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Thousands of CWA members descend upon Washington, DC in support of the Employee Free Choice Act & health care reform.

Click here for the full newsletter & pictures
US Vice President Joe Biden thanks the CWA for our support
Check out lots of other videos from
the convention in Washington, DC here
Unions question possible FairPoint job reductions
Unions representing the bulk of FairPoint's employees in northern New England are angered by comments from the phone company's incoming CEO that referred to the possibility of layoffs to help cut costs and reduce debt...
I don't see any way you can cut those jobs, quite frankly," said Don Trementozzi, president of the CWA Local 1400, which represents about 425 FairPoint customer service representatives in Maine, New Hampshire and Vermont.
"It would scare me
that he would want to cut jobs, if it's in the front-line jobs that CWA
represents," he said.

Judge refuses to dismiss case against FairPoint
A federal judge has refused to dismiss a case alleging FairPoint Communications Inc. engaged in deceptive conduct by availing itself of proprietary information belonging to a Burlington customer service and sales firm.
Click here for the full article.
News
from the Communications Workers of America
and
the
International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers
Press Advisory
For immediate release: June 16, 2009
For more info contact: Rand Wilson (617) 809-0799
100 jobs at risk…
FairPoint challenged to fulfill job commitments
Portland -- When FairPoint Communications bought Verizon's landlines in Northern New England, it made commitments in all three states to improve service, add jobs and increase access to high speed internet.
During the "cutover" period, both unions allowed the company increased flexibility to help it staff operations. That flexibility included FairPoint temporarily using a subcontractor to outsource about 60 positions to Canada to help the Portland, Maine team with wholesale provisioning for its larger customers.
But now that the cutover is complete, that work is supposed to return to the Portland office where management had promised to complete the additional staffing.
Last week, FairPoint management reported that it intended to continue to outsource the 60 jobs to Canada. To add insult to injury, management says that as of July 31, it intends to permanently outsource an additional 40 Service Rep jobs from Portland to the same vendor in Canada!
Similarly, FairPoint has taken Collections Department jobs promised for Littleton, NH and South Burlington, VT and given them to out-of-the-region subcontractors.
"Both IBEW and CWA have worked cooperatively with management to help FairPoint get federal stimulus money," said Don Trementozzi, President of CWA Local 1400. "But now FairPoint is violating our contracts and not living up to the promises it made in all three states."
"Even as FairPoint boasts about adding jobs in Maine, it's actually taking away the good jobs that we already have," said Pete McLaughlin, Business Manager of IBEW Local 2327.
"This is our work. The revenue is generated in New England and the work should be done in New England," McLaughlin added. "In this economy, these telephone jobs are more important than ever. Hiring local people will ensure a higher quality standard of service. We can't afford to miss any opportunity for economic growth."
Diane Winton, President of IBEW Local 2327, says union activists won't let the company "off the hook" for the promises it has made. "If FairPoint doesn't change its mind on these jobs, there may be a lot more than just fireworks at the company-sponsored 'Employee Appreciation' night set for the Seadogs vs. Erie baseball game on Thursday night."
The baseball game is scheduled for 6:00 PM on Thursday June 18 at Hadlock Field, 271 Park Avenue in Portland.
Bargaining - Verizon’s
Workplace Attire Guidelines & Business Attire Policy
The CWA-IBEW Regional Bargaining Committee's subcommittee and the
Verizon bargaining committee met Thursday and Friday at 80 Pine Street
and discussed both the proposed Business and Workplace Attire policies.
The Union has asked for additional information which the Company plans
to provide on Tuesday, June 9th when negotiations are scheduled to
resume at Pine Street. Updates will be provided as negotiations
continue.
CWA Local 1400 Steward featured in Maine AFL-CIO Article
Local Union Leader Spotlight- Cathy Coolidge, CWA Local 1400 Shop Steward
Cathy Coolidge did not endure intimidation and harassment when she and her co-workers decided to form a union with the Communications Workers of America. She was fortunate to have been part of an organizing campaign conducted through majority sign-up. Until recently she considered her campaign the “the poster child for the Employee Free Choice Act”
Not so anymore. Her company has put a freeze on raises for workers while simultaneously giving the CEO and top executives a 30% base pay raise. What’s more, it’s been a year since her unit was certified and still they don’t have a contract. The case couldn’t be more clear, for the comprehensive change that the Employee Free Choice Act provides. Not only should workers be able to choose how to form a union, they also need the protection of first contract arbitration.
In this clip Cathy is speaking at the Southern Maine Labor Council’s forum on the Employee Free Choice Act. It is one of three events that Cathy has spoken at now. She has taken the fight for the Employee Free Choice Act and made it her own.
In her words “I think if we can pass the Employee Free Choice Act, it will be the first step in turning the economy around.” At the women’s roundtable held in Lewiston Cathy explained flatly “Senators Snowe and Collins support the working class and support women, and that is why they should support the Employee Free Choice Act.”
Fairpoint
Classic Bargaining

Click here for the Fairpoint Classic Bargaining update.
The AT&T Mobility Labor Agreement is now available. You will need pdf software installed like Adobe Reader to read the document. Adobe Reader is free & can be obtained here.
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Steve Early Pens New Book |
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Steve early's new book Embedded With Organized Labor: Journalistic Reflections on the Class War at Home is a wide-ranging collection that deals with the dilemmas of union radicalism, the obstacles to institutional change within organized labor, and strategies for securing workers’ rights in the new global economy. It also addresses questions hotly debated among union activists and friends of labor, including workers’ rights as human |
| rights, new forms of worker organization such as worker centers, union democracy, cross-border solidarity, race, gender, and ethnic divisions in the working class, and the lessons of labor history. Steve Early is a labor journalist, lawyer and former CWA organizer and a friend of this local. We will be a sponsor for an event at which he'll be speaking. Join Steve at Porter Square Books located in the Porter Square Shopping Center (25 White St Cambridge, MA) on Monday, June 29th 7-8:30PM. Come out and show your support for Steve and find out more about workers and the economic crisis, the fight for health care reform, the fate of "Employee Free Choice", current struggles for union democracy and rank-and-file control and the future of national labor federations like Change to Win and AFL-CIO. There will be a party afterwards. | |
President of the CWA Local 1400 Retirees Association Announced

Retired CWA Local 1400 District VP & 43 year Service Rep Ann Mussenden from Portland Maine has been Appointed 1st President of the CWA Local 1400 Retirees Association.
Pictures from the Taunton Membership Meeting

Click here to see more
Click here for the Fairpoint Classic Bargaining update.
By STEVE EARLY
When your pay, benefits or job are in jeopardy, there's little satisfaction in saying: "We told you so!"
But
that’s exactly what 3,500 northern New England telephone workers are
entitled to tell state officials who approved Verizon’s sale to
FairPoint. Their flawed regulatory decisions in Vermont, Maine, and
New Hampshire have put employees, customers, local businesses, and
the whole regional economy at risk.
Click here to read the article.
The Concord Monitor Article: FairPoint blasted at PUC hearing
"What you've done is negligent," Morrison said to Dee Burger, a Capgemini project manager. "You have placed the economic health of a large corporation and three states in jeopardy. This has made newspaper headlines across the nation. You have tarnished the image of these three states. Your company is responsible for that."
Don Trementozzi of the Communication Workers of America Local 1400 union said he thinks the problem is not the workers but the systems. He pointed a finger at Capgemini. "Simple orders are just not making it through the system," he said.
Click here to read the article
Raising 20,000 Workers' Wages 8.5 Percent
AT&T Mobility Contract Ratified. Click here for more...
Caught On Camera

CWA Local 1400 Recording Secretary Karen Cusson & her son Jasen
with President Obama

Chief Steward Darlene Stone with Congressman Peter Welch

Local 1400 with US Senator Bernie Sanders
(January 2009
COPE convention)
Click here for more
CWA National News
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