Striking Verizon Workers to Return to Work Tuesday
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The 45,000 striking Verizon workers, represented by the Communications Workers of America (CWA) and the Electrical Workers (IBEW), will return to work Tuesday under the existing contract as bargaining resumes.
The CWA and IBEW announced:
We have reached agreement with Verizon on how bargaining will proceed and how it will be restructured. The major issues remain to be discussed, but overall, issues now are focused and narrowed.
We appreciate the unity of our members and the support of so many in the greater community. Now we will focus on bargaining fairly and moving forward.
Verizon, which amassed more than $20 billion in profits in recent years and paid its top five executives more than $258 million in the past four years, forced workers in Northeast states into a strike by demanding $1 billion in concessions. Seen as an attack on middle-class jobs and workers, the move prompted massive shows of support by working families across the country.
Eagles Fans Learn About Verizon Greed from Striking Workers, Union Allies
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Liz McElroy of the Philadelphia Council AFL-CIO and AFL-CIO field communications staffer Nora Frederickson send us this report about a Verizon action in Philadelphia.
As 45,000 members of the Communications Workers of America (CWA) and Electrical Workers (IBEW) on the East Coast continue their strike against Verizon to maintain quality, middle-class jobs, union locals in southeastern Pennsylvania decided to take their message directly to the public – at the local ballgame.
More than 500 CWA Local 13000 and Local 13500 members and their allies showed up for the Philadelphia Eagles pre-season game at Lincoln Financial Field in South Philadelphia last night–not to tailgate but to educate Eagles fans about the real reasons behind their strike at Verizon.
Members of the local unions there as elsewhere in New England and south through Virginia, have been on strike since Sunday. Rather than reward the hard work of Verizon employees who have provided the quality service that earned the company more than $32.5 billion in revenue over the past three years, management continues to insist on cuts that total $1 billion. That’s about $20,000 per Verizon family. These workers have played by the rules—and now Verizon wants to break them. Read the rest of this entry »
Toilet Paper Drive Collects 115,000+ Rolls for Sacramento Area Nonprofits
AFL-CIO Community Services Director Will Fischer describes union volunteer efforts to stretch the limited dollars of Sacramento area nonprofit organizations.
Every year local nonprofit agencies spend thousands of dollars on toilet paper for families in need. That’s money they could be spending on much-needed services that benefit the community. Since 2009, the Sacramento Central Labor Council and the local United Way have partnered to create Toilet Paper Drives to help local nonprofit partners offset costs and redirect the money saved into vital programs.
This year the partners collected 77,227 rolls of toilet paper (compared with 50,000 rolls last year) that were matched by a local company, bringing the total to an impressive 115,000 rolls.
Telecom and Satellite TV Workers, Police Officers and More Join AFL-CIO Unions
Telecommunications workers, satellite TV installers, police officers and freight handlers are among the latest workers to win a voice at work with AFL-CIO unions.
In Indiana and Michigan, 315 AT&T Mobility workers joined the Communications Workers of America (CWA). The former Centennial Wireless workers joined through a majority sign-up agreement between CWA and AT&T.
In Indiana, some 290 customer care representatives at the Fort Wayne call center and a 10-person statewide unit of technicians now are represented by CWA Local 4900. In Michigan, a unit of 15 network technicians from Michigan won representation by Local 4100. Also, in Berlin Township, N.J., 19 workers in the town’s public workers department joined CWA Local 1040.
In Rancho Dominguez, Calif., 204 DirectTV installation technicians voted to join the Machinists (IAM). IAM organizer Felix Osuna says the workers’ concerns included unfair discipline, job security, respect on the job and poor compensation. Also joining the IAM was a group of service contract workers employed by Science & Management Resources Inc., at Maxwell-Gunter Air Force Base in Montgomery, Ala.
Report: New Communications Technology = Good, Green Jobs
New communication technologies can be a key part of making our economy more energy-efficient and help create good jobs in the future, according to a new report.
“Networking the Green Economy: How Broadband and Related Technologies Can Build a Green Economic Future,” illustrates how a highly-networked economy with smart buildings, smart grids, teleconferencing and digital education will reduce carbon dioxide emissions and retain good, green jobs. The report was released yesterday at a Capitol Hill press conference by the Progressive States Network, Communications Workers of America (CWA), Sierra Club and the Blue Green Alliance. You can read the report here.
Speaking at the press conference, Rep. Edward Markey (D-Mass.), chairman of the Select Committee on Energy Independence and Global Warming said the Federal Communications Commission’s (FCC) much anticipated National Broadband Plan could be a key part of an economic recovery.
Unions Battle Verizon-Frontier Deal and $600 Million Tax Break
There is an oddly named tax loophole—the Reverse Morris Trust—that is so big and lucrative Verizon is getting ready to pull $600 million through it if its sale of rural phone landlines in 14 states to Frontier Communications is approved.
Not only does Verizon stand to pocket the $600 million tax break, but a similar deal in New England shows consumers’ phone and Internet services are likely to deteriorate and workers’ jobs may be put in jeopardy.
The Communications Workers of America (CWA) and Electrical Workers (IBEW) are fighting the sale and are backing soon-to-be introduced federal legislation to close the loophole. The law now allows Verizon and other companies to sell assets tax-free to smaller companies such as Frontier, that end up burdened by debt. (For a detailed look at the Reverse Morris Trust, click here.)
26,000 CWA Members Approve Pact with AT&T—and More Bargaining News
Some 26,000 CWA members ratify pact with AT&T in the Southwest, and more news from the “Bargaining Digest Weekly.” The AFL-CIO Collective Bargaining Department delivers daily, bargaining-related news and research resources to more than 1,200 subscribers. Union leaders can register for this service through our website, Bargaining@Work.
SETTLEMENTS
CWA, AT&T: AT&T workers in the Southwest ratified a new four-year contract. The 26,000 members of the Communications Workers of America (CWA) District 6 had been working under a contract that expired April 4.
IUE-CWA, Dresser Rand: After nearly two years without a contract, workers at Dresser Rand’s Painted Post facility in New York ratified a contract, effective through March 1, 2013. The contract covers 340 members of IUE-CWA Local 313.
Pennsylvania Union Members Donate Time, Labor, Money to Help Children
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Union members care about their communities, and one of the biggest ways they show it is through the Community Services Network, which provides services and assistance to those in need. Last week, the Pennsylvania union movement showed its heart when members dedicated a new union-built picnic pavilion at the Auberle Center, a faith-based agency dedicated to helping abused, neglected and troubled children and families.
AFL-CIO Executive Vice President Arlene Holt Baker was on hand to dedicate the pavilion, constructed free-of-charge by members and apprentices of the Carpenters union. Some of the youth at the center helped build the pavilion and two have asked to join the Carpenter’s apprenticeship program, says Joe Delale, community services liaison for the Allegheny County (Pa.) Labor Council.
Holt Baker praised the union members’ generosity:
I am reminded of a quote from Bobby Kennedy who said:
Few will have the greatness to bend history itself; but each of us can work to change a small portion of events, and in the total of all those acts will be written the history of this generation.
It is in small acts that greatness is truly borne, and the work you have done here today reflects that greatness.
Workers Tell Red Cross: Safety First
Workers and their supporters held informational pickets at Red Cross locations across the country today to tell the organization that donor and recipient safety must come first. The actions spotlighted the Red Cross’ plans to boost profits by jeopardizing the safety of our nation’s blood supply and mistreating workers.
Carrying signs proclaiming “Donors Before Dollars” and chanting “We are the Red Cross,” some 200 people joined a giant inflatable rat to “blow the whistle” on the Red Cross at its national headquarters in Washington, D.C. The marchers picketed in front of the building during the busy lunch hour, just blocks from the White House.
Survey: Health Care Facilities Not Ready for Flu Pandemic
Many of our nation’s health care facilities are not prepared to protect health care workers from exposures to pandemic influenza, putting both care providers and the public at risk, according to a new report compiled by the AFL-CIO and six unions.
A survey of some 104 health care facilities nationwide indicate that although these facilities have made some progress in preparing for a possible flu pandemic, more than a third of the clinics surveyed have no written plan in place. Further, more than one-third of the survey respondents believe their workplace either is not ready or only slightly ready to address the health and safety needs necessary to protect health care workers during a pandemic.
