Case Study Finds Labor Action Plan ineffective, worker abuse continues

Washington, DC — The Communications Workers of America today released “As Goes Avianca: How One Company Represents the Problems and Challenges of the Colombia Free Trade Agreement & the Action Plan on Labor Rights.” The case study outlines the challenges that go unaddressed by the proposed agreement’s Labor Action Plan by looking at the actions of the Colombian-based airline as they relate to it. Continue reading →

Fight for Middle Class Jobs at Verizon and Verizon Wireless Continues

CWA, IBEW, MoveOn.Org, US Action, Jobs with Justice, and the National People’s Alliance Team Up for “Campaign to Save Middle Class”

WASHINGTON, DC – The Communications Workers of America and the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, joined by allies including MoveOn.org, the AFL-CIO, US Action, Jobs with Justice, and the National People’s Alliance announced today the next stage in the fight for middle-class jobs at Verizon and Verizon Wireless.

The groups are launching the nationwide iWon’t Campaign, asking Americans to delay upgrading to the new iPhone on Verizon Wireless until the company agrees to a fair contract with its workers.  The campaign, which includes online outreach by MoveOn.org and other groups, advertising, grassroots outreach and leafleting at hundreds of Verizon Wireless stores, is timed around the launch of Apple’s new iPhone expected on Tuesday, October 4th.

“Throughout the strike, we heard messages of support from literally hundreds of thousands of Americans who are sick and tired of profitable companies like Verizon and Verizon Wireless showering millions on their CEOs while taking away good jobs,” said Chris Shelton, District 1 Vice-President of the Communications Workers of America.  “Today, we are asking everyone who cares about the future of the middle class to help us fight back.  Upgrade to the bew iPhone on Verizon Wireless only when the Verizon companies stop trying to downgrade their workers and give them a fair contract.”

“MoveOn.org’s 5 million members are committed to fighting the corporate greed that is crushing the American Dream,” said Justin Ruben, Executive Director of MoveOn.org.  “Verizon and Verizon Wireless jump through hoops to avoid paying federal taxes, dole out millions to their top executives, and then have the audacity to cut back and ask their workers to pay the price. We are joining the iWont Campaign and asking consumers to get the new iPhone on Verizon only when Verizon and Verizon Wireless treat their employees with the respect and fairness they deserve.”

The coalition will also work to expose the “Verizon Tax Loopholes” – the tricks and tax dodges Verizon and Verizon Wireless use to pay nothing at all in federal corporate income taxes even as they make billions in profits, pay their top 5 executives hundreds of millions of dollars, and undermine the American Dream of good middle-class jobs.  As Congress considers ways to close the deficit, the CWA and its partners will lead a grassroots campaign calling on lawmakers to force companies like Verizon to pay their fair share in federal taxes and respect workers’ rights.

“Why should Verizon and Verizon Wireless – which make billions of dollar a year – pay less in taxes than America’s small businesses and working families?” said Ed Mooney, District 2-13 Vice-President of the Communications Workers of America. “And why should the American public subsidize Verizon’s attack on the middle class with billions in tax rebates? As Congress considers drastic cuts to Social Security, Medicare, and hundreds of programs that the country depends on, we think Verizon and Verizon Wireless’ tax breaks should get a second look.”

Since August, 45,000 Verizon and Verizon Wireless workers have been fighting to protect their health care coverage and other standard employee benefits against company demands for massive takebacks that threaten tens of thousands of middle class families.

From CWA-Union.org

Date: Oct 15, 2011

Location: Washington, DC

Join CWA Leadership, staff, members, family, friends and the AFL-CIO as we rally and march with Reverend Al Sharpton’s National Action Network (NAN) to celebrate the dedication of the Martin Luther King, Jr. National Memorial.

The event will be Co-chaired by Larry Cohen, President of the Communications Workers of America.

This will be an event of unprecedented importance as CWA and all of organized labor continues this historic national journey in support of the ideals established by Dr. King, the NAACP, the National Urban League, our own CWA union and other important national organizations. Please join us!

Rally and March Schedule- Saturday October 15, 2011 :

Event : Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial March and Rally with Reverend Al Sharpton’s National Action Network in conjunction with the AFL-CIO
Date: Saturday October 15, 2011
Arrive CWA HQ Building: 9:30 AM, First Floor Lobby/Conference Room. Round trip Metro fare card, box lunch, and water will be provided.
GROUP Photo: 9:40 AM (Don’t be late!) 🙂
Depart HQ Building: 10:00 am for Metro to the Smithsonian Station
Rally Begins: 11:00 AM
Location: Sylvan Theater, 15^th and Independence Avenue NW, Washington, DC, 20001
March to Memorial: Starts at 15th and Independence (the Sylvan Theater/Washington Monument), to the Memorial Site at 1964 Independence Ave, SW (the intersection of Independence Avenue and West Basin Drive SW)
Departure: At conclusion of the march. Use round trip Metro fare card to return to CWA HQ. 

Please Note: A limited number of parking spaces will be available (12-15) at the loading dock on a first come, first serve basis for participants without garage access. Windshield passes will be available at the security desk.

Please register your participation by contacting Alfonso Pollard at (202) 434-1334 or email him at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) with “MLK Rally and March” in the subject box.

If you signed on to participate in the August event, please sign up again. 

For more information:

• Download the NAN Flyer
• Download the CWA Flyer
• Visit the NAN website

Verizon and Verizon Wireless – along with millions of tech geeks worldwide – are eagerly anticipating the release of the iPhone 5. Now is the time to ramp up our mobilization for a fair contract! CWA members will picket and rally at Verizon work locations on Thursday, September 29th. On Friday, September 30th and Saturday, October 1st, we head to Verizon Wireless and Apple stores. With your help, we’ll cover those stores with leafleters.

Our two-week strike in August showed Verizon and Verizon Wireless that it could not keep stonewalling us at the bargaining table. We showed management—and all of America—that working people will stand up against corporate greed and keep fighting to defend the American Dream. Now we will be bargaining from CWA’s health care proposals at Verizon and Verizon Wireless. And we are forcing management to focus on our demand to bring thousands of outsourced and off-shored jobs back into the bargaining unit.

To win a fair and just contract, we need to turn up the heat!

If you are a CWA member, talk to your steward or your local to leaflet at a Verizon Wireless or Apple Store near you. Click here for a downloadable copy of an Apple Store leaflet. Click here for a Verizon Wireless store leaflet.

Friends and allies of workers at Verizon and Verizon Wireless: click here to sign our petition. And if you want to “Adopt-a-Store”, and leaflet more than once, click here to sign up.

With the iPhone 5 coming out soon, it’s time to send VeriGreedy a message.

NATIONAL DAYS OF ACTION

SEPT. 29 – OCT. 1
We’re ramping things up with three Days of Action:

SEPT. 29 – OCT. 1
A day of workplace picketing and rallies to show that we are still angry, still strong, and ready to do whatever it takes.

Sept. 30 – Oct. 1
Working with our allies inside and outside the labor movement, massive leafleting at Wireless stores and Apple stores.

Download the District One flyer here.

CWA and other unions Wednesday defeated an effort by Republicans on the Senate Appropriations Committee to prevent the National Labor Relations Board from carrying out its mission to protect workers against employers’ unfair labor practices.

The fight will continue on the Senate floor where Republicans want to strip the agency of its legal power and responsibilities to protect union workers from employers’ retaliation.

The fight stems from an amendment introduced by Sen. Lindsay Graham (R-S.C.) to bar the NLRB from pursuing a case against Boeing, which is charged with retaliating against union employees by moving work from Washington state to a new, non-union production line in South Carolina.

The amendment was defeated in a 14-14 tie. While it focused on Boeing, it would have prevented the NLRB from pursuing any cases involving companies that move work from a union to a non-union plant to retaliate for lawful union activity.

Hundreds of union members’ calls to the offices of two wavering Democrats persuaded Sen. Ben Nelson of Nebraska to join with 13 other Democrats in voting against the measure. Sen. Mark Pryor of Arkansas voted with Republicans.

“The actions the NLRB has taken under both Republican and Democratic majorities against employers that have engaged in blatant violation of human rights protected in law would no longer be possible if this amendment were to pass,” CWA Legislative Director Shane Larson said in a letter to Nelson and other members of Congress.

He warned that the amendment “would set back decades of labor law and was an attack on all working people, their rights and their jobs.”

The campaign to stop the Senate from weakening the NLRB is essential because the House already has passed legislation to prevent the agency from acting to defend workers in cases such as Boeing’s.

But efforts by CWA and other unions did make a difference. Despite the fact that House Republican leaders have effectively declared war on the NLRB, the lobbying campaign persuaded seven GOP representatives to join House Democrats in voting against the bill.

Story from CWA-Union

Ten years after the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, we remember the CWA heroes: those who perished in the terrorist attacks and those who stood together to get America working again.

This CWA video reflects on the great loss of our CWA, NABET-CWA and AFA-CWA members who were on the job at the Pentagon, at the Port Authority in New York, on top of the twin towers manning TV transmitters and in the skies when they lost their lives.

It also shows our great pride in the efforts of so many ordinary people, including thousands of CWA members, who stood together and became real heroes.

CWA operators took calls from workers in the twin towers and passengers on the doomed planes and relayed those messages to loved ones. CWA nurses and other volunteers cared for injured victims of the attacks in hospitals and makeshift centers. CWA Verizon and other telecom members worked around the clock to get New York and Wall Street connected again to the world, and in just one week, built a telecommunications system from the ground up for 3,000 Pentagon workers relocated after the attack.

On this 10th anniversary, we honor our CWA heroes and remembers those who lost their lives much too soon.

In Unity

Larry Cohen
President

CWA: Verizon’s Refusal to Bargain in Good Faith is Labor Law Violation

Washington, D.C. — August 12, 2011 — The Communications Workers of America has filed unfair labor practice charges against Verizon Communications for labor law violations in contract negotiations covering Verizon, Verizon Wireless and VCSI workers. The charges, filed with National Labor Relations Board offices in New York and Baltimore, make the case that Verizon has refused to bargain in good faith with CWA.

CWA is urging the NLRB to immediately order Verizon management to drop its refusal to bargain and negotiate in good faith as the law requires.

Some 45,000 workers, members of CWA and the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, have been on strike since 12:01 a.m. Aug. 7.

“Since the first day of negotiations, through contract expiration and even today, Verizon management has demanded the same $1 billion in concessions from its 45,000 workers. These demands would cost every family $20,000 a year. This is unacceptable from a company that is among the 10 wealthiest in America, that compensates the top five executives at a level of more than a quarter of a billion dollars over four years, that doesn’t pay any federal income tax and still gets a $1.3 billion tax rebate,” said CWA Communications Director Candice Johnson.

CWA has made it clear to Verizon that when the company is ready to bargain seriously, CWA members are prepared to return to work.

“If wealthy companies like Verizon can continue to cut working families’ pay and benefits, we will never have an economic recovery in this country. This is a fight for all middle class working families. We’re standing up for good jobs in our communities,” Johnson said.

CWA represents 35,000 workers at Verizon and VCSI and about 70 at Verizon Wireless.

CWA News