New York Generator – Receive the CWA 1101 E-Newsletter
Email Updates: Sent when we have important news and/or Mobilization activities.
New York Generator – Receive the CWA 1101 E-Newsletter
Email Updates: Sent when we have important news and/or Mobilization activities.
May is Labor History Month, and whether you want to learn about oral histories or famous union leaders, some new websites are making it easier than ever to explore the rich history of the fight for workers’ rights.
Union leaders, students, teachers and activists all can take advantage of new resources to keep telling our story and building our future.
The website of the American Labor Studies Center, www.labor-studies.org, links users to materials from the Library of Congress, the Smithsonian, the National Archives, Labor Department, the AFL-CIO, top university labor programs and much more.
“Labor History Links,” a site developed by a Duke University labor historian, is a comprehensive bibliography of information, documents and links of U.S. labor history sites; users also can recommend links to be added to it. Click here to visit the site.
The website includes teachers’ lesson plans, information organized by date and topic, biographies and oral history, labor culture through films, songs, literature, art and photos, listings of state and local historical sites and much more.
Angel Feliciano, Executive Vice-President
As I have been going around the Local holding meetings on the new IPP/Pension package, a number of questions come up repeatedly. I will answer those questions here and hopefully answer your questions at the same time. I will update the questions as they come up.
As I have been going around the Local holding meetings on the new IPP/Pension package, a number of questions come up repeatedly. I will answer those questions here and hopefully answer your questions at the same time. I will update the questions as they come up.
Now that the penalty (6% per year under age 55) has been eliminated, am I pension eligible even though I am not 50 years of age?
Below is the official chart:
Your Age | Net Credited Service |
Any age | 30 years or more |
At least age 50 | 25 years or more |
At least age 55 | 20 years or more |
At least age 60 | 15 years or more |
Age 65 or older | 10 years or more |
With two off-payroll dates, will there be two offers?
Must my Pension beneficiary be my spouse?
Can I wait and take it later?
No, this is a one shot offer, with no guarantee of any other offer, and MUST be accepted by June 1st.
Will the company allow more than the declared surplus to go?
Any oversubscription must be agreed to by both parties, and as always, would be contingent on either a complex IPP (letting people go in a non-surplus title, to make room for a surplus person) or an agreement to backfill.
Will the Local be doing Retirement Seminars?
Yes, we have already held 4, with three more scheduled (but booked up). We are taking names on a wait list, and will schedule more classes based on that list. To put your name on the list call 212-633-2666.
IPP Numbers – Comparison of monthly, bonus, lump and total IPP payments
As our city, state and nation continue to climb out of the current financial crisis, working class Americans still struggle to keep their homes. While taxpayer dollars were used to prevent a complete financial collapse, 1 in 10 Americans remain unemployed. In response, the National AFL-CIO has embarked on a long-term campaign to ensure that working people do not get left behind and the economic recovery reaches Main Street, not just Wall Street.
On April 29th from 4 to 6pm, in conjunction with the AFL-CIO’s Good Jobs Now campaign, the NYC Labor Movement will rally at City Hall and then march down Broadway through the Financial District. AFL-CIO President, Richard L. Trumka, will lead the rally where we call for the recovery to make its way to working people on Main Street. We need to make sure that the economic bailout does more than just protect CEO bonuses, that it helps to bring back the 10 million jobs lost since 2007.
Collectively, we will show that when working men and women speak with one voice, they are heard loud and clear. This AFL-CIO Good Jobs Now mobilization will be our call for action. Taxpayers bailed out the big banks, now we need to make sure that working men and women have the same opportunity to get back on their feet.
Your participation will help to ensure that our message is heard.
In Solidarity,
John T. Ahern President
An agreement has been reached with the company which vastly improves not only the Income Protection Plan (IPP) package, but the Pension package, as well as contracting protection, and job protection for the post-2003 employee in the Representative and Fiber Solution Center titles.
The details are as follows:
Executive Vice President Angel Feliciano speaking:
“We have finally reached an agreement with the Company which provides for vast improvements in the IPP and Pensions. It also addresses our concerns in Contracting and Job Retention. Details will be made available as soon as the agreement is signed by all parties.
We want to thank all whose support and faith was so crucial in seeing this agreement happen.
To any Members who had payroll problems this week. We need you to contact your Steward and/or Chief Steward so that you are included in planned legal action.
Thank you for calling and please stay in touch with these tape.”
About 200 CWAers from West Virginia, plus supporters from IBEW and the AFL-CIO, rallied outside the Federal Communications Commission, letting regulators know that the proposed Verizon-Frontier Communications deal is a disaster waiting to happen.
Verizon Communications wants to sell landlines in West Virginia and 13 other states to Frontier so it can take advantage of a tax loophole. Similar deals by Verizon in other states have ended in bankruptcy, lost jobs, the loss of high speed broadband access and overall reduced service quality.
“This deal will pad the pockets of Wall Street executives while only deepening the digital divide,” said CWA District 2 Vice President Ron Collins.
Following the rally, CWA President Larry Cohen, Collins and a group of CWA members met with FCC Commissioner Michael Copps. Collins and other CWAers also met with the chief of staff for FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski and other FCC officials.
Inside the FCC, CWA presented Commissioner Copps with letters from 71 West Virginia legislators who oppose the deal; letters expressing concern or opposition from 18 county commissions, and petitions from more than 5,000 West Virginia citizens calling on the state Public Service Commission to reject the deal.
The FCC can block the deal if it determines that the sale isn’t in the public interest. In March, an Illinois administrative law judge recommended that the state Commerce Commission reject the deal; the West Virginia Public Service Commission staff and the state’s consumer advocate also strongly oppose it.
CWA or IBEW have intervened in state regulatory proceedings on the proposed sale in West Virginia, Illinois, Ohio, and Washington. The FCC will take up the case after the states have concluded their reviews.
For more information, go to www.verizonfrontierdeal.org.
Thursday, April 1st,
Executive Vice President Angel Feliciano speaking;
“Negotiations for an enhanced IPP offering have broken down as a result of the company’s refusal to address any of our issues and concerns on the recently declared surplus.
Thank you for calling, and please stay in touch with these tapes.”
In opposition to Republican obstructionism, President Obama makes recess appointments to the NLRB for SEIU Lawyer Craig Becker and Buffalo Labor Lawyer Mark Pearce. Republicans now are exclaiming that Becker is un-qualified saying his support for the Employee Free Choice Act and his Union affiliation make him outside the main stream for the post. An odd assertion when the post he has been appointed to is charged with investigating and remedying unfair labor practices. Who is better qualified than someone who supports and understands working class people.
This is a major win for the Labor movement that has had to suffer under the Anti-Union NLRB appointments under the Bush Administration for 8 years. Finally Labor does not have to fear going to the board only to have decades of positive Labor decisions overturned in a effort to destroy unions.
Getting a pro-worker NLRB was just one more reason to take back the White House. The NLRB will now have 3 Democrats and 1 Republican and the term of the Republican expires this summer. Often we forget that who we vote for has ramifications beyond the simple party issue. In the case of the National Labor Relations Board in can very well mean our jobs.
Applications are now being accepted through March 31st for the CWA Joe Beirne Foundation’s annual scholarship offerings for the 2010-2011 school year.
The Foundation’s Board of Directors has approved the awarding of fifteen (15) partial college scholarships of up to $3,000 each, and the winners also will receive second-year scholarships for the same amount, contingent upon satisfactory academic achievement.
Eligible for the scholarships are CWA members, their spouses, children and grandchildren, including the dependents of retired, laid-off, or deceased members.
Applicants must be high school graduates or high school students who will graduate during the year in which they apply. Undergraduate and graduate students returning to school may also apply.
Applications will be available solely online for completion and submission to the Foundation’s website:
http://www.cwa-union.org/members/beirne