• CWAers Pack Hearing to Support Temporary Senator in Massachusetts
• CWA in the Fight for Health Care Reform
• AP Journalists in Mexico Gain Strong Representation
• CWA, Partners Launch 'Bridge Years Coalition' on Health Care
• Panel Proves There's Room for Agreement in Health Care Debate
• Got CWA-COPE?

CWAers Pack Hearing to Support Temporary Senator in Massachusetts

Red was the word outside and inside the Massachusetts State House, where CWAers packed a hearing to support the appointment of a temporary interim senator.

CWA members from five Massachusetts locals jammed a hearing at the State House where a legislative committee was debating a bill to appoint a temporary interim Senator to fill the seat of the late Senator Edward Kennedy. Wearing CWA red, members filled an entire section and made it clear that Massachusetts working families need two senators to represent them, especially in these critical times.  

The biggest contingent of any union, more than 50 CWA members from Locals 1300, 1301, 1302, 1400 and 81201 made sure that their voices were heard. "With the passing of Senator Kennedy, Massachusetts has only one U.S. senator and Massachusetts working families have only partial representation during critical fights in the Senate on health care reform and the Employee Free Choice Act," said Don Trementozzi, president of Local 1400.

"We could be just one vote short of the 60 votes we'll need in the Senate to get legislation passed this year. We need full representation as soon as possible," said Lynda Nordyke, president of Local 1302.

The state legislature's Joint Committee on Election Laws is considering a bill that will allow the appointment of a temporary senator who would serve until the special election scheduled for next year.

CWA in the Fight for Health Care Reform

In a teleconference with more than 200 local union presidents, CWA President Larry Cohen and Executive Vice President Annie Hill laid out the strategy to win real health care reform.

Cohen stressed that "the work we do over the next eight or nine weeks will be decisive as to whether we improve conditions for our members and our families. We can't sit and watch and hope. We have to be fired up and get this done," he said.

Cohen thanked CWAers for all the hard work they've already done:

• CWA activists had meetings with 207 members of Congress, plus another 107 meetings during the August recess.
• More than 3000 CWA activists attended a major health care rally in Washington, D.C.
• CWAers made more than 6,000 telephone calls to members of Congress, plus 2,000 handwritten letters.
• More than 800 CWAers attended town hall meetings on health care.

CWAers and allies demonstrate for real health care reform outside Staten Island office of Rep. Mike McMahon.

Annie Hill outlined the mobilization campaign going forward, encouraging locals to join the national call-in campaign set for Sept. 14-18. Calls from CWAers and allies will focus on telling senators that "we need real health care reform."

"Union meetings and gatherings are a good way to generate the phone calls to senators who need to hear from us and the hand written letters that get the most attention from members of Congress," she said.

"We need one-on-one conversations with our members, to remind them that doing nothing is not an option. We need reform for our members and our families, and we'll continue to focus on our four principles as Congress moves forward," she said.

The fight will get even hotter in October and November, and CWA will be ready with more actions to get the health care reform we need, she said.

More information is available at www.healthcarevoices.org.

AP Journalists in Mexico Gain Strong Representation

With the assistance of CWA's News Media Guild and the AFL-CIO Solidarity Center, journalists at the Associated Press in Mexico won union recognition and bargaining rights with STRM, Mexico's strongest and most democratic telecom union.

The workers' recognition by the Mexico's Labor Secretariat is a big victory for the democratic workers' movement. The more than 100 journalists will be represented by STRM, the National Union of Telephone Workers which represents more than 50,000 telecom workers in Mexico. STRM and CWA have worked together on workers' rights, trade, organizing and other issues for many years.  

Workers in Mexico, and in nearly every other industrialized country in Latin America and around the world, are many steps ahead of U.S. workers who don't have the right to majority signup for union recognition. STRM had strong majority support from the workers but Mexican labor laws permit union recognition and bargaining rights with even less than majority support.

The journalists' victory is an historic step that will enable STRM to keep fighting for real workers' rights. Some workers in Mexico are represented by employer-controlled unions which do little to provide a real voice or strong contracts.

During the workers' campaign, a shop steward with the News Media Guild-CWA worked with the journalists to help them build support for their union. STRM has been a big part of the UNI campaign of global unions showing support for U.S. workers, delivering a letter to the U.S. Embassy in Mexico City calling for passage of the Employee Free Choice Act.

CWA, Partners Launch 'Bridge Years Coalition' on Health Care

CWA, IBEW, Verizon and a diverse group of business, health care and retiree organizations have formed the "Bridge Years Health Coalition," to support efforts for reform of the health care system and to make sure that the concerns of Americans aged 55-64 get addressed in health care reform.

In a letter to President Obama and to congressional leaders, the coalition stressed that pre-age 65 retirees need access to quality, affordable health care coverage that is not contingent on health or employment status. Workers and retirees in this age group face fewer options for health care and often far greater costs.

"Health care reform is one of the most important issues facing CWA members today. Most of us are covered by good benefits negotiated at the bargaining table, but rising costs have made it harder to bargain good benefits. Reform must include protections for retirees," said CWA President Larry Cohen.

The coalition will meet with members of Congress and staff on the need for legislation that ensures quality, affordable care for the 33 million Americans who are retired or approaching retirement.

Following the 2008 contract negotiations, CWA, IBEW and Verizon formed a partnership to help find solutions to the health care crisis, agreeing that problems like increasing costs and quality of care can't be solved at the bargaining table. The three bargaining partners decided to expand their reach by founding the Bridge Years Health Coalition. Members of the coalition include the AFL-CIO, Alliance for Retired Americans, the National Coalition for Health Care, Small Business Majority and others.

Panel Proves There's Room for Agreement in Health Care Debate

CWA Executive Vice President Annie Hill, right, talked about CWA's priorities for health care reform at a panel sponsored by the Bipartisan Policy Center and Better Health Care Together coalition. The panel was moderated by Judy Woodruff, left, and included former Sen. Tom Daschle and other labor and business leaders.

At a forum sponsored by the Bipartisan Policy Center and Better Health Care Together, a coalition that includes CWA, AT&T, and other union and business groups, labor, corporate and political leaders had lots to agree on when it comes to health care reform.

CWA Executive Vice President Annie Hill talked about how an employer mandate to provide health care coverage for workers is a critical part of reform; that position is shared by some business members of the coalition.

Hill also focused on the need for a public option. "It's the best way to spur competition among insurers, improve care and coverage for everyone. There has been so much fear generated that just the words, 'public option' have become a lightning rod," she said.

Joining the forum were former Senators Tom Daschle and Bob Dole, along with top leaders from SEIU, the Center for American Progress, Intel, Walmart and others.

Video of the event is online, click here to watch the video. 

Got CWA-COPE?

Sept. 14 is opening day for CWA's campaign to build participants and contributions to CWA-COPE, our union's political action program.

The message for CWAers: If we're serious about real health care reform, restoring bargaining rights, strengthening our union contracts and building the middle class, we need to be a part of CWA-COPE.

Locals will be going head to head and contacting members to raise additional CWA-COPE funds. Prizes for the winning locals will be announced at the end of the six-week campaign.

Executive Vice President Annie Hill called on locals to remind members that the benefits and gains CWA wins at the bargaining table can be taken away by the actions of national, state and local elected officials. "We won't let that happen," she said.

Stay tuned for updates on the campaign.