cwa newsletter, thursday, october 31, 2013
TRANSCRIPT
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October 31, 2013
Want to be in next week's CWA Newsletter? Send your stories and photos to [email protected] g or @CWANews. Follow the latest developments at www.resistancegrowing.org .
Stop Fast Track for the Trans-Pacific
Partnership Trade Deal
Senate Minority Obstruction Blocks Key Executive, Judicial Nominations
President Cohen Recognized Among The Hill's 2013 Top Lobbyists
Political Update
Victory For Freelancers, Proud Moment For CWA Canada
Bargaining Update
Movement Building
CWA: FCC Spectrum Auction Must Be Open and Competitive
CWAers Help Patients Sign Up for Health Insurance
Stop Fast Track for the Trans-Pacific Partnership
Trade Deal
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On MSNBC's The Ed Show, CWA President Larry Cohen spotlighted how service sector jobs, as well as manufacturing jobs, will be sent overseas if the Trans-Pacific Partnership isapproved.
"How do we expect to revive an economy if we send those kinds of jobs out of this country?No other nation does it. Only this country is doing it. That's not growth," he said.
Watch the full interview here.
Congress is currently considering "fast track" authority, which means that the trade deal can'tbe changed by lawmakers; only a "yes or no" vote on the entire package would be permitted.
Authorization for fast track expired in 2007, and must be renewed by Congress.
So far, 146 Democrats have signed on to a letter authored by Reps. Rosa DeLauro andGeorge Miller to be sent to President Obama expressing concerns about the secretive TPP
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negotiations and stressing that they will oppose fast track authorization if Congress has norole in the negotiation and approval process. "The United States cannot afford another tradeagreement that replicates the mistakes of the past. We can and must do better," they wrote.
The signers added that "we are deeply committed to transforming U.S. trade policy into a toolfor creating and retaining family-wage jobs in America, safeguarding the environment,
maintaining consumer protection and improving the quality of life throughout the country."
Go to http://www.cwa-union.org/no-tpp for more information and to take action. Call your lawmakers. Tell them to oppose fast track authority for the TPP.
Dial 1-888-966-9836 for the House of Representatives.Dial 1-877-795-7862 for the Senate.
Senate Minority Obstruction Blocks Key Executive, JudicialNominations
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The U.S. Senate confirmed several key nominations this week, including Richard Griffin asNLRB general counsel and Tom Wheeler as chairman of the Federal CommunicationsCommission.
But the nominations of Rep. Mel Watt to head the Federal Housing Finance Administrationand Patricia Millet to fill one of three vacancies to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C.Circuit were blocked. Both failed to get the 60-vote supermajority needed to proceed to an up
or down vote.
That prompted CWA and coalition partners to call on Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid touse the procedural motion that's been used 17 times since 1978 to move these nominees toa vote. Leader Reid must take any action necessary to move these nominations forward. TheSenate can vote for or against a nomination, but the president's nominees all deserve a vote.
CWA activists are contacting their Senators, calling for an end to Senate obstruction and anup-or-down vote on executive and judicial nominees. Call 1-866-937-4359 and follow theprompts. Tell your Senators that we need a fully functioning democracy, not obstruction.
Just as earlier this year, when the minority party senators tried to block confirmation of the
head of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau because they didn't want that agency tofunction, the minority is now obstructing Watt's nomination because they don't like themission of the FHFA. Watt is a highly qualified member of Congress from North Carolina.
Similarly, on the floor, Sen. Charles Grassley (R-Iowa) said the work load of the court isn'tsufficient to warrant filling the three vacancies on the D.C. Circuit Court. Yet, the D.C. CircuitCourt is the second most important court in the nation, following the U.S. Supreme Court.
Last summer, CWA and a coalition of groups pushed for Senate confirmation of all five NLRB
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members, as well as for Richard Cordray to head the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau,Gina McCarthy at Environmental Protection Agency and other key executive nominations.
Then, Leader Reid was ready to invoke the procedural motion necessary to get thesenominations to a vote. A group of Republican senators agreed to stop their obstructionisttactics and move the nominations forward.
President Cohen Recognized Among The Hill's 2013 TopLobbyists
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For the second year in a row, CWA President Larry Cohen has been named to The Hill' s
annual list of top lobbyists.
The political newspaper wrote, "A vocal advocate for Senate rules reform, Cohen hadsomething to celebrate when a full slate of nominees was confirmed to the National Labor Relations Board."
The Hill uses the term "lobbyist" broadly to describe all people who are working to influencefederal policy, even if they may not be necessarily registered to lobby. "They all have onething in common: a proven ability to make things happen in Washington," the paper said.
Check out the full list here.
Political Update
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Florida
CWA Local 3179 President Stephen Sarnoff has filed to run for Florida's District 67 staterepresentative seat in 2014.
"I want to run because I simply want to change the balance of power in Tallahassee," he toldThe Tampa Bay Times. "Whether it's not expanding Medicaid to 1.2 million Floridians, or it'sthe parent trigger bill to privatize the education system...you name it, I'm tired of it. I want tomake sure there's one more Democrat up there so the Republicans do not have a super majority to continue steamrolling the people of Florida."
New York
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CWA will be showing our support for New York City mayoral candidate Bill de Blasio on Nov.1. Wear red to the Labor GOTV rally at 5 p.m. at Brooklyn Borough Hall.
CWA #1 in New Jersey
This election year, CWA has had the most volunteers of any union in New Jersey. Here CWA Local1082 members phone bank for the Democrats running to represent the 18th District in the New JerseyLegislature: Peter Barnes, Patrick Diegnan and Nancy Pinkin.
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More than 60 CWA Local 1036 members turned out for voter outreach. Activists have partnered withNew Jersey Workers' Voices to educate voters about pro-labor candidates and the opportunity to raisethe minimum wage by voting "Yes" on Question 2.
Victory For Freelancers, Proud Moment For CWA Canada
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It was one of the proudest moments in CWA Canada's history: A media union victoriouslystood up for hundreds of non-members who cherish their independence but were beingvictimized because of it.
Last November, Amber Nasrulla was pitching a story to an editor at Transcontinental (TCMedia), publisher of more than 30 magazines. It was something she had done many timesover the previous 10 years. But that relationship came to a screeching halt when she wasinformed she would have to sign a new contract.
She was aghast at what she read and sought counsel from another professional. She wasreferred to Derek Finkle, founder of the Canadian Writers Group (CWG), for his assessmentof the document, which demanded full copyright and waiver of moral rights with no additionalcompensation. It was non-negotiable. Finkle proclaimed it draconian and advised her not tosign it.
She didn't. Instead, she went public about it – anonymously at first – after Finkle put her intouch with an editor of TheStoryboard.ca, a website for independent content creators thatgrew out of a unique alliance forged in 2010 between Finkle's agency and the CanadianMedia Guild (CMG), which has long had a Freelance Branch that bargains a collective
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agreement for contractors who perform work for the CBC.
The alliance was funded by the CMG's parent union, CWA Canada, which had resolved toextend the benefits of membership to all freelancers and student journalists who werecontending with the growing scourge of unpaid internships.
The CMG has led the way in advocating for independent content creators on issues such ascopyright, rates, digital and re-use rights. This was the perfect opportunity to demonstrate tothousands of the country's freelancers that, while they could not avail themselves of collective bargaining, they could use the power of the collective to get a fair contract.
In March, CMG set up a Facebook page (Back Off , Elle and Canadian Living publisher)where freelancers could share information and connect with one another. W ord began tospread among writers, photographers and illustrators that a media union was preparing to dobattle on their behalf.
CMG sent a letter to Ted Markle, president of TC Media, seeking a meeting to discuss thenew freelancer contract. He declined the invitation. But it was Markle's letter to the CMG thatconvinced Nasrulla to reveal her identity as the whistleblower. Nasrulla wrote that she hadcome to believe that "it's crucial to stand up, speak the truth, and be counted."
To help the freelancers do just that, the Guild and Finkle's CWG formed a coalition with theQuebec Association of Independent Journalists, the Professional Writers Association of Canada, The Writers' Union of Canada, the Canadian Association of Professional ImageCreators and the Canadian Freelance Union to put pressure on the publisher to withdraw or revise the contract.
Letters were written to TC Media and a federal minister about the fact that the companyreceives some $8 million a year from Heritage Canada's Periodical Fund, yet puts thesqueeze on freelancers who could barely earn a living even before the contentious contractwas introduced.
By mid-April, there was an indication that TC Media was succumbing to the pressure.Freelancers in Quebec were being told they would not be required to sign the new contract.The CMG learned that a new draft of the agreement was being prepared.
Soon word came that TC Media was circulating a new contract to freelancers in Quebec. According to a report in Le Devoir, the French agreement allows contributors in Quebec toretain both their copyright and their moral rights.
The CMG said it was cautiously optimistic, but would reserve judgment until the Englishversion of the contract was available for scrutiny. "Having the weight of a union behind us isterrific," declared Nasrulla, who was about to become CWA Canada's newest member.
Read the full story at CWA Canada.
Bargaining Update
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CenturyLink
CWA members at CenturyLink (LegacyQwest) in District 7 ratified a new contract by a 60percent yes vote. For more information, go to http://www.cwadistrict7.org/.
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Kaplan
Kaplan students come to the bargaining table.
Kaplan students recently visited negotiations to tell Kaplan it's time for a fair contract.Daniela, a current student, told Kaplan corporate, "If we want to learn English by the book,we can just buy the book and stay home. If we don't have a good teacher, we wouldn't havea good education. In Venezuela, we have benefits for part-time workers. Why you cannothave this for your most important people?"
Kaplan's English-as-a-second-language teachers in New York voted last year to join TNG-CWA Local 31003. They are in tough bargaining for a first contract.
Help support Kaplan teachers in their fight for a fair contract by signing their petition:http://bit.ly/kaplanpetition.
Movement Building
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Keeping GE in West Burlington Honest
At a community forum in West Burlington, Iowa, coalition members including activists from CWA, CCI Iowa Action Fund and other groups call on GE to keep its promises on jobs.
At a community forum in West Burlington, Iowa, 60 people, including union and communityactivists, elected officials, and others talked about ways to keep GE accountable and toremind the company: Keep your promise to the community. Invest in West Burlington. Don'ttake our money and run!"
In 2010, GE threatened to shut the plant if workers didn't come up with $8 million inconcessions, some being forced to take pay cuts of 30 percent. In addition, GE got $2.4
million in tax incentives in return for agreeing to keep the plant open for at least five years.
The West Burlington community is organizing to make sure GE is held accountable andkeeps the plant going.
Union and community partners include Iowa Citizens for Community Improvement ActionFund, CWA and IUE-CWA, Iowa Federation of Labor, Iowa Policy Project, Center for Worker Justice of Eastern Iowa, Des Moines/Henry County Labor Council, and Iowa Citizen ActionNetwork.
Read more here and here.
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CWA and ver.di leaders met in Berlin to talk about the next steps in the campaign to support T-Mobile USworkers in their fight for organizing and bargaining rights.
Below: ver.di members in Germany have held many actions to support their T-Mobile US colleagues.
T-Mobile US Action
United Students Against Sweatshops activists and students at Wichita State University, Kan.,are calling on the university to make their campus "sweatshop free" by cutting all ties with T-Mobile US and affiliating with the Workers Rights Consortium.
Students delivered a letter to University President John Bardo.
USAS activists at the College of Charleston also are pushing college administration tosupport workers' rights and stand up for T-Mobile US workers.
CWA President Larry Cohen and senior staff met with leaders of ver.di this week on thecampaign. Next week T-Mobile workers and ver.di activists from Berlin will meet inCharleston, S.C., with T-Mobile US workers as part of their partnership program.
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Child Care Providers Demand Fair Wages
Outside DHS, 100 child care providers and their allies rallied for a fair contract.
Below: Kids joined workers at the protest.
One hundred child care providers, represented by CWA Local 1037, rallied outside the New
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Jersey Department of Human Services to demand a fair contract and wages on Tuesday.
Workers have spent more than a year negotiating their second contract with DHS with littlesuccess. So they decided to launch the Better Beginnings campaign – building a coalition of working parents, union members, faith-based groups and community supporters – to helpadvance their cause and the health, well-being and promising future for New Jersey children.
Watch a video of the demonstration here.
The protesters delivered a petition, demanding a fair contract for the more than 2,000 homechild-care providers, to Commissioner Jennifer Velez. Her office refused to accept thepetition.
But a number of small businesses – up and down South Warren Street in Trenton, right nextto DHS – put signs in their windows supporting Better Beginnings.
These workers are independent contractors, paid through DHS. As independent contractors,they're prevented from accessing workers' compensation, unemployment, social security
retirement or even basic health care coverage. And according to a report by the RutgersCenter for Women and Work, more than half of the home-based child care providerssurveyed lived in households earning less than $25,000 a year – despite providing onaverage nearly 39 hours a week of care.
Don't mistake them for babysitters. Rutgers found that this is a highly experienced and well-trained group, with an average of 12.5 years providing child care. A vast majority of providersreported at least one training, such as learning to care for children with special needs, in thepast year. Some of have degrees in education and early childhood development.
CWA: FCC Spectrum Auction Must Be Open and Competitive
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The Federal Communications Commission now is writing the rules for an auction of unusedbroadcast spectrum, and CWA says the rules must be fair.
The Commission's goals of raising sufficient funds for a public safety network and to makesure that the spectrum is used efficiently for the public can only be achieved through "anopen and competitive auction in which every carrier can participate equally," CWA wrote in aletter to FCC Chairwoman Mignon Clyburn.
T-Mobile and Sprint already are looking for special treatment and want the FCC to establishdifferent rules for different bidders.
"The FCC should not favor one competitor over another," CWA said, citing T-Mobile's recentcombination with MetroPCS, the spectrum it acquired from AT&T and Verizon Wireless, andthe $3 billion cash penalty fee it received from AT&T as evidence of its strength in themarket. Sprint received billions of new funds as part of the Softbank deal and, in combinationwith its affiliate Clearwire, controls more spectrum than any competitor, CWA noted, adding,
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"these companies are strong competitors."
Read the full letter here.
CWAers Help Patients Sign Up for Health Insurance
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CWA members are helping patients navigate the process of signing up for health insurancefor the very first time.
Because of the Affordable Care Act, communities across the country have received $67million in federal grant money to train, support and certify health care advisors – or
navigators – to help people figure out the new health insurance marketplace.
At Kaleida Health in Buffalo, N.Y., Susan Grupp, a member of CWA Local 1168, has beenhelping people understand the insurance offerings on the New York Health BenefitExchange, select the best options for their families and determine what level of financialassistance is available to them.
"The very first person we signed up was in tears when she was done, she was so excited.She was among the working poor who are ineligible for Medicaid," said Grupp, who hasworked at Kaleida for 34 years. "And all three of us were also teary eyed because she wasso excited to have health insurance. Now she can go get a mammogram, go to the doctor and do all the things so many of us take for granted."
The exchanges opened earlier this month. And navigators have been busy since day one.
"Our phones have been ringing off the hook and we're running out of spots for appointments," said Grupp.
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