May 1, 2014

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CWA Members Mourn the Dead, Fight for the Living on WorkersMemorial Day

Judge Upholds CWA Workers' Right to Wear and Display Pro-Union Messages

Organizing Update

Movement Building

Standing Up for Retiree Health Care

Bargaining Update

At Senate Hearing: Retired Supreme Court Justice Stevens Warnsof Destructive Influence of Big Money in Politics

People To Follow

CWA Members Mourn the Dead, Fight for the Living on Workers MemorialDay

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This Workers Memorial Day, CWAers across the country joined union andsafety and health activists in commemorating those workers who have beeninjured, made sick or killed on the job.

We mourned the dead, offered prayers and vigils, and pledged to "fight forthe living" by continuing to work for safer, healthier workplaces.

Houston activists from 13 unions, community groups, faith leaders and othersmark Workers Memorial Day at CWA Local 6222.

Below: Members of CWA Local 9400 show their support for WorkersMemorial Day by wearing Safe Jobs Save Lives stickers.

Elected officials including State Senator Sylvia Garcia and representativesfrom Rep. Al Green and candidate-for-governor Wendy Davis also attended,along with UNIVISION, Telemundo and KPFT media.

First the first time in two years, members of D9 Locals were able to wear SafeJobs Save Lives stickers. Two years ago, workers were told "to take thestickers off or no work for you today," but a decision by an NLRBadministrative law judge threw out that management rule. (See next story.)

Members of CWA Locals 4900 laid flowers at the Indiana statehouse, wherethere was a reading of the names of the 203 Indiana workers who lost theirlives last year. CWA Local 1103 joined the Westchester/Putnam CentralLabor Body vigil in White Plains, NY.

CWA members stood with LIUNA and IBEW workers at the annual Workers

Memorial Mass, also known as the blessing of the hard hats, at St. Patrick'sCatholic Church in Long Island, NY. Check out this Newsday video of theevent.

Workers Memorial Day falls on April 28, the day in 1971 that the federalgovernment established the Occupational Safety & Health Administration. Butdecades later, it's important to remember that we have a great deal of work todo to prevent workplace injuries, illnesses and deaths. Some employerscontinue to cut corners and violate the law. We have workplace exposurestandards for only a small fraction of chemicals used on the job, and so-called "silent killers" like silica dust and asbestos are responsible for workerdeaths every year.

For CWA telecom members, electrocution, heat stress and confined spacesare real dangers. Health care and university workers must deal with exposureto chemicals and other toxic substances. Ergonomic injuries, now notcovered by OSHA, are real.

"We must never accept that injury, illness, or death is the cost of doingbusiness," said President Obama. "Workers are the backbone of oureconomy, and no one's prosperity should come at the expense of their safety.Today, let us celebrate our workers by upholding their basic right to clock outand return home at the end of each shift."

As recently as 2012, a total of 4,383 U.S. workers died from work-relatedinjuries, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.Though most fatalities from work-related illness are not captured by nationalsurveillance systems, an estimated 53,445 workers died in 2007.

Women are especially affected by lack of health and safety regulations.Check out RadioLabour's special report on health and safety atwww.radiolabour.net.

Judge Upholds CWA Workers' Right to Wear and Display Pro-UnionMessages

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Members of CWA Local 9509 can show their support for safe jobs followingan administrative law judge's ruling that upheld workers' rights to display pro-union materials.

CWA District 9 Vice President Laura Reynolds reported that CWA memberswon a big victory with their right to wear and display pro-union messagesupheld by an NLRB administrative law judge.

In April 2012, some CWA members were disciplined by Pacific & Nevada BellTelephone for wearing and displaying pro-union messages on stickers andbuttons, as well as on company trucks, laptops and lockers. About 18 monthslater, an NLRB regional director issued an amended complaint against thecompany for several labor law violations related to this unfair discipline. Ahearing before an administrative law judge brought a clear victory for ourmembers' rights to show support for our union.

Judge John McCarrick found that the company violated the fundamentaltenets of federal labor law, and that language in the employer's PremisesGuidelines also violates the National Labor Relations Act. His recommendedorder requires that the company "cease and desist from maintaining andenforcing this rule in its Premises Technicians Guidelines employeehandbook."

"Without a doubt, the workers who showed their union support and stood upfor their rights are heroes of our union movement," Reynolds said.

Organizing Update

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Wells Fargo Workers, Communities Mobilize in National Day of Action

In Irvington, N.J., bank workers and supporters call for justice at Wells Fargo.

This week, the Committee for Better Banks, a labor and community coalitionthat CWA is helping to lead and support, held actions nationwide to focuspublic attention on Wells Fargo practices that are harming communities,consumers and workers.

In more than 30 cities, labor, consumer and community activists were joined

by elected officials in spotlighting Wells Fargo lending and foreclosurepractices that are evidence of the company's culture of profit over people.The National Day of Action Against Wells Fargo was held as shareholdersmet for the bank's annual meeting in San Antonio, Tex. "While Wells Fargoshareholders are gathering in San Antonio to celebrate record profits, bankworkers, homeowners and community activists are joining together todemand justice and the return of stolen wealth to our communities," theCommittee said.

In Irvington, N.J., bank workers, homeowners and community leaders rallied,marched to the Wells Fargo branch and delivered more than 4,000 petitionsto bank officials, calling for an end to the bank's predatory practices. Thepetitions included the signatures of 1,300 Wells Fargo employees,

Bank workers testified to the company's demands that workers push financialproducts onto customers who don't need them. "Wells Fargo is reapingrecord profits while low-wage bank workers do the dirty work of exploitingtheir customers. It's not right and this is why I'm speaking out," said JonnelleRodriguez, a former Wells Fargo teller and a member of Committee for BetterBanks.

They describe their work environment as a "pressure cooker," with constantpressure by management to make more sales taking a toll on workers andcustomers. Another former Wells Fargo worker in New Jersey, Suzie StreetsCambron, said that despite opening 126 checking accounts with savingaccounts for customers over an eight-month period, she received an informalwarning from her manager.

Irvington Mayor Wayne Smith called on Wells Fargo to do the right thing."With the company reporting record profits, we hope that Wells Fargo willutilize the spirit of the Community Reinvestment Act and assist people so thatthey may stay in their homes." Wells Fargo has been forced to pay out $224million in settlements to homeowners since 2009 for predatory lendingpractices, especially for practices targeting veterans and communities of colorthat resulted in widespread foreclosures. Currently in Irvington, more than100 homeowners are in foreclosure to Wells Fargo.

Cablevision techs, members of CWA 1109, who are in a tough contract fight,send a message of support to Brooklyn Verizon Wireless workers.

Actions were held in St. Louis and Minneapolis, and petitions also weredelivered to Wells Fargo headquarters in San Francisco and in other cities.

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Verizon Wireless Workers to Vote on CWA Voice

May 14 is Election Day for 63 workers at seven Verizon Wireless retail storesin Brooklyn. They've been getting lots of support from New York AT&TMobility members, and from Cablevision workers who are standing strong intheir own contract fight.

Movement Building

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Immigration Reform: The Time is Now

CWA Chief of Staff Ron Collins was among the more than 20 people arrestedApr. 30 at a demonstration near the U.S. Capitol to pressure the House ofRepresentatives to take action on comprehensive immigration reform now.Demonstrators sat down in the middle of a major intersection in the pouringrain and chanted, "Boehner, Boehner, don't lock us in a chamber" and "theyouth united will never be divided."

"Stop separating families" was the message of the day, and seven youngpeople chose to be arrested, to show their concern for their own families andothers who are enduring separation, and who for now have no path to

legalization and citizenship. The youngest to be arrested was Yahir Servin,an 11-year-old boy from Alabama, whose father was detained and deportedtwo years ago. "Families need to stay together, because sometimes you needthe love of your father and your mother and your sister. It's too hard withoutthat support." [Reported by USA Today.]

Indhire Carrillo, 14, from Colorado, said because her father was deported,"my mom, she has to work three jobs, and that is really hard for her. Myyoungest sibling just turned 11 and it's hard for him. He hasn't had his dad."[Reported by USA Today.]

Elias Gonzalez, 15, said he was protesting because his father was deportedto Mexico eight years ago, forcing young Elias to step into a caretaker rolewith his younger siblings. "I lost my childhood. But I'm protesting not just forme but so that deportations don't continue separating other families."[Reported by Associated Press.]

Collins said, "Being here, with these courageous young people, makes all ofus even more determined to move Congress forward on real immigrationreform. It's long overdue."

It has been 305 days since the Senate passed a bi-partisan immigrationreform measure, Fair Immigration Reform Movement said. House Republicanleadership has refused to bring a comprehensive reform measure to the floor.

CWA Chief of Staff Ron Collins, with immigration activists, is arrested at aCapitol Hill protest. .

Many young people joined the protest on Capitol Hill, to spotlight how familiesare being harmed by Congress's refusal to act.

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Tennessee: Put the People First

On May 1, Tennessee's "Put the People First" coalition held actions andevents in Memphis, Knoxville, Chattanooga, Johnson City and Cookeville.The group includes members of United Campus Workers-CWA Local 3865,SEIU Local 205, the UAW, Workers Interfaith Network, Jobs with Justice, theNAACP, students, Citizen Action and more.

The North Carolina "Moral Mondays" have been an inspiration and theTennessee coalition will work to put economic and social justice issues frontand center in the state.

Read more here.

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Setting Up Camp McCarthy

Immigration reform activists, including members of CWA Local 9415, held amarch for immigration reform, then set up "Camp McCarthy" outside thedistrict office of Rep. Kevin McCarthy in Bakersfield, California, to pushMcCarthy, a Republican House leader, to schedule a vote on immigrationreform in the House.

Immigration activists in Bakerfield, Calif., tell Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R) tobring reform to the House floor for a vote.

Standing Up for Retiree Health Care

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IUE-CWA members from four states protest at the GE annual meeting inChicago.

Below: NABET-CWA members tell GE to keep its promise to retirees: Fromleft: Debra Slimko, sec.-treas., CWA Local 4250; Liz VanDerWoude,president, CWA Local 4250; President Emeritus Ray W. Taylor, NABET-CWALocal 54041, and Sylvia Chapman, vice president, CWA Local 4250.

CWAers from across our union joined a demonstration outside GeneralElectric's annual shareholder meeting in Chicago last week.

More than 80 IUE-CWA GE retirees from Kentucky, Massachusetts,Pennsylvania, and New York traveled to Chicago to press for retirementsecurity, including health care protections for retirees and the addition of

pension cost-of-living adjustments.

Joining them were active and retired NABET-CWA and CWA Local 4250activists, who were protesting changes to retiree health care coverageannounced by the company that affect NABET-CWA members who retiredfrom GE while that company owned NBC.

Inside the meeting, NABET-CWA Retiree Coordinator and RMC MediaSector President Bill Freeda challenged GE Chief Executive Officer JeffreyEmmelt and the company's board of directors to fulfill the promise it made toworkers on retiree health security.

GE's decision to terminate post-age-65 retirement health care benefits as ofnext January for anyone not yet 65 years old as of that date, "will have adevastating effect on the quality of life of so many thousands of our GE familymembers," Freeda said.

He challenged members of the board to "have the courage to reverse thepolicy."

Bargaining Update

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As bargaining for a new contract for Alcatel-Lucent installers gets underwaynext week in Washington, D.C., CWAers will rally outside the Alcatel-LucentTest Center in Dublin, Ohio, one of the biggest installer locations in thecompany.

CWA Alcatel-Lucent installers are "fighting for our place in the future" andwant to keep these highly skilled jobs from being contracted out.

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Members of NABET-CWA Local 52031 who work at the House ofRepresentatives Recording Studio ratified a four- year contract after morethan a year of tough bargaining. The contract calls for workers to be paidback pay for the overtime earnings that the House had unilaterally andwrongly withheld to April 1, 2013.

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The contract covering 1,600 workers at Frontier Communications in WestVirginia has been extended through May 31.

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Iowa's Woodbury County sheriff's master deputies and sergeants will get a 2percent pay increase under a contract approved Tuesday. CWA Local 7177represents 31 workers. Read more here.

At Senate Hearing: Retired Supreme Court Justice Stevens Warns ofDestructive Influence of Big Money in Politics

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Retired U.S. Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens was exactly on targetwhen he testified about the destructive effect of big money on our democracyand called for changes that will restrict the influence of big money and secretspending in our elections and our politics. "While money is used to financespeech, money is not speech. Speech is only one of the activities that arefinanced by campaign contributions and expenditures. Those financialactivities should not receive the same constitutional protection as speechitself. After all, campaign funds were used to finance the Watergate burglaries– actions that clearly were not protected by the First Amendment," Stevenssaid.

The retired justice has it right.

Unfortunately, the U.S. Supreme Court turned election and political spendingupside down in its January 2010 Citizens United decision. With the Court'sdetermination that "corporations are people too," with free speech rights andother individual liberties, it eliminated the campaign spending restrictions thatwere put in place to stop corporations and other groups from exerting undueinfluence and spending millions of dollars in the electoral process. Stevenswrote the dissenting opinion in Citizens United. The Court's decision in

McCutcheon v. FEC this April went even farther, striking down aggregatecontribution limits and permitting one super-wealthy donor to inject up to $3.6million into our politics.

Watch Justice Stevens' testimony here.

The impact of all this money is a growing conviction by Americans that theirvotes don't count, that our political process is controlled by the biggestbankroll, and that money, not the public interest, sets policies and priorities ingovernment. All this big money gives a big voice to the wealthy andcorporations, at the expense of the rest of us. It threatens the democraticvoice that is the foundation of our country. Our representatives must spendtoo much time raising money. For some legislators, that leaves little time andless interest in developing the policies and programs that working familiesneed. Like Justice Stevens, CWA believes that lawmakers would do a betterjob if they didn't have to spend so much time raising money.

Sen. Richard Durbin's (D-Ill.) "Fair Elections Now" Act and the "GovernmentBy the People" Act, introduced by House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosiand Rep. John Sarbanes (D-Md.), are good first steps to reducing theinfluence of big donors over federal elections, enhancing the voice of smalldonors and helping to develop an effective, voluntary campaign financesystem. The Senate also will vote on an amendment by Sen. Tom Udall (D-New Mexico) to overturn the Supreme Court's decisions in Citizens Unitedand McCutcheon.

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