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.

 Click here for the full article.

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.

Steve Early Pens New Book
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.

FairPoint mess puts three states in jeopardy
From The Rutland (Vermont) Herald, April 9, 2009
 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

CWA Members Ratify AT&T Mobility Contract
Raising 20,000 Workers' Wages 8.5 Percent
 
Members of the Communications Workers of America have ratified a four-year contract with AT&T Mobility covering 20,000 workers that increases wages 8.5 percent over the four-year term and adds flexibility for the employer, the union announced April 2.
 
In addition to a $500 lump-sum ratification bonus, all employees will receive a 1 percent hourly wage increase in 2009 and 2.5 percent hourly wage increases in 2010, 2011, and 2012. Employee benefits were agreed upon separately in a contract settled last year.
 
The new contract applies seniority rights to all articles of the contract and letters of agreement.
 
The AT&T Mobility "Orange" contract covers workers in the company's wireless business, a faster growing part of AT&T's business, formerly named Cingular Wireless.
Going into negotiations in January, CWA said it anticipated that economic issues, job security, union rights, and workers' rights would be the key topics during bargaining. The parties reached tentative agreement March 3 (41 DLR A-1, 3/5/09). The previous contract expired at midnight Feb. 7.
 
Mostly Customer Service, Sales, Network Organization
Employees covered under the contract commonly known as Mobility Orange work primarily in customer service, network organizations, and sales. The contract covers wireless workers in six CWA districts located in 36 states in the Northeast, Mid-Atlantic, Midwest, Mountain States, and West Coast. CWA represents another 22,000 workers at AT&T Mobility covered by separate contracts in the Southeast, Southwest, and Puerto Rico.
 
If the sales goals of the company's 11,000 full-time retail sales employees are met, contract changes in the retail stores compensation plan guarantee they will receive a minimum monthly commission of $1,000. In 2011, the annual amount will increase to $12,500.
 
The contract upgrades various positions:
. wireless technician I and II positions are reclassified as wireless technician with wages at the current wireless technician II level;
. CSR I representatives in the technical support group will be upgraded to a new title of customer support specialist with a new weekly maximum rate of $683.00;
. CSR I representatives in the office of the president will be upgraded to a new title of client service specialist with a new weekly maximum wage rate of $672.50;
. CSR I representatives, clerks, and administrative assistants in the workforce operations group will be upgraded to a new title of workforce administrator with a new weekly maximum rate of $632.50;
. CSR I representatives, clerks, and administrative assistants in the workforce operations group will be upgraded to a new title of workforce administrator with a new weekly maximum rate of $632.50; and
. about 400 employees at consumer and business call centers will become customer support specialists with a new wage scale.
In addition, AT&T will evaluate the CSR functions to see if additional titles should be created.
 
On-call pay will increase to $32 per day, up from $28 per day.
Seniority Rights Applied to Full Contract
 
When shifting positions from full time to part time, AT&T now will ask first for volunteers before imposing the change in reverse seniority order. Laid-off employees will be given priority placement for rehire.
 
The employer will issue "surplus" notifications for large employee groups 60 days in advance of the surplus, an increase from 30 days under the previous contract.
Maximum severance payments are increased to $15,000 based on years of service, up from $12,000.
 
Under the new contract, the union and company will create three strategic alliance committees to foster union-management cooperation by addressing issues of interest to both parties on a scheduled basis.
 
"We are very pleased that this agreement has been ratified. This contract maintains our goal of providing good jobs with good compensation. As always, we appreciate our employees' dedication and their focus on our customers," AT&T spokesman Walt Sharp told BNA April 2.
 
AT&T Inc. Contract Covers 125,000 CWA Members
Meanwhile, AT&T and CWA are continuing negotiations in six regions for a core agreement covering 125,000 workers.
 
In March, 88 percent of voting CWA members gave union leaders authorization to call a strike at AT&T if negotiations fail to produce quality contracts, the union announced March 23.
 
Five of the six contracts expire April 4, while one with AT&T Southeast expires in August.
 
Collective bargaining is taking place for AT&T Legacy, AT&T East (the former Southern New England Telecommunications), AT&T West (the former Pacific Bell/Nevada Bell), AT&T Midwest (the former Ameritech), AT&T South (the former Southwestern Bell), and AT&T Southeast (the former BellSouth).
While CWA has not announced specific bargaining goals for the AT&T contracts, the union has laid out issues it will address, including maintenance of quality, affordable health care, limits on subcontracted work, changing job titles and descriptions, and other job security concerns.
 
The current five-year contracts negotiated in 2004 now are national contracts following SBC Communications Inc.'s acquisition of AT&T Corp. in 2006, its name change to AT&T Inc., and its acquisition of BellSouth Corp. in 2007.

 

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

Wear Red On Thursdays


 
 

 


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