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May 23, 2013

Send tips to blog@cwa-union.org or @CWANews. Follow the latest

developments at www.resistancegrowing.org. 

  CWAers Stand Strong at Cablevision-Optimum   CWA Urges the Senate to Confirm All 5 NLRB Nominees

   TU Members in U.S. and Germany Stand Up for T-MobileWorkers 

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  Demonstration at DOJ Calls for Prosecution of Big Bankers   CWA Supports Thousands of UC Health Care Workers on

Strike   Building a Movement 50 Million Strong   Bipartisan Vote by Senate J udiciary Committee Moves

Immigration Reform Forward   Bargaining Update   Organizing Update   145 Members of Congress Say 'No Knives on Planes'   Miss the CWA Town Hall Call?   Introducing FrontierRising

  Want to Help Oklahoma Families? Here's How   Happy Memorial Day 

CWAers Stand Strong at Cablevision-Optimum 

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CWA activists, members and supporters were out in force at theCablevision-Optimum annual meeting today in Bethpage, N.Y.,spotlighting the fight for a fair contract for nearly 300 members of CWA

Local 1109. Inside the meeting, CWA activists raised questions aboutthe company's fight against workers who just want a fair contract,questions that CEO J ohn Dolan refused to answer, said ChrisCalabrese, executive vice president of Local 1109. "CEO J ohn Dolanwas arrogant and dismissive even though the questioners wereshareholders and had the right to attend and raise important issues. Heeven called the police to have them thrown out of the meeting andarrested," he said.

Cablevision workers remain energized and motivated, no matter what.Because of a tremendous community and public support campaign, 22

workers who were illegally fired and locked out earlier this year areback at work, a huge victory. This group is strong, Calabrese said. "Ourbargaining team is strong too. But we're not going to settle for lesswhile other Cablevision workers have gotten big wage increases," hesaid.

 The bargaining committee had been meeting for several days inWashington, D.C., in negotiations with Cablevision-Optimum led by

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George Cohen, director of the Federal Mediation and ConciliationService. While significant progress was made, those talks stalled thisweek as Cablevision refused to negotiate a fair wage rate for theBrooklyn workers, one that would be commensurate with what otherCablevision technicians and employees earn.

Community groups and elected officials throughout the New York Cityregion are standing strong with the Cablevision workers and are readyto continue the fight, Calabrese said. Recently, the City Council held ahearing on whether Cablevision-Optimum's anti-worker campaign hadviolated its franchise agreement with the City of New York, and majorDemocratic mayoral candidates and other leaders joined rallies anddemonstrations to push Cablevision to do the right thing.

In today's Wall Street J ournal, CEO Dolan said that he looked forwardto a pending NLRB hearing. That's a far cry from his remarks during

recent bargaining, when Cablevision said it would file a legal motion toblock two National Labor Relations Board complaints that chargedCablevision with multiple violations of the law.

Cablevision claims that the directors of two NLRB regions have nostanding because the appeals court rules that all of President Obama'srecess appointments and two NLRB members in particular were notconstitutional. This decision is preposterous since it would mean thatmore than 100 recess appointments by Presidents Obama and Bush,and their decisions, would be thrown out. CWA is calling on the Senateto "Give Us Five" and confirm a package of five nominations to the

NLRB so that 80 million private sector workers won't lose theprotections of labor law.

CWA Urges the Senate to Confirm All 5 NLRB Nominees

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A Senate committee cleared all five nominees to the National LaborRelations Board on Wednesday, sending them to the full Senate for a

confirmation vote.

"Workers can't afford to wait any longer," said CWA President LarryCohen. "For 80 million Americans in the private sector, it's all theyhave. The NLRB is the only agency that safeguards employees' right toorganize and negotiate, and it's the only agency that can stop andremedy injustices in the workplace. Partisan warfare has obscured

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what's really at stake here."

 The Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committeeunanimously approved Philip Miscimarra and Harry J ohnson, the twoRepublicans. Current board Chairman Mark Gaston Pearce received

approval from six of the 10 Republican senators. Meanwhile, onlyRepublican Sen. Lisa Murkowski joined Democrats to approve thecurrent Democratic members Richard Griffin and Sharon Block.

Sen. Tom Harkin called the vote "a step in the right direction."

"While it is disappointing that some of my Republican colleaguesrefused to support the entire package of nominees in today'sCommittee vote, I hope that as we move to the floor we can put politicsaside and do our duty to consider all of these nominees fairly on theirown merits," he said in a statement. "This is an exceptionally well-

qualified package of nominees, and they all deserve to be swiftlyconfirmed."

 Yesterday, during a debate on the Senate floor, Senate Majority LeaderHarry Reid rebuffed Minority Leader Mitch McConnell's warning that hebetter not to change the Senate rules on nominations.

"Senator McConnell defended the status quo of gridlock andobstruction in Washington, saying 'there is no real problem here.' Icould not disagree more. Senator McConnell may choose to ignore it,but the problem of gridlock in Washington is real and it needs to be

fixed," Reid said. "Despite the agreement we reached in J anuary,Republican obstruction on nominees continues unabated. I want tomake the Senate work again."

 TU Members in U.S. and Germany Stand Up for T-Mobile Workers 

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 A banner from CWA and TU activists from District 3 in the southeasternU.S. gets to TU/ver.di members at the T-Mobile call center inDusseldorf, Germany.

 TU members in the U.S. and Germany are doing everything they can to

support T-Mobile USA workers in their fight for a CWA voice and rightson the job. TU is the joint union formed by CWA and ver.di, the largestunion in Germany, to strengthen the voice of T-Mobile workers on bothsides of the Atlantic.

ver.di members in Germany show their support for Josh Coleman, a T-Mobile USA customer service rep in Wichita, Kan., who was fired for supporting the fight for a union voice at T-Mobile.

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In Germany, TU members are showing their solidarity with J oshColeman, a customer service representative in Wichita, Kansas.Coleman was fired by T-Mobile USA, despite the fact that theallegations management made against him were later rescinded bythose managers. Coleman was fired for calling back a customer, which T-Mobile USA directs employees to do, and offering customers alimited period of free Internet service, which Coleman did not do. At notime did management provide any evidence of these charges, and infact all were withdrawn by those managers and supervisor who madethem.

But J osh still was fired, and the reason seems very clear to TUmembers in Germany and the U.S.

Coleman is an active union supporter who has publicly supported theeffort for bargaining rights in flyers, online videos and other materials. Infact, managers have discussed ways to terminate Coleman in

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meetings.

 T-Mobile workers in Germany are shocked by this behavior by acompany that in their country talks about the positive value of itspartnership with workers and their union.

Want to learn more about what T-Mobile USA workers are up against?Check out the latest report that features T-Mobile workers speaking outbefore a panel of leaders, representing community and faith based

organizations, the U.S. Congress and South Carolina state legislature,the global and national labor movements, students and more.

Demonstration at DOJ Calls for Prosecution of Big Bankers 

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CWA President Larry Cohen and Deborah Castillo, a member of Local6350, at a news conference.

Former homeowners and activists from across the country protested infront of the J ustice Department in Washington, D.C., on Monday tospotlight the reckless and corrupt behavior by big banks that haveunfairly cost families their homes, and the government's refusal toprosecute these actions.

Seventeen former homeowners were arrested during the protest;demonstrators who set up tents to stay all night also were arrested.

At a news conference held as part of the protest, CWA President Larry

Cohen said: "Shame, shame, shame on bankers and the Department of  J ustice for thinking that banks are not only too big to fail, but they're toobig to jail." He then introduced Deborah Castillo, a member of CWALocal 6350 in St. Louis.

 The protest was organized in part by Occupy Our Homes, a grassrootsorganization that grew out of the Occupy Wall Street demonstration tosupport homeowners facing foreclosure. Other union, grassroots andcommunity organizations also joined the demonstration.

 The group called on the J ustice Department to prosecute bankers that

have engaged in wrongdoing and called for restitution to homeownersfor the banks' actions. In too many cases, the banks, many of whichreceived substantial taxpayer bailouts, refused to provide fair mortgagerelief, engaged in unfair practices and improperly withheld funds due tohomeowners. Many homeowners received far less than thecompensation that was due to them under a $9.2 billion settlementreached between the government and the nation's biggest mortgagecompanies over those companies' improper foreclosures. Some former

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homeowners received as little as $300.

CWA Supports Thousands of UC Health Care Workers on Strike 

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Members of UPTE-CWA Local 9119 walk the picket line at UC SanFrancisco to support striking AFSCME workers.

Below: CWAers on the picket line at UC San Diego.

UPTE-CWA health care professional members went on a full-day strike Tuesday in support of AFSCME's patient care technical workers atUniversity of California hospitals across the state.

Workers joined AFSCME Local 3299 picket lines at all five UC medical

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centers, raising awareness about fair wages, a secure retirement andstaffing levels and other conditions that promote quality patient care.UPTE-CWA members know this fight all too well – and it's in their bestinterest that AFSCME wins a good contract.

"The strike doesn't mean we are not interested or care about our jobs,our position," said Michele Freeman, a clinical social worker at UC SanDiego. "It's because we are here and we like working for the UC systemthat we know we are important to them and they need to recognizethat."

 The two sides have been negotiating a new contract for nearly a year.

On Tuesday, workers called for fairness. UC's decision to lay off employees, speed up work and underfund staff only serves to hurt bothworkers and patients. Though the five medical centers made more than

$500 million in profit last year and the state has increased its funding,UC still wants to slash retiree benefits. And despite UC's hollow cries of being broke, the number of officials making more than $1 million eachyear has quadrupled.

Workers are demanding real reform. That means caps on executivepensions and electing union representatives to governing boards of ourpension and retiree health benefits funds to ensure accountability andtransparency.

Check out this UPTE-CWA video of members explaining why they

 joined the strike line.

Building a Movement 50 Million Strong 

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Members of CWA Locals 6300 and 6350 join a crowd of 4,500 MineWorkers and supporters at a rally outside the bankruptcy court in St.Louis. The court will soon make a decision over Peabody/Patriot’sscheme to deny retired workers their health coverage.

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At CWA's latest Political Leadership Boot Camp in Richmond, Va.,activists generated more than 50 phone calls in support of confirmingall five National Labor Relations Board nominees. Read more about thetrainings here.

CWA Local 4603 activists joined the Raise Up Milwaukee Rally tosupport the city's low-wage workers' fight for $15 an hour and the rightto form a union without employer retaliation. Pictured from left to right: J im Courchane, Greg Tennyson, Keisha Hollis-Wilson, ClarissaWilliams, Chris Drotzur, and Derrick Robinson.

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CWAers supported hundreds of non-union workers with taxpayer-supported jobs who went on strike in Washington, DC. At the Good J obs Now rally, they called on "the federal government to stop beingAmerica's leading poverty job creator by paying us living wages andbenefits." Learn more at http://goodjobsnation.org.

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Activists flooded Union Station and wrote letters to President Obama,demanding that he intervene to support living wages for federallycontracted workers. Click here to read a letter from Natividad LucilaRamirez, who has spent 21 years making Union Station a clean andwelcoming place.

Bipartisan Vote by Senate J udiciary Committee Moves ImmigrationReform Forward 

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By a bipartisan vote, the Senate J udiciary Committee voted to movecomprehensive immigration reform to the full Senate, a big step forwardtoward our goal of fixing the broken immigration system. The billincludes CWA's number one priority: a path to citizenship for 11 millionimmigrant workers and a path for DREAMers, those now young adultswho came to the U.S. as children.

Other key provisions include:

  Creation of a new bureau of immigration and labor marketresearch that will study job markets and make recommendationson shortages. 

  A guarantee that labor recruiters will be regulated by theDepartment of Labor. 

  Limits on the number of H-1B visas, as opposed to the broadexpansion of the visa program that tech companies wanted. 

Senate action is expected after the Memorial Day recess, and therelikely will be additional amendments and CWA and our allies will

monitor and address. The bill also must pass the House of Representatives, expected to be a tough battle.

CWA, along with other unions, faith and community leaders, civil rightsactivists, immigrant organizations and others, will continue to work forcomprehensive reform of our broken immigration system.

Bargaining Update 

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West Virginia workers rallied outside of Frontier Communications'headquarters.

  Ahead of contract negotiations, more than 100 CWAers rallied infront of Frontier Communications offices in Charleston, W. Va.Next month will be the first time workers will be bargaining withFrontier, which purchased Verizon's West Virginia landlineoperations in 2010. Read more here. 

  Alaska Airlines Flight Attendants rallied outside Alaska AirGroup's annual stockholders meeting as they continue to pressmanagement for a fair contract. Flight Attendants' contractnegotiations began in November 2011 and have been ongoingfor the past 18 months. Mediation will begin in J uly. 

   The Guild bargaining committee at the Hawaii Tribune-Herald inHilo met with the company in Waikiki last week to attempt tonarrow the scope of negotiations to critical issues including

wages, job security, health care and management rights. But thecompany rejected most of the guild's proposals. Read morehere. 

Organizing Update 

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CWA Local 3010 gained recognition for six AT&T Mobility warehouse

workers in Puerto Rico. The recognition was conducted last week underthe AT&T card check agreement.

145 Members of Congress Say 'No Knives on Planes' 

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 The Coalition of Flight Attendant Unions, representing nearly 90,000flight attendants, commended U.S. Representatives Ed Markey (D-MA)and Michael Grimm (R-NY) for their efforts to generate bipartisansupport to keep knives out of airline passenger cabins. Markey, Grimmand 143 House colleagues signed a letter to the TransportationSecurity Administration, calling the proposed rule change "dangerous,unnecessary, and irresponsible."

"The TSA should deny any knife from ever being brought into apassenger cabin of a plane. I want to thank the Flight Attendants, thepilots, the air marshals, the TSA screeners, and the airlines who all

stood up and said 'no' to this terrible idea," Markey said.

"We have heard from a host of stakeholders on this issue, and theconsensus is simple: no knives on planes. We can never be too carefulwhen it comes to protecting the safety of our flight crew andpassengers. Keeping knives off our planes is a smart decision and onethat should be upheld," Grimm said.

On March 5, 2013, the TSA announced plans to allow passengers tocarry certain knives aboard aircraft. Flight Attendants immediatelymobilized and soon the coalition to block the rule change included

pilots, gate agents, air marshals, TSA officers, passengers, lawenforcement officers, several airline CEOs and the airline tradeassociation.

On April 23, implementation was delayed, and opposition to allowingknives on planes is growing. The coalition, which includes AFA-CWA,the Association of Professional Flight Attendants, InternationalAssociation of Machinists and Aerospace Workers, InternationalBrotherhood of Teamsters and Transport Workers Union, is continuingto build support for keeping the original ban against knives on planes.

Miss the CWA Town Hall Call? 

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Did you miss out on this month's CWA Activist Union Hall Call? Listen

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to the archive here!

Introducing FrontierRising

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Frontier Communications has awarded CWA/NETT Academy thecontract to administer the J oint Labor/Management committee forproviding training to its members under a new program called"FrontierRising." The program allows those eligible members at Frontier(former Verizon territory) to enroll in a wide variety of training programsfor the duration of the contract.

"The CWA negotiated benefit FrontierRising will allow our members tomaintain and expand their skills. This is a great opportunity for us towork together with the company and make real progress in building ourskills to keep up with the next generation technologies. We are pleasedto have CWA/NETT Academy on board," said Ed Mooney, CWADistrict 2-13 Vice President.

More information can be found at www.FrontierRising.org.

Want to Help Oklahoma Families? Here's How 

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CWAers who want to help families in Moore, Okla., who have suffereddevastating losses from the tornado that struck just outside of Oklahoma City this week have several options.

 The United Way of Central Oklahoma has activated its disaster relief fund and more Information about donating is available atwww.unitedwayokc.org. Donations also can be mailed to United Way of Central Oklahoma, P.O. Box 837, Oklahoma City, OK 73101, withnotation for May Tornado Relief.

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Donations of $10 can be made to the Red Cross by texting"REDCROSS" to 90999 or to the Salvation Army, which will be settingup mobile feeding units, by texting "STORM" to 80888.

Happy Memorial Day 

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