Health Care Reform Fight Moves Back to House

Meeting late today in person and by conference call, CWA's Executive Board issued a call to locals across our union to step up the fight against the excise tax on our health care plans. The focus now shifts to the House of Representatives, then to consideration of conference legislation.

The Senate will vote on its health care bill that includes the excise tax next Thursday. This proposal would have disastrous consequences for the majority of CWA members and retirees under age 65 beginning in 2013 and escalating dramatically every year after that.

The Senate and House then have to work out conference legislation that both bodies must pass before sending it to the President for approval.  The House version has NO excise tax and 188 House members have signed a letter to Speaker Pelosi saying that there can be no excise tax in the final version.  CWAers across the country must rally around those 190 members, particularly those that face tough elections in 2010.

Taxing the health plans of 30 million Americans in the first ten years of the tax is a huge mistake for members of Congress.  CWA released a national poll last week which found that three-quarters of all respondents are less likely to vote for any member of Congress who supports the excise tax on health care plans.

CWA District 3 Reaches Tentative Agreement with AT&T

CWA District 3 reached a tentative agreement with AT&T covering 35,000 CWA-represented workers at AT&T Southeast. Click here for details.

The agreement covers workers at AT&T (formerly BellSouth), Utilities, BAPCO and Billing in Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina and Tennessee.

"In these very difficult economic times, CWA was able to maintain the job security provisions that were currently in the contract, along with quality health care. The team worked very hard to achieve a fair and equitable contract," said CWA District 3 Vice President Judy Dennis.

The CWA bargaining team unanimously supports the agreement and recommends ratification. A contract explanation meeting will be held for local presidents, starting the ratification process.

The three-year tentative agreement increases pay by 9 percent compounded over the contract term and provides pension band increases of 2 percent in each year of the agreement, among other gains. 

CWA, IBEW, AT&T and Verizon Team Up to Oppose Tax on Health Care

CWA and two major employers, Verizon and AT&T, and the IBEW have joined forces to oppose the proposed excise tax now included in the Senate's health care reform bill and the provision that affects the Medicare Part D subsidy for prescription drug coverage.

In a letter to Senate Majority Leader Reid, the organizations urged him to reconsider those provisions as the legislative process moves forward.

Read the letter here.

CWA on the Air

And listen as Valerie Castle-Stanley, a member of CWA Local 2204 who works at AT&T, talks about how the tax on health care will harm her family and millions more just like hers. The ad currently is being broadcast on radio stations throughout Virginia and Indiana; Internet banner ads are up on many national sites like Facebook and huffingtonpost.com.

Voters, Economists Agree: Tax on Health Care is a Bad Idea

Voters overwhelmingly oppose a proposed tax on health care benefits, and 63 percent said they would be less likely to re-elect a lawmaker who votes for it, according to a new poll conducted for CWA in 10 key states.

 

And several new studies by leading economists show how the health care tax will slam middle class and working families.

Some 70 percent of voters in the CWA survey said the tax must go. A majority, 54 percent, said they support the funding plan proposed by the House, which would make most employers responsible for providing health care for employees and add a surtax for individuals making more than $500,000 and families earning more than $1 million a year.

The poll surveyed 2,200 likely voters in Arkansas, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Indiana, Louisiana, Nevada, New Mexico, North Dakota and Virginia.

In separate studies, the Economic Policy Institute, Citizens for Tax Justice, the Watson Wyatt consulting firm and the Segal Company, which advises companies on benefits, offered more proof that the tax on health care will hurt working and middle income families.

Watson Wyatt pointed out that the tax would apply to plans "whose members have greater health care risks and needs, and also those who live in high cost geographic areas." Most employers say they'd reduce benefits to avoid the tax, Watson Wyatt reported.

EPI said the "excise tax is a cut in benefits, a cut in total compensation, and a shift in risk onto workers" and CTJ warned that it would "noticeably lower living standards, not to mention health security, for tens of millions of Americans."

Read more at www.healthcarevoices.org.

Excise Tax Would Have 'Devastating' Impact, CWA, Allies Warn Senate

"Drop the tax on workers' health care benefits." That's the non-stop message from CWA and allies to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and members of the Senate who are considering a tax on health care plans.

CWA President Larry Cohen and Qwest CEO Edward Mueller wrote to the 28 senators in the 14-state Qwest territory, including Leader Reid, pointing out how middle income and working Americans would be hit hard by the tax.  

For the 150,000 employees, retirees and dependents at Qwest, the tax would be devastating, said Cohen and Mueller. "An individual worker would have to pay an additional $1,950 annually and a family would have to pay a staggering $5,200 a year," they wrote. "By 2023, the tax would ratchet up to approximately $44 million on CWA-Qwest health care plans," they said. Cohen and Mueller said Qwest's plans "should not be penalized because they are covering older workers who incur more health care costs." Click here to read the letter.

Cohen and United Auto Workers President Ron Gettelfinger wrote to the Senate on behalf of the 2.5 million active and retired members represented by the unions. "Rather than curbing plans with overly rich benefits, the excise tax would mostly have a discriminatory impact on plans that happen to cover older workers and retirees, or workers in high-cost and high-risk occupations," they said. Click here to read the letter.

In a separate letter to Leader Reid, CWA's Cohen and the presidents of four unions, representing more than 5 million workers warned that "if this tax were implemented, employers would more likely cut benefits to reduce their costs." The tax would have a "devastating impact on exactly the type of good, comprehensive health care plans reform should be promoting." Joining Cohen were Presidents Joseph T. Hansen, Food and Commercial Workers; James P. Hoffa, Teamsters; Dennis Van Roekel, National Education Association; and Frederic V. Rolando, Letter Carriers. Click here to read the letter.

St. Louis Post-Dispatch Slammed for Terminating Retiree Health Care

St. Louis Post-Dispatch retirees and workers protest management move that eliminates employer contribution to retiree health care.

Active and retired St. Louis Post-Dispatch newspaper employees, members of the St. Louis Newspaper Guild/CWA Local 36047, are protesting the company's action to eliminate its contributions to retiree health care.

That means a bleak holiday for about 100 retired workers, plus dozens of management employees, who will be on the hook for as much as $1,200 a month as of Jan. 1, if they want to continue their health care coverage.  

Lee Enterprises, the newspaper's owner, encouraged many workers to retire before they were Medicare eligible by promising to continue support for retiree health benefits for life. But many retired workers just won't be able to afford health care, the local said.

Retirees and workers marched outside the newspaper's St. Louis office this week to focus public attention on management's action. "Lee wants to increase its profits on the backs of the sick and elderly," said Shannon Duffy, the locals' business administrator. "The greed and venality of this profitable corporation know no bounds," he said.

Meanwhile, Lee Enterprises' executives continue to rake in cash. CEO Mary Junck received compensation worth $2.5 million in 2008, and CFO Carl Schmidt got $1.2 million.

"For executives to enrich themselves while cutting health care for the elderly is morally repugnant," said Duffy. Lee owns 53 newspapers around the nation and reported a profit of $1.75 million in the third quarter. The Post-Dispatch also made a profit. The Guild already is suing the company for reneging on a contractual agreement to cover the full cost of retiree health care.

Ohio Local Wins TAA Benefits for Laid-Off Delphi Workers

Delphi workers who were laid off in the past year from Packard Electric plants in Ohio are now eligible for Trade Adjustment Assistance that provides job training and other aid for workers who are hit hard by imports and offshoring of jobs. IUE-CWA Local 84717, with the help of Representative Tim Ryan (D-Ohio), helped make the benefits a reality.

About 70 members of Local 84717 are eligible. They are among 153 workers who were laid off in late 2008 or early 2009; about 80 have been rehired, Local President Karen Krolopp said.

The local applied for TAA funds in February and reapplied in May, after President Obama's stimulus program expanded the benefits.

A TAA investigation found that sales and production of vehicle wiring and connector parts at Delphi Packard's Ohio plants had decreased during the same period that imports increased.

Krolopp said members have been calling every month asking about the status of the application, and she expects that many of them will take advantage of the opportunity. TAA funds provide for training for new jobs or careers, income support, job search allowance and relocation allowances.

Krolopp thanked Representative Ryan, who she said was instrumental in getting TAA approval.

IUE-CWA Elves Taking Calls for Santa Through Friday

Thanks to the hard-working elves at IUE-CWA Local 81320 in upstate New York, there's still time to make sure the children in your life have a chance to talk to Santa.

Local members, who work for Lockheed Martin Maritime Systems and Sensors, have been taking calls from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. each day this week and will continue through Friday, Dec. 18. Children can call during other hours and leave a message for Santa, and he will call them back during the afternoon.

The phone number is (315) 457-1750.

Local President Mike Labulis said his elves have been doing this for about 14 years and usually get around 350 calls during Santa week.

Let's 'Sock' Pediatric AIDS

Here's some holiday shopping that's fun, and helps a terrific cause: a children's DVD that supports our union's fight against pediatric AIDS.

Sales of the award-winning DVD "Sockville-A New Pair of Socks" have been extended through Dec. 31. For every DVD purchased at a special price of $9.99, $3 will go to the Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation, CWA's charity of choice for nearly 20 years.

It's the perfect holiday movie for kids of all ages, and it's a great way to help children around the world suffering from HIV/AIDS.

To make a purchase or for more information click on the banner below.

Reminder: Vote Now for 2009's Biggest Scrooge

Just a few days left to help Jobs with Justice decide who's the biggest Scrooge of 2009, the greediest, meanest business or organization of them all.

This year's nominees for Scrooge of the Year are Bank of America, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, Hyatt Hotels, Publix Supermarkets and, collectively, student loan lenders Sallie Mae and Citibank.

The JwJ website details why each nominee is a worthy candidate. Go to www.jwj.org/scrooge to read more and cast your ballot before Dec. 21.