• U.S. Still Lags Behind Many Countries in Internet Speed
• CWA Members a Peaceful Presence at Rowdy Town Hall Meeting in Virginia
• CWA Mourns Death of Senator Edward Kennedy, Hero to America's Working Families
• RMC President Bobby Brown Dies; Active CWA Member for Six Decades
• Whole Foods CEO Slams Workers' Rights, Health Care Reform
• CWA Calls for Labor Unity, Governance Reform at AFL-CIO Convention
• 'Turn Off NBC' Bus Ads NABET's Latest Tool in Fight for Fairness 
• Register Now for CWA Safety and Health Conference in San Diego

U.S. Still Lags Behind Many Countries in Internet Speed

When it comes to Internet speed, the United States is improving -- at a snail's pace.

CWA's third annual Speed Matters report on Internet speed is getting a lot of buzz, with industry officials, regulators and lots of others talking about it. It's been covered by national and local newspapers and radio and television stations across the country.

The United States ranks 28th in the world in terms of Internet speed, with countries like Japan, South Korea, Sweden and others far ahead. "At our current rate of progress, it will take the United States 15 years to catch up with current Internet speeds in South Korea which are currently four times faster than the U.S.," CWA President Larry Cohen said.

Check out how your state and county compare at www.speedmatters.org. The report found that only 20 percent of users had Internet speeds anywhere those of South Korea and other top-ranked countries and nearly 20 percent of those taking the speed test didn't even measure up to the FCC's definition of high speed, a slow 768 kilobits per second.

Speed matters, Cohen said, because new jobs and America's ability to compete in a high-tech age are directly linked to Internet speed and access. "Continued job growth, innovation and rural development require high-speed, universal networks," he said, as do advances in tele-medicine, distance learning and new applications being developed every day.

CWA Members a Peaceful Presence at Rowdy Town Hall Meeting in Virginia

CWA Local 2222 members Tim Firebaugh, Joe Cooper, Don Lewis and Dolores Trevino-Gerber served as marshals for a town hall meeting in Virginia with Rep. James Moran. Below, CWAers from D6 and other union activists stand up for health care reform at a town hall meeting in Beeville, Tex., with Rep. Ruben Hinojosa.

CWAers helped staff a town hall meeting in northern Virginia that drew an overflow crowd of people in favor of health care reform, as well as the antis carrying Nazi signs and bullhorns.

"It was 80 percent to 20 percent, in favor of people who support reform," said Tim Firebaugh, congressional district coordinator for CWA Local 2222. "The problem was the 20 percent. They were there to disrupt. When Governor Howard Dean was introduced they got so loud that you couldn't even hear the man speak."

Dean, former head of the Democratic National Committee and a physician, joined Rep. Jim Moran (D-Va.) at a local high school. Long lines formed outside hours before the 7 p.m. event, with the vast majority of people chatting quietly and holding pro-reform signs.

Firebaugh and other union members, coordinated by the Northern Virginia Area Labor Federation, acted as marshals to keep the lines in order and direct people to the auditorium and restrooms. Their peaceful demeanor didn't stop opponents from calling them "union thugs."

One woman in line accosted CWA's health care campaign coordinator Dolores Gerber when she saw a CWA insignia on Gerber's shirt. Gerber said: "She asked why 'union thugs' were at the event.  I told her I was a union member and proud of it and I was a constituent of congressional district 8, was she?  She fumbled around and said it was a public meeting."

CWA Mourns Death of Senator Edward Kennedy, Hero to America's Working Families

In a media statement, CWA President Larry Cohen expressed the sorrow that CWAers felt on the death of Senator Edward Kennedy.

Throughout a lifetime of public service, Senator Kennedy made improving the lives of working men and women his cause. Health care for all, an end to discrimination, fairness and respect for workers, these were Senator Kennedy's passions, CWA President Larry Cohen said. "He has a special place in the hearts of CWA members," Cohen said.

Cohen met with Kennedy the day before President Obama's inauguration, and said Kennedy was determined to complete two goals -- passage of the Employee Free Choice Act and real health care reform.  "That dream will go on, and we will do so in his name," Cohen pledged.

Every major advance, every step forward for working families came about because of Kennedy's efforts: Medicare and Medicaid, family and medical leave, workers' rights, retirement security, equal rights and fair treatment for women, civil rights for people of color, the list goes on and on. 

"We will extend that legacy when we achieve one of Senator Kennedy's greatest passions, health care for all," Cohen said.

RMC President Bobby Brown Dies; Active CWA Member for Six Decades

RMC President Bobby Brown at CWA convention.

Bobby Ray Brown, president of CWA's Retired Members' Council and a Local 6201 member for nearly 60 years, died Aug. 24 in Texas.

"Bobby was a leader, not only for the RMC and District 6, but across CWA," CWA President Larry Cohen said. "He was also a force throughout AT&T and provided constant representation to retired workers on the issues most important to them."

"But mostly I will remember Bobby as the best of CWA.  He always put our union first, inspiring so many of us to be the best we can be," Cohen said.

Brown, who was 79, had been recently diagnosed with a brain tumor, but gave a dynamic address to CWA convention delegates this past June.

 

Brown got his start as a communications technician during the Korean War, serving in the U.S. Army attached to an Air Force unit. When he returned, he began a 40-year career at SBC (now AT&T), and joined CWA. Always an active member, he served as one of his local's vice presidents.

After retiring, he was elected president of his Retired Members' Council chapter, then president of RMC District 6. He continued in his District 6 role after being elected RMC president in January 2009. He also continued to serve on Local 6201's legislative-political committee.

A lifelong Democratic activist, Brown gave his time to community projects and local politics, serving as a city council member and mayor pro tem in Haslet, near Fort Worth.

Survivors include his wife, Priscilla, four children, 13 grand-children and 14 great-grandchildren.

Whole Foods CEO Slams Workers' Rights, Health Care Reform

Whole Foods shoppers have long paid a premium for wholesome food they thought they were buying from a socially conscious retailer. Turns out it's been bait-and-switch all along.

Whole Foods CEO John Mackey has publicly attacked the Employee Free Choice Act and real health care reform. Now consumers and unions are fighting back.

In the time since Mackey wrote an anti-reform op-ed for the Wall Street Journal, outraged shoppers have launched boycotts that are rapidly spreading through online social networks and blogs.

"While all of us empathize with those who are sick, how can we say that all people have more of an intrinsic right to health care than they have to food or shelter?" Mackey wrote. "This 'right' has never existed in America." A public option is "the last thing our country needs," he declared.

Mackey has been working behind the scenes to strip out majority sign-up and other key provisions from the Employee Free Choice Act, and likes to boast that his stores are "100 percent union-free."

But union members, consumers and activists are showing up in force outside Mackey's stores nationwide. This week UFCW members in St. Paul, Minn., demonstrated in front of a local Whole Foods as the start of a campaign to educate shoppers about Mackey's efforts to undermine health care reform and workers' rights.

CWA Calls for Labor Unity, Governance Reform at AFL-CIO Convention

CWA will press for constitutional amendments that call for better use of financial resources by the AFL-CIO and changes to improve governance. The constitutional amendments plus a resolution on Labor Unity have been submitted for consideration by AFL-CIO delegates next month.  

Rich Trumka, AFL-CIO secretary-treasurer, and certain to be the next AFL-CIO president, spoke and answered questions at the August CWA Executive Board meeting. 

The resolution on Labor Unity calls on the AFL-CIO to continue to support the National Labor Coordinating Committee and the NLCC goal of uniting the labor movement.

The leaders of 11 major unions, including the National Education Association, plus the AFL-CIO and Change to Win, have been working for a united labor movement that will best serve the interests of working people at this critical time in our history.  The NLCC also coordinates work on the Employee Free Choice Act, health care, and other issues.

'Turn Off NBC' Bus Ads NABET's Latest Tool in Fight for Fairness 

NABET-CWA message makes its way around Washington, D.C.

NABET-CWA members in Washington, D.C., are asking local residents to "Turn Off NBC 4" to support their fight for a fair contract as the network continues its union-busting campaign.

Bus ads, mobile billboards and an Internet campaign are the latest efforts by NABET-CWA activists in Washington and in New York, Los Angeles and Chicago to build support for a fair contract. The stations employ 2,500 NABET-CWA members.

The network wants to change workers' job titles, but not their jobs, to move work out of the bargaining unit.  NBC is also demanding changes in the seniority system that could hurt longterm employees.

The workers' contract expired March 31.

Register Now for CWA Safety and Health Conference in San Diego

Join CWA's health and safety team in San Diego in October for the Occupational Safety and Health Conference, where experts will help you tackle the flu, ergonomics, toxic materials and other hazards workers face on the job.

The conference is Oct. 3-5 at the Holiday Inn On-the-Bay in San Diego. Seminars also will cover recordkeeping, leadership skills and what the Obama administration is doing to protect workers and overturn anti-worker rules from the Bush administration.

Participants should register for the conference and at the hotel by Sept. 11.

More information and registration details are at http://cwa-union.org/issues/osh/2009conference.html.