April 17, 2014

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Kaplan ESL Teachers Approve First Contract

NY Governor Signs National Popular Vote Bill

CEO Pay Is Out Of Control

Movement Building

Guild Members Shine As Winners of 2014 Pulitzers

CWA Tele Town Hall Call TONIGHT!

Apply For Morton Bahr Online Learning Scholarship

Round Up

Kaplan ESL Teachers Approve First Contract

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Teachers at Kaplan International Centers, who teach English as a SecondLanguage (ESL) and are members of TNG-CWA Local 31003, votedoverwhelmingly on Wednesday to ratify a first contract that would provideraises, workplace protections and a voice on the job.

The teachers joined the Newspaper Guild of New York in June 2012 and areamong a small handful of teachers in for-profit education who have unionrepresentation.

"By banding together to form a union and taking bold steps to fight for a firstcontract that provides basic workplace protections, these teachers, most ofwhom are in their 20s and 30s, are an inspiration to their generation," saidTNG-CWA Local 31001 President Bill O'Meara. "These are educated workerswho knew they deserved more than they were getting and knew they needed

a union to get it."

The two-year contract includes a wage increase, access to a matching 401(k)plan, job security protections and more. It also would make some part-timeteachers eligible for benefits for the first time.

"I am proud that my colleagues voted to ratify this contract, and for theiractions over the past two years demanding that Kaplan provide basic fairnessto teachers," said Emily Lessem, a teacher who chairs the Guild unit at theschool. "While this contract is far from perfect, it will provide job protectionsand benefits and have a powerful impact on Kaplan teachers in New YorkCity and across the country."

NY Governor Signs National Popular Vote Bill

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New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo on Tuesday signed the National Popular Votebill, which would award the state's electoral votes to the presidentialcandidate who receives the most popular votes.

Currently, each state controls its own rules as to how electoral votes areawarded to candidates. To win election to the presidency, a candidate mustreceive 270 of the 538 electoral votes. Increasingly, that has meant thatcandidates focus only on a combination of some states to win the presidentialelection, reducing citizens in many states to spectator status. Plainly, theirvotes don't count.

But under the National Popular Vote bill, presidential candidates wouldcompete for every vote in every state. States that pass the bill agree to awardall of their electoral votes to the candidate with the most overall votesnationwide. The plan goes forward when states with at least a total of 270electoral votes adopt it.

It already has been adopted by these jurisdictions: California, District ofColumbia, Hawaii, Illinois, Maryland, New Jersey, Massachusetts, RhodeIsland, Vermont, Washington and now New York State, for a total of 165electoral votes. That's more than halfway to the necessary 270.

Learn more at http://www.nationalpopularvote.com/.

CEO Pay Is Out Of Control

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American CEOs pocketed, on average, $11.7 million in 2013. Compare thatto what an average worker earned: $35,293. That means CEOs were paid331 times as much as an average worker.

A full-time minimum wage employee would have to work 580 hours just toequal a single hour of T-Mobile US CEO John Legere's pay.

Here is Ellen's story; she's a T-Mobile customer service representative inWichita, Kan.

I troubleshoot everything, from handset issues to rate plan questions tobilling problems. I have been working at T-Mobile for nearly two years. Imake $11.46 an hour.

As a single mother with two adorable children, Jude and Lyla, I don'tearn enough money to make ends meet, so I still have to rely ongovernment assistance, including food stamps and subsidized day care.

I like helping people. That's why I chose customer service. I try to findthe best solution to a customer's needs. I like to think that I enablepeople all over the United States to get the most they can from theirwireless devices.

My work is very stressful. Sometimes callers are angry about previousservice or something is not right about their service or their bill. The

company expects me to be smooth and reassuring, regardless of thecustomer. The company expects me to solve the problem in 370seconds -- a little more than six minutes. Otherwise, I am dinged on myperformance metrics, and those metrics determine any bonus I mayreceive or the shift I will work.

I am expected to be on the phone 96% of the time I am at work. Theother 4% is really a buffer. If I am on a call that runs into my scheduledbreak or lunchtime, it counts against my commitment to schedule. Thisis hard for me but impossible for some of my pregnant co-workers. Theyare forced to clock out (and lose income) just to use the bathroom.

I fear for my job not because I am doing poorly but because I am an at-will employee, as the company is fond of reminding me. The companycan make life so miserable for you that you will quit. Or my metricsmight slip and I could get a schedule that wouldn't work with my kids. Ormanagement just may get tired of my union activism.

I am a proud and active member in CWA-TU, the union of T-Mobileworkers, and my hope is that someday workers at T-Mobile will havebetter pay, working conditions and the respect all workers deserve.

Read more testimonials from workers at Walmart, Kellogg's, Reynolds andDarden Restaurants and compare your own pay to the pay of top executivesat www.PayWatch.org.

Movement Building

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Kansas Community Partnership Working for Change

CWAers, Sunflower activists and other community supporters are rallying forworkers' rights and jobs with justice.

Below: T-Mobile US workers Dexter Robinson, second left, and EllenBrackeen, far right, join the Sunflower Community Action awards event. Withthem: Delia Garcia, NEA; Kevin Myles, Southeast regional director, NAACP,Sulma Arias, Sunflower executive director, State Senator Oletha Faust-Goudeau and State Representative Ponk We-Victors.

Sunflower Community Action, a CWA partner and the Kansas affiliate ofNational People's Action, recognized CWA for "exemplary commitment to thepursuit of justice, equality and the changing of lives," at a recent award event.

More than a year ago, members of CWA Local 6402 joined Sunfloweractivists to protest the extreme policies aimed at immigrants and their familiesbeing pushed by Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach. Since then,Sunflower activists have taken on the fight for fairness for T-Mobile USworkers, and with other community allies, rallied outside the Wichita callcenter to save 350 jobs. With Interfaith Worker Justice, SEIU and others, the

groups are partnering to "change things" in Kansas.

Read more about Sunflower here.

Guild Members Shine As Winners of 2014 Pulitzers

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More than half of the Pulitzer Prizes awarded this year went to journalists inTNG-CWA represented newsrooms.

"We take enormous pride in the fact that Guild members and the newsorganizations they work for represent the very best of American journalism,"TNG-CWA President Bernie Lunzer said. "The Pulitzers, like the Guild'scoveted Heywood Broun award, illustrate how and why quality journalism isessential to our democracy. You don't get an informed citizenry by recyclingnews releases online. And that's what fills a lot of space when newsroomsare cut to the bone. The Guild is committed to the fight to preserve -- andrestore -- good jobs for dedicated journalists like today's winners."

* The TNG-CWA represented Washington Post newsroom shares thePublic Service award with The Guardian for "its revelation ofwidespread secret surveillance by the National Security Agency,marked by authoritative and insightful reports that helped the publicunderstand how the disclosures fit into the larger framework of nationalsecurity."

* The TNG-CWA staff of The Boston Globe receives the Breaking NewsReporting award for "its exhaustive and empathetic coverage of theBoston Marathon bombings and the ensuing manhunt that envelopedthe city, using photography and a range of digital tools to capture thefull impact of the tragedy."

* Eli Saslow of The Washington Post wins the Explanatory Reportingaward for "his unsettling and nuanced reporting on the prevalence offood stamps in post-recession America, forcing readers to grapple withissues of poverty and dependency."

* Inga Saffron of The Philadelphia Inquirer wins for Criticism for "hercriticism of architecture that blends expertise, civic passion and sheerreadability into arguments that consistently stimulate and surprise."

* The New York Times' Tyler Hicks receives the Breaking NewsPhotography award for "his compelling pictures that showed skill andbravery in documenting the unfolding terrorist attack at Westgate mall inKenya."

* Josh Haner, also of The New York Times, receives the FeaturePhotography award for "his moving essay on a Boston Marathon bombblast victim who lost most of both legs and now is painfully rebuildinghis life."

Many Guild members were also among the finalists for the prize.

CWA Tele Town Hall Call TONIGHT!

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Tonight's CWA Town Hall Call starts at 7:30 p.m. ET.

At AT&T Mobility, our members took a stand for the right to sit, and won. It'sall about bargaining rights, and AT&T Mobility activists fought hard to win thisbig change in working conditions. We'll hear about that from Local 9505Steward Lily Pimienta, and from AT&T Mobility activist Lamar Banks on theUnity@Mobility training that Mobility workers are participating in as anotherway to build our union and our movement to win progressive change.

Verizon Wireless workers want those same bargaining rights. Anoverwhelming majority of employees from the company's seven Brooklynretail stores signed cards saying they want to join CWA. On the call, we'llhear from Bianca Cunningham, a VZW activist who'll talk about workers'solidarity and determination, even in the face of an aggressive attack onworkers' rights. Watch this great video.

T-Mobile workers are all too familiar with the tactics of harassment,intimidation and surveillance. But that hasn't stopped their fight for CWArepresentation. We'll also be talking with TU member and activist Amber Diazwho has put her livelihood on the line to help win get justice at work. Withactor Danny Glover, Amber and UAW members have been meeting withstudents on college campuses and are building strong support for workers'rights.

CWA President Larry Cohen also will join us on the call. Will you?

We'll be dialing you tonight, but you can also listen to the town hall online atwww.cwa-union.org/cwalisten.

Apply For Morton Bahr Online Learning Scholarship

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Empire State College of the State University of New York is now acceptingapplications for the Morton Bahr Online Learning Scholarship for the 2014-2015 academic year.

The scholarship honors the commitment to educational opportunity andonline learning of Morton Bahr, CWA's president emeritus and an EmpireState College alumnus. It helps union members and other workers achievetheir education and life goals by providing access to higher education throughdistance learning.

Students who receive the scholarship will study online through Empire StateCollege's Center for Distance Learning.

Since its inception in 2001, the Bahr scholarship has helped 61 studentscontinue their education through distance learning.

The deadline for applications is May 15.

Union workers, family members and domestic partners interested in workingtoward a degree at Empire State College are eligible. To submit anapplication online or to download the form, visit www.esc.edu/bahr.

Round Up

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Check out "The Future of Work in America: Policies to Empower AmericanWorkers and Secure Economic Prosperity for All."

It's part of a new project by the Roosevelt Institute that is bringing togetherprogressive and community leaders to expand workers' rights, quality jobs

and work for new solutions for shared economic prosperity in the 21stcentury.

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