August 13, 2009
CWA Members Use Facts, Civility to Counter Opponents at Town
Hall Meetings
Things have been stormy at town hall meetings during the August
congressional recess, but CWAers have been standing up for health
care reform and countering bad behavior with the facts:
- IUE-CWA Local 81201 members were out in force at a town hall
meeting held by Rep. Niki Tsongas (D) in Chelmsford, Mass. "We
were a democracy squad but more needs to be done," because it's
clear that the antis were only interested in disruption, not
discussion, said Local Vice President Alex Brown. "It was
exhausting but our people were proud."
- At President Obama's town hall meeting in Portsmouth, N.H.,
CWAers were on the mark again, with about 40 members from Local
81201 and 1400 lining the road outside the high school where the
President spoke. Local 1400 President Don Trementozzi said reform
supporters were at least 10-deep along the half-mile road while
opponents were spread thin on the other side.
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CWAers from Locals 1400 and 81201 joined union
members and other activists to support health care reform and
President Obama at the town hall meeting in Portsmouth, NH. |
What opponents lacked in numbers, though, they made up for with
loud comments and ugly signs. "We didn't engage them," Trementozzi
said. "We just did our thing, singing our songs and chanting 'health
care for all.' We even had a band."
- In Indiana, union members and activists helped counter the
anti-reform crowd at President Obama's meeting in Elkhart County
last week and at Rep. Joe Donnelly's (D) town hall meeting in
Kokomo. IUE-CWA members and others CWAers were on hand. Joe
Carbone, congressional district coordinator for CWA Local 4900,
said the meeting was moved outside to accommodate the crowd of
more than 500.
Help Shatter the Lies About Heath Care Reform
Do you yell at the TV when you hear wild claims about health care
reform from opponents? CWA is calling on newsletter readers to share
your personal experiences so we can beat back the outrageous charges
being made about health care reform.
For instance, opponents are trying to scare people about a public
plan option. "You won't get to choose your doctor, you'll have long
waits and a 'government bureaucrat' could deny your claim," they
charge.
These wild statements make it seem like our current health care
system is all things to all people – no waiting, no restrictions on
what procedures are covered and full choice of doctors. We all know
that's just not the way it is.
Every private insurance plan has a select list of doctors, and
you choose from that list or your treatment is barely covered or not
covered at all. Typically, people wait weeks and months for routine
tests and office visits. Insurance companies require advance
approval of tests and treatment – maybe a procedure will be covered,
maybe not. That's our current system.
So let us know:
- How long have you had to wait for appointments and surgery?
What happens when you want to see a physician who's not on your
insurance company's list? What treatment have you or a family
member been denied?
- If you're a Canadian member, tell us what it's like not to
worry about medical bills.
- How has Medicare, one of our country's great success stories,
helped you or your parents?
Send us a few words, along with your name and contact
information, and we'll follow up with you. Send to
news@cwa-union.org.
D9 Reaches Tentative Contract at AT&T West
The CWA District 9 bargaining team and AT&T West have reached a
tentative three-year contract covering 23,000 workers in California,
Nevada and Hawaii.
This proposed settlement follows the Aug. 7 ratification of a new
three-year contract by CWA members at AT&T Midwest. CWAers in
District 4 overwhelmingly approved the new agreement.
The tentative AT&T West agreement provides for wage increases of
9 percent and pension band increases of 6 percent over the contract
term, with both adding a cost of living adjustment in the third
year. It maintains quality health care for active and retired
workers and puts in place fully funded preventive care and
company-funded, tax free health reimbursement accounts.
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CWAers from Locals
6377, 6300 and 6350 rally
in St. Louis for a fair AT&T contract. |
"We achieved our members' key goals: to maintain workers'
standard of living, safeguard health care and enhance employment
security," said District 9 Vice President Jim Weitkamp. "Considering
we are in the worst recession in history, what we accomplished was
no small feat."
Improvements for prem techs include wage increases, employment
security gains and new work rule protections.
Contract explanation meetings with locals will be held on Aug.
17; the mail contract ratification will be completed Sept. 1.
Negotiations are continuing for new contracts at AT&T East and
Yellow Pages (CWA District 1); Southeast and AT&T Advertising
Solutions (CWA District 3); Southwest (District 6); and Legacy T (CWA
ComTech).
Want to Be a Part of the Next Generation Committee?
The 2009 CWA Convention established a Next Generation Committee
that will be composed of multi-generational members and address work
mobility, social networking, training and mentoring and effective
ways to engage younger members in the union.
"If CWA is going to survive and thrive, we need to draw on the
potential of every member. We need energy and passion and the
ability to reconcile our sometimes different views. That's exactly
what the Next Generation Committee will do," said CWA Executive Vice
President Annie Hill.
Interested in serving on this committee? Contact your local union
president by Aug. 20.
Colombia, Guatemala Unionists Call on U.S. to Pass Employee Free
Choice
A delegation of Colombian trade unionists from 11 union
organizations delivered a letter to the U.S. Embassy in Bogota
calling on the U.S. government to support workers' rights.
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A delegation from 11 labor groups in Colombia
delivers a letter to the U.S. embassy calling on the U.S.
government to support Employee Free Choice. |
"Supporting this proposed legislation is the least we can do to
support North American unions," said the union activists. Unions in
North America have been working to support workers and unions in
Colombia, who face extreme hardships and threats to their efforts to
exercise workers' rights.
Another visit was made by representatives from five Guatemala
unions and federations to the U.S. embassy in Guatemala City. "We
are going to strongly support this law and show our solidarity with
North American workers and make sure that the right to unionize is
respected by multinationals operating in the United States," they
said.
72 unions so far have now participated in the global solidarity
campaign for the Employee Free Choice Act, with tremendous support
in the Americas, where trade unionists face strong opposition, UNI
said, with more visits planned.
CWAers Stand Out at Rally for Virginia's Creigh Deeds
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CWAers turn out to support Creigh Deeds for
governor of Virginia. |
Lots of CWAers in red and President Obama joined a rally in
Virginia to support Creigh Deeds for governor.
CWA members stood out in the crowd in red shirts proclaiming "CWA
for Creigh Deeds," said Local 2201 Executive Vice President Richard
Hatch.
CWA's involvement also made an impression on Democratic
candidates for Virginia's House of Delegates who were working their
way through the crowd, Hatch said. "Our members took this time to
push our issues and make sure that these politicians knew that CWA
was heavily involved," Hatch said.
CWAers from Locals 2201, 2204, 2205, 2222 and 2277 were on hand.
Deeds is a former state delegate and state senator who supports
working family issues. CWA locals in Virginia are working hard to
support Deeds and other pro-worker candidates.
Video Celebrates Life of CWAer Gerry Horgan, Killed on Picket
Line in 1989
A video from CWA Local 1103 marks a tragic anniversary while
celebrating the life of Chief Steward Gerry Horgan, who was run down
20 years ago this week on a NYNEX picket line in Valhalla, N.Y.
Horgan was the first, and until 2003, the only CWA member killed
while picketing. His death is the reason why CWA members still today
wear red in solidarity on Thursdays.
The four-month strike over health care benefits was just two
weeks old when the daughter of a plant manager hit Horgan, 34, with
her car while breaking through a picket line. He died the following
day, Aug. 15, 1989, leaving a wife and two small daughters. He is
remembered in the video as a "natural born leader" and "the epitome
of what a union representative should be."
In January 2003, in another strike over health care, Michelle
Rodgers was struck by a police car while picketing the GE Appliance
plant in Louisville, Ky. A member of IUE-CWA Local 83761, Rodgers
was an enthusiastic union activist who was hit while crossing the
street as strikers gathered before dawn.
Watch the Horgan video
here and keep wearing red on Thursdays.
Reminders
CWA National Women's Conference. Click
here to register now for this year's conference, Sept. 10-12, in
St. Louis. Click
here to view the agenda, and
here for workshop descriptions. The cutoff date for hotel
reservations is Aug. 20. Contact hotel reservations at
1-800-925-1395.
Online training. Two weeks of free online
training is being offered to CWA members, family members and
retirees through a partnership between CWANETT and the top-rated
Lynda.com software training program. Visit
www.cwanett.org/lynda and sign up online. Lynda.com will forward
login information. Demand is strong, so sign up now. |
