Political Action Teams (LPAT) activities such as attending rallies 82 and Congressional Town Hall meetings, writing letters and making phone calls to Members of 83 Congress, and spreading the word to friends and neighbors. 10