CWA Cautions Frontier Shareholders on Verizon Transaction
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| CWA member Elisabeth Choate, fourth from right, warned shareholders about Frontier’s transaction with Verizon. |
Robert Masciola of the AFL-CIO Organizing Department describes how workers at Frontier Communications are calling attention to a deal with Verizon that workers say is bad for shareholders and workers.
Shareholders for Connecticut-based Frontier Communications and its top executives heard from an employee about how the proposed deal to acquire Verizon’s assets in West Virginia and 13 other states “may be good for Verizon, but will leave Frontier a much weaker company.”
With support from CWA Local 1298 in Connecticut and the AFL-CIO, Elisabeth Choate traveled to Stamford, Conn., to attend the Frontier special meeting where shareholders voted to approve the deal.
A movement in West Virginia and 13 other states led by CWA and the Electrical Workers (IBEW) opposes the deal—and the unions are not alone. Fran Hughes, chief deputy attorney general for West Virginia, doesn’t believe Frontier has the ability financially to live up to the commitments it has made to the West Virginia Public Service Commission.
Bye, America
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In this cross-post from the Alliance for American Manufacturing, Steve Capozzola highlights a fun and educational children’s book that shows why it’s important to buy American-made products.
Alliance for American Manufacturing (AAM) Field Coordinator Rachel Bennett Steury has forwarded information on a new book that explains the importance of Keeping it Made in America:
“Bye, America”
Electrical Workers (IBEW) Local 688 President Lance Biglin in Mansfield, Ohio, has taken a creative approach to help educate Americans on the importance of buying American. Biglin, together with his wife, has published a children’s book, “Bye, America” to help teach children, and in some cases their parents, why it is important to buy American-made products.
Settlement of 20-Year-Old Anti-Union Hiring Cases Shows Need for Employee Choice
In a case that clearly illustrates the need for real labor law reform, four construction unions have reached a settlement with Fluor Daniel over the company’s practice of discriminating against union organizers who apply for work. It took nearly 20 years for the cases to be resolved and some of the original workers in the cases have died.
Fluor, one of the nation’s largest engineering and construction companies, will pay $12 million in back pay and interest to 167 union members who were denied jobs. Each member will receive between $8,000 and $217,000.
The settlement ends several cases before the National Labor Relations Board, brought by three of the unions—Boilermakers, Electrical Workers and Plumbers and Pipe Fitters. The United Brotherhood of Carpenters is also a party to the litigation. Some of the cases date back to the early 1990s.
Line Clearance Workers Choose IBEW
The workers at Guzman Garden Line Clearance voted to join Electrical Workers (IBEW) Local 47 last month after their bosses reneged on promises to make changes and give workers a voice.
Guzman Gardens is a line clearance contractor that works on Los Angeles Department of Water and Power property. This summer, Guzman workers contacted Local 47 and inquired about joining the union and 22 of the 24 workers signed cards seeking representation by the union.
Social Media: New Tools Aid in Organizing
They’re tweeting in Northern California about the Employee Free Choice Act, sharing about health care reform on Facebook in Montana and posting organizing messages on My Space for workers in York, Pa.
Across the country, union members are using the new social media to mobilize workers and share information.
Steve Selby, an Electrical Workers (IBEW) organizer in York, Pa., knows the value of social media. He urgently needed to reach 300 workers at a local Comcast office. Rather than standing outside the office and handing out a flier with different information each day, Selby taught himself how to set up a MySpace account. He handed out one flier directing workers to his MySpace page, where he shared information the workers needed to know.
2,000 City Workers Ratify Pact with Milwaukee—and More Bargaining News
AFSCME members ratified a new contract with the city of Milwaukee, 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
AFSCME, City of Milwaukee: Members of AFSCME Council 48 ratified a new contract with the city of Milwaukee. The 2,000 city employees agreed to a pay freeze for 2010 and 2011 in return for a no-layoff guarantee.
Green Jobs Could Mean More Union Jobs
For Mario Ciardelli, a member of Electrical Workers (IBEW) Local 683 in Columbus, Ohio, the issue of green jobs is important because it could mean new jobs for workers with skills in electrical work.
Ciardelli was one of the 80 people who attended a breakout forum on “Building a Green Jobs Economy from The Ground Up” at the AFL-CIO’s 26th Constitutional Convention on Monday. One of this afternoon’s eight forums, “Jobs for America: Getting the Economy Back on Track,” was live-streamed by Ustream at our website here.
His union recently launched “Working Green,” a new section on its website featuring the latest news about the union’s role in the green revolution for members, contractors and others looking to break into the new energy economy.
IBEW is aggressively training and preparing its members to help transform the nation’s struggling economy through a range of environmental investments in green technology, energy efficiency and renewable energy.
Ciardelli says the new green jobs are not new jobs to IBEW members—they merely require new equipment and processes.
CWA, AT&T Reach Third Tentative Agreement
The Communications Workers of America (CWA) reached another tentative agreement with AT&T. The three-year deal covers nearly 8,000 technicians and service representatives who were part of AT&T Corp., the company acquired by SBC Communications Inc. in 2006. SBC subsequently changed its name to AT&T.
The workers’ main goal in the bargaining was job security. The tentative agreement—the third with AT&T since negotiations began in February—offers the same 8.75 percent hourly wage increases and benefit provisions as those gained for employees at AT&T Midwest and AT&T West. In a statement, CWA Vice President Ralph Maly says:
This agreement achieves our members’ key goal which was to improve employment security and safeguard jobs. It maintains workers’ standard of living and safeguards quality health care. In these extremely difficult economic times, these are tremendous achievements.
Electrical Workers Member Wins Chevy in Sportsmen’s Alliance Drawing
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The next time Kent Erickson, a member of Electrical Workers (IBEW) Local 26 in Washington, D.C., heads out for fishing on the Chesapeake Bay or deer hunting in the Maryland mountains, he can haul his gear in a brand new Chevy Silverado.
Erickson is the winner of a drawing for all members of the Union Sportsmen’s Alliance (USA) held earlier this summer. The truck giveaway was one of several ongoing promotions USA runs for its nearly 20,000 members.
General Motors and its Chevrolet division are partners with the USA, the hunting, fishing and conservation club for union members, retirees and their families, and the Teddy Roosevelt Conservation Partnership (TRCP).
Hughes Named Chairman of New York Federal Reserve
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Denis Hughes, president of the New York State AFL-CIO, was named chairman of the powerful Federal Reserve Bank of New York today. Hughes, who has served as acting chairman of the board of directors since May, was named chairman for the remainder of 2009.
Hughes says his experience on the board has been a “great experience,” which has allowed him to see firsthand how the nation’s economy really works.
Says Hughes:
“My job is to do whatever I can to make sure working families are considered when decisions are made.”
Hughes, a 40-year member of the Electrical Workers (IBEW, has led the New York State federation since 1999.
