Monthly Archives: December 2011

(Not) A Message From Verizon or Verizon Wireless

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The holiday season has sparked lots of creativity in our fight for a fair contract at Verizon, from caroling for members of the Board of Directors to the funny video (above).

The company is trying to wear us down, but we’ll keep mobilizing and fighting into the new year! Everyone needs to do their part and volunteer 4 hours a week to mobilize to win the contract we deserve. Sign up for mobilization activities after you watch the video or contact your local.

From everyone at CWA Local 1101.

Happy Holidays and a Happy New Year !

Cable Deal Signed, Verizon Pulls Out Of Fios Build Out

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By: Alec Dubro, Speed Matters Policy Analyst

A week ago, Verizon announced “a deal to pay $3.6 billion for advanced wireless spectrum from Comcast, Time Warner Cable and Bright House Networks, which it will use for LTE mobile broadband services.”

As a consequence of this deal, Verizon announced that it would not continue to build out its high-speed FiOs networks. Verizon CEO Lowell McAdam told an audience at the UBS Media conference that the company was aiming to bring fiber optic connections to its target of 18 million homes, and then abandon the technology. “We are going to build out what we said and not any more,” he said.

The reason is this: instead of paying for costly construction work, Verizon now plans to bundle its service with those of its cable partners. McAdam tried to gloss over the change by telling the audience:

“The theory is, though, that all boats will rise, so FiOS will not be disadvantaged in any way. If I put my Verizon hat on, we think that the FiOS platform is the strongest platform and each partner can take the core product and do some innovation on top of that if they choose to…”

A few years ago, Verizon’s fiber build offered the promise of truly high-speed Internet and video competition. Now Verizon is abandoning that vision. Consumers looking forward to advanced FiOS and video competition will now have to make do with either cable or satellite service.

In any case, this latest move means that Verizon will depend less on its unionized workforce and rely more on the services of the low-wage, low-benefit cable companies and their contract labor. In all, not a good move for America.

Links:

Cable Operators To Sell Verizon Advanced Wireless Spectrum For $3.6 Billion (paidContent.org, Dec. 2, 2011)

Verizon Communications Inc. at UBS Media and Communications Conference (Dec. 7, 2011)

‘The 12 Days Of Verizon’

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Photo Courtesy of CWA-Union.org

CWAers, members of other unions, and activists from Jobs with Justice and the Occupy movement sang carols about corporate greed outside the office of Verizon board member Rodney Slater.

Slater, who made $219,000 last year as a Verizon board director, helped the company’s top five executives get $258 million over the last four years.

The National Says We have much to loose.

Verizon is attempting to complete a partnership with its rivals that can destroy the very core of Unionized jobs and retiree benefits. Verizon has failed to provide information at this time to our bargaining committee on how this will hurt our jobs. Our National Union has told us that Active Members and Retirees alike have much to loose on this partnership.

The Thursday Union Hall call covered what this has done for our bargaining process. We have been informed that now more than ever in the sights of this threat we must mobilize and participate in each an every event for our jobs and our families.

Listen to the CWA National Union Hall Call: December 15, 2011

How Verizon Stole Christmas!

A few years ago, Verizon’s fiber build offered the promise of truly high-speed Internet and video competition. Now Verizon is abandoning that vision. Consumers looking forward to advanced FiOS and video competition will now have to make do with either cable or satellite service.

This latest move means that Verizon will depend less on its unionized workforce and rely more on the services of the low-wage, low-benefit cable companies and their contract labor. In all, not a good move for America. Read full story – Cable Deal Signed, below!
Cable Deal Signed, Verizon Pulls Out of FiOS Build Out – Speedmatters

Stand with Rep. Bishop’s Call Center Bill

CWA-Union.org

Here’s a special CWA carol:

On the First Day of Christmas, Verizon gave to me: A few million for the CEO!

On the Second Day of Christmas, Verizon gave to me: A cut in starting pay, and a few million for the CEO!

On the Third Day of Christmas, Verizon gave to me: Dishonest bargaining, a cut in starting pay, and a few million for the CEO!

On the Fourth Day of Christmas, Verizon gave to me: Unfairly fired workers, dishonest bargaining, a cut in starting pay, and a few million for the CEO!

On the Fifth Day of Christmas, Verizon gave to me: OUT-SOURCING JOBS, unfairly fired workers, dishonest bargaining, a cut in starting pay, and a few million for the CEO!

On the Sixth Day of Christmas, Verizon gave to me: Billions in profits, OUT-SOURCING JOBS, unfairly fired workers, dishonest bargaining, a cut in starting pay, and a few million for the CEO!

On the Seventh Day of Christmas, Verizon gave to me: Cutting our pensions, billions in profits, OUT-SOURCING JOBS, unfairly fired workers, dishonest bargaining, a cut in starting pay, and a few million for the CEO!

On the Eighth Day of Christmas, Verizon gave to me: Dividends for stockholders, cutting our pensions, billions in profits, OUT-SOURCING JOBS, unfairly fired workers, dishonest bargaining, a cut in starting pay, and a few million for the CEO!

On the Ninth Day of Christmas, Verizon gave to me: Less health insurance, dividends for stockholders, cutting our pensions, billions in profits, OUT-SOURCING JOBS, unfairly fired workers, dis-honest bargaining, a cut in starting pay, and a few million for the CEO!

On the Tenth Day of Christmas, Verizon gave to me: More corporate greed, less health insurance, dividends for stockholders, cutting our pensions, billions in profits, OUT-SOURCING JOBS, unfairly fired workers, dishonest bargaining, a cut in starting pay, and a few million for the CEO!

On the Eleventh Day of Christmas, Verizon gave to me: Less respect for workers, more corporate greed, less health insurance, dividends for stockholders, cutting our pensions, billions in profits, OUT-SOURCING JOBS, unfairly fired workers, dishonest bargaining, a cut in starting pay, and a few million for the CEO!

On the Twelfth Day of Christmas, Verizon gave to me: Profits over people, less respect for workers, more corporate greed, less health insurance, dividends for stockholders, cutting our pensions, billions in profits, OUT-SOURCING JOBS, unfairly fired workers, dishonest bargaining, a cut in starting pay, and a few million for the CEO!

61 Wrongly Fired CWAers Back To Work At Verizon; Fight Continues

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CWA has won back the jobs of 61 members wrongly fired for alleged misconduct during the Verizon strike in August, and is continuing to fight for the other 25 members who were terminated.

“If the parties can’t agree on the 25 remaining cases, we strongly believe they should go before a neutral third party arbitrator,” CWA Chief of Staff Ron Collins said. In addition to the 86 fired CWA members, Verizon fired 39 IBEW members. Of those, 25 workers are back on the job.

Recent news stories about Verizon have reported on the firings, but failed to say that most of the workers have won their jobs back.

Leafleting at Verizon Wireless stores and Verizon buildings is continuing across the country, with a special holiday emphasis. On the 15th, CWA members in Washington, D.C., visited the office of Verizon Board Member Rodney Slater, delivering candy coal and singing carols with distinctive union lyrics.

CWA Christmas Carol

CWA-Union.org

Regional Bargaining Report # 51

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For the past several weeks, the CWA District 1/IBEW Local 2213 and IBEW New England Regional Committees and the CWA District 2-13/ IBEW Mid Atlantic Regional Committees have been meeting at the RyeTown Hilton in Rye, NY. The meetings have been “off the record” discussions in Sub Committees focusing on several major areas of our collective bargaining agreements.

The Company continues to undermine the bargaining process by not providing information on its partnership with Comcast, Time Warner and Bright House Cable Companies. Your committees demanded that full disclosure of of the Company’s planned partnership be shared with CWA/IBEW to determine the effect on our members. The Company has agreed to provide this information at a meeting of Union and Company leadership tentatively scheduled for next week.

The sub-committee process of the last several weeks has not had the desired outcome. So no further sub-committee meetings are scheduled.

After your CWA/IBEW Regional teams receive and evaluate the cable partnership information, formal bargaining sessions will be scheduled. In all likelihood no sessions will be scheduled until after January 1, 2012.

It is more important than ever that our members continue to mobilize and that EVERY member commit to spending 4 hours per week participating in mobilization activities.
Please contact your local for instructions.

Your bargaining teams thank you for all your support and wish all CWA/IBEW brothers and sisters a joyous holiday season and a happy and healthy New Year.

Remember to wear RED!!!

 Now more than ever we need to mobilize!

 Mobilize! – Mobilize! – Mobilize!

CWA National Call Dec.15 Features Instant Poll On 2012 Election

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Don’t miss your chance to play an active role in next week’s national CWA call, when members will be surveyed about their preference for president in the 2012 election.

By using your telephone keypad, you’ll be able to indicate whether you support President Obama or a Republican, or are undecided. You can also take the poll online at a new website packed with information about the candidates’ stands on job creation, bargaining rights, retirement security and health care. Go to www.cwavotes.org.

The input members provide via the telephone and e-polls will help the CWA Executive Board as officers weigh an endorsement of one of the presidential candidates.

The call begins at 7:30 p.m. EST on Thursday, Dec. 15. To sign up, go to www.cwa-union.org/cwacall.

In addition to the instant poll, CWA leaders and members will discuss political issues, partnerships with allies to stop offshoring, money in politics, voter suppression, the broken Senate rules and more.

Register To Vote Here

Stop Voter Suppression

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.

Learn More:

CWA Convention Resolution: Oppose Vote Suppression Laws that Weaken our Democracy

People for the American Way: The Right to Vote Under Attack

Brennan Center for Justice: New Voting Restrictions May Affect More than Five Million

Stand with Rep. Bishop’s Call Center Bill

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On December 8, 2011, your United States Representative, Tim Bishop, introduced a bill that would help good American call center jobs from being “off-shored” abroad by greedy corporations.

Stand with Rep. Tim Bishop’s US Call Center Worker and Consumer Protection Bill

Representative Bishop is standing up for middle class Americans in his new Call Center Bill. The Call Center Bill would support American workers and protect consumers by:

Denying taxpayer cash to off-shorers: by creating a bad actor list that would stop companies that ship jobs abroad from getting Federal loans and grants and send them to the back of the line for government contracts.
 
Giving you the right to know: requires call center agents to tell you where they are talking to you from.
 
Giving you the right to transfer to a US operator: so that when you don’t want a foreign call center, you have the right to be transferred to a US-based operator.

Too many corporations have sent thousands of call center jobs in a race to the bottom that hurts American workers and consumers.

It’s time for us to put pressure on US companies that send American jobs overseas.

Love Makes A Family

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From Move-On Democracy In Action

Excerpted from a special email from Zach to MoveOn members:

My Moms Are So Proud

Wow, you are incredible!!

Over 15 million people have seen my testimony about my two moms before the Iowa legislature, after MoveOn sent it out last Thursday. I can’t tell you how much that means to me, my moms, and my little sister, and families like ours all across the country.

I think that one of the reasons my video resonated with people is that it embodies a simple truth: love is what makes a family. It’s what binds us together as we work through the hard times, so we can enjoy the good ones.

I’m going to keep telling that truth. But I’m only one guy. Every single person has an incredible amount of power to shape and change our world for the better, but imagine what we can do together. That’s why I am asking for your help in telling this simple truth.

The folks at MoveOn and I had an idea: get as many people as possible to take their family holiday photos holding signs that say ‘Love Makes a Family,’ and ‘Equality for ALL Families in 2012′. This time of year is all about family, so let’s use our holiday photos to send a message of love for ALL families.

This time of year is all about family, so let’s use our holiday photos to send a message of love for ALL families.

MoveOn has created a special Tumblr site where you can post your holiday pictures. It’s really easy, and they are going to make a video out of all of these Love Makes a Family photos.

Just click this link to upload your photo. There are also signs that you can download and print.

You can see everyone’s photos by clicking here.

While we won the battle in Iowa, my moms’ rights as a married couple stop at our state’s border. And I know that hundreds of thousands of other families like mine aren’t lucky enough to live in a state where their parents can be married. Instead, they have to spend thousands of dollars to adopt their own kids and get power of attorney to take care of everyday life if or when something bad happens.

A lot of people out there just don’t know and haven’t met families like mine. And that’s why I’ve been traveling around speaking about my two moms, and why I’m writing a book about my family.

Now I’m asking you and other folks to show the people you love that you believe in equality for all.

Thanks for all the love and support.

Onward.
–Zach

Cohen On ‘Ed Show’: War On Workers Is Fueling 99% Movement

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Citing American Airlines, Verizon and other companies “looking to cut costs at all costs,” CWA President Larry Cohen was featured on MSNBC’s “The Ed Show” Dec. 2 as host Ed Schultz continued his reports about the war on America’s middle class.

Cohen said corporate greed and virulent attacks from the right are building a strong bond among all workers, whether they are unionized or not. “Unions are a big part of the 99 percent,” he said. “Those CEOs who are hoping they can isolate workers, isolate unions, are going to find there’s a movement for democracy and economic justice sweeping America.”

Larry on The Ed Show

CWA President Larry Cohen being interviewed on the Dec. 2 "Ed Show" on MSNBC. Click to watch.

Cohen’s appearance came one day after Schultz did a lengthy report on three labor situations — American Airlines’ bankruptcy and lockouts at Cooper Tires in Ohio and Crystal Sugar in Minnesota.

Schultz was blunt: “People at the top are getting paid millions, and the workers are getting screwed.”

“There is an industry probably in your hometown you can relate to,” he said. “It might not be sugar. It might not be tires. It might not be the airlines. But all over this country, corporations are making record profits and laying off workers, shipping jobs overseas and rejecting union contracts.

“The greed will only stop when the American people make it stop,” Schultz said. “That’s why the 99 percent movement is so very much alive.”

Click here for the full segment from Schultz’s Dec. 1 show. “The Ed Show” runs on MSNBC Monday through Friday at 8 p.m. and 11 p.m. Eastern time.