1062 Tidbits

Welcome to 1062 Tidbits, our on-line newsletter.

Here you'll find a quick review of the every day goings on of your local.

Just click on any of the bookmarks below to go to the heading
The link on the left will take you to today's TidBit

CWA Locals, Councils Begin Presidential Endorsement Process

CWA Leaders Blast FCC Vote on Media Cross-Ownership

'Connect Ohio' Project Embraces CWA's Speed Matters Campaign

With Battista Gone, NLRB Deadlocks

OSHA Finally Forced to Issue Rule Protecting Workers

New Web Site Helps Consumers Find Safe, Affordable Drugs

Still Made In U.S.A.

Local 1062 News Feed

In Brief

We all need a little comic releif!

CWA Locals, Councils Begin Presidential Endorsement Process

CWA locals and councils in many areas have begun the process of endorsing presidential candidates and others running for statewide and national office in Election 2008.

CWA in Nevada has endorsed John Edwards for president, citing his commitment to the Employee Free Choice Act, "his willingness to act and fight for working families and his leadership on issues like universal health care and trade were essential in securing the endorsement," said Local 9413.

CWA's Arizona State Council also endorsed Edwards, declaring that "on issues important to working families, we believe John Edwards pulls way ahead of the pack."

The CWA New York State Legislative and Political Action Committee endorsed Senator Hillary Clinton for president, citing her long record of support for working family issues in the state and nationally.

CWA Local 1298, representing workers in Connecticut, Massachusetts and Rhode Island, has endorsed Senator Christopher Dodd for president, noting Dodd's 32-year record fighting to protect collective bargaining rights, secure pensions, and fair wages.

In Delaware, Local 13101 endorsed Senator Joseph Biden for president, stating: "He's never wavered in his commitment to the working men and women in Delaware and we would expect the same of him as president."

In Indiana, CWA District 4 has endorsed Jill Long Thompson for governor, stating that she is committed to working for a better future for all Indiana working families.

Following the release of CWA's e-poll results, which indicated that a majority of CWA members did not want the International union to make an early national endorsement for president, the Executive Board voted to release locals and councils to make their own endorsements.

Back to top

With Battista Gone, NLRB Deadlocks

On the stroke of midnight on Dec. 16, the term of NLRB Chairman Robert J. Batista expired, effectively bringing to an end the board's pro-corporate, anti-union Republican majority. Prior to being appointed to the NLRB, Battista served as a management attorney for a law firm that played a prominent role in helping management at the Detroit Free Press and The Detroit News bust their workers' unions in the 1990s.

With Batista gone, the five-member NLRB is now deadlocked, with two Republican and two Democratic members.

Another board shakeup occurs in January when the terms of two other members, Republican Peter N. Kirsanow, and Democrat Dennis P. Walsh, both expire. This will leave the NLRB with just two sitting members, Democrat Wilma J. Liebman, who has strongly objected to the board's attacks on workers' rights, and Republican Peter C. Schaumber.

To prevent the president from making recess appointments – circumventing congressional approval – to restore a GOP majority, Senate Democratic leaders will keep Congress open in "pro forma session" until the current session of Congress ends in January.

After January, Bush can nominate a new NLRB chair and name candidates to fill the other vacancies, but each nominee must first be confirmed by the Senate, now controlled by the Democrats. An ideological standoff on the board is expected to remain until a new administration takes office.

"Given the recent history of this board, we're better off with an NLRB that can't act versus one that can," said CWA President Larry Cohen. "But even more important, we must dig even deeper in mobilizing over the next 18 monlths to enact the Employee Free Choice Act and bring back workers' rights."

Back to top

'Connect Ohio' Project Embraces CWA's Speed Matters Campaign

Determined to bring high-speed internet access to all of Ohio, CWA's District 4 has helped launch a private-public partnership in the state that will identify underserved areas and build coalitions to attract investment.

Ohio Gov. Ted Strickland announced the program, called Connect Ohio, this week at a news conference attended by CWA District 4 Vice President Seth Rosen, as well as members of the telecom industry.

"The digital divide in Ohio takes many forms – from lack of access to computers and broadband services to a lack of technological skills necessary for the jobs of the future," Strickland said. "The goal of Connect Ohio is to create customized support for local communities to meet their individual technological needs while helping expand broadband service to all residents and businesses."

Rosen said Connect Ohio embodies the goals of CWA's Speed Matters campaign. "It is a realistic, practical way to work to get high-speed networks to every single citizen," he said. "We do that by identifying where the need is and then start the real work of building a network, community by community."

Rosen's office and CWA leaders around the state, including Frank Matthews, president of the CWA Ohio State Council, started talking with Strickland about high-speed internet during his campaign for governor in 2006. In July, Strickland signed a statewide video franchising bill that encourages broadband investment, but not necessarily in all areas, Rosen said. To expand coverage, CWA pushed for Connect Ohio, a program modeled on a similar project in Kentucky.

The program will map the state by the access neighborhoods and communities have to high-speed internet service. Once the gaps are identified, CWA will be especially involved in working in those areas to build coalitions with other unions, business, government and higher education to show telecom companies that there is interest. "We'll be helping to bring together groups of people from different entities in a coordinated way to make it more worthwhile for companies to invest," Rosen said.

Rosen hopes Connect Ohio, like Connect Kentucky, will serve as a model for other states.

"Connect Ohio is a tremendous achievement already and its success will be life-changing for residents in rural areas and inner cities that don't have high-speed internet access," Cohen said. "This is precisely what we want Speed Matters to do in every state in the country."

Back to top

CWA Leaders Blast FCC Vote on Media Cross-Ownership

The FCC vote this week reversing the three-decade ban on cross-ownership of a community's newspapers and broadcast stations is one more blow to media diversity in the United States, say CWA and its broadcast, newspaper and printing sectors.

"Our members know what happens when one company owns more than one TV station or a major TV station and the monopoly newspaper in the same market. The owner merges operations, slashes jobs, and reduces the quantity and quality of the news," said John Clark, president of NABET-CWA.

Linda Foley, president of The Newspaper Guild-CWA, said protecting what's left of media diversity demands more, not fewer, safeguards as local TV and newspaper markets already are highly concentrated and most cities are one-newspaper towns. "The FCC's action means that fewer distinct, local media voices will be available as news sources for citizens," she said. "These changes fail to protect the public interest."

William Boarman, president of the CWA Printing Sector, expressed concern about how the rule change will affect the ability of communities to discuss and disseminate different points of view, as well as its impact on quality jobs.

The five-member Republican-controlled commission voted 3-2 along party lines to change the rule despite huge public opposition. CWA members joined thousands of Americans nationwide at hearings and tens of thousands wrote letters and contacted members of Congress. In the weeks before the vote, angry U.S. senators grilled FCC Chairman Kevin Martin about his lack of attention to public comment and many pledged to overturn the ruling.

TNG-CWA, NABET-CWA, and the Printing Sector spoke out after Tuesday's vote in conjunction with the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists, which has worked with CWA to fight the erosion of FCC ownership rules.

Sen. Byron Dorgon (D-N.D.), one of the Senate's most vocal opponents of the media rule changes told reporters afterwards that, ""We're not done with this. Not by a long shot."

Dorgan called the vote "needlessly rushed" and said he'll follow through on legislation to revoke it. "We've got a lot of people from both parties, as well as millions of American citizens, saying hold on a minute here, don't do this," he said. "Instead, the FCC is rushing to do the bidding of big corporations at the expense of the public interest."

Back to top

OSHA Forced to Issue Rule Protecting Workers

It took nine years, a lawsuit and some 400,000 injured workers before the Bush administration had its arm twisted hard enough to issue a rule requiring employers to pay for personal protective gear for workers in dangerous jobs.

The rule, requiring employers to pay for such items as hard hats, lifelines, face shields and gloves, was first proposed in 1999. Then the Bush administration came to power and the rule was abandoned. A lawsuit by the AFL-CIO and the United Food and Commercial Workers and a congressional deadline have now forced the Occupational Safety and Health Administration to act.

AFL-CIO President John Sweeney said that workers in some of America's most dangerous industries, such as meatpacking, poultry and construction, "have been vulnerable to being forced by their employers to pay for their own safety gear because of OSHA's failure to finish the rule."

Rep. George Miller (D-Calif.), chair of the House Education and Labor Committee, said, "It should have never taken the threat of a lawsuit and legislation to get the Department of Labor to take these simple steps to protect workers from everyday jobsite hazards and prevent thousands of workplace injuries each year."

Back to top

Still Made In USA

If you read labels, you will have noticed that many stores and catalogs sell mostly imported goods. Globalization and changes in consumer patterns have created new pressures (and new opportunities) for U.S. manufacturers and workers. Too often, however, this has meant that the U.S. no longer makes many of the goods that we use everyday. Click on the link below for an online site dedicated to products made in the good old USA.

http://www.stillmadeinusa.com/

Back to top

New Web Site Helps Consumers Find Safe, Affordable Drugs

In partnership with the AFL-CIO and other organizations, Consumers Union has launched a public education campaign and free website to help people save money on prescription drugs.

Reports on the website, www.CRBestBuyDrugs.org, compare a variety of prescription drugs on price, effectiveness and safety to help consumers and their doctors identify the most effective and affordable medicines.

AFL-CIO President John Sweeney said the project "is a welcome and much-needed contribution to addressing the national crisis on skyrocketing prescription drug costs."

The first reports look at drugs in three widely used categories: cholesterol-lowering medication, heartburn and acid reflux treatments and anti-inflammatories commonly used to treat arthritis. Consumers Union, which publishes Consumers Report magazine, eventually plans to compare about 20 different types of drugs and, when justified by the evidence, will choose a "best buy" drug in each category.

"One of the most serious problems in health care today is that tens of millions of Americans aren't taking the medicines they need, in large part because they can't afford them," said Joel Gurin, executive vice president of Consumers Union. "By identifying lower-cost medicines that are every bit as effective, we hope to change that."

Gurin said further he hopes the web site will lead drug companies to compete more aggressively on price as "consumers begin to migrate to effective and safe drugs that are also more affordable."

A detailed news release about the program and the initial drug reports are available on the Best Buy website. Links are also provided on the AFL-CIO site, www.aflcio.org.

Back to top

IN BRIEF:

AFA-CWA's persistence on two vital issues paid off Wednesday as Congress passed an omnibus bill that includes seniority protections for airline workers and funding to follow-up on a study of the effects of fatigue on flight attendants.

"For years, AFA-CWA members have been urging their Congressional leaders to take action on these very important issues," AFA-CWA President Patricia Friend said. "Those leaders listened and because of their determination, flight attendants across the country are better off. Today we made a giant stride in protecting our futures and came one step closer to ending the dangerous effects of fatigue."

A study last year authorized by the Senate Transportation Appropriations Committee determined that flight attendants are frequently "experiencing issues consistent with fatigue and tiredness" and urged further evaluation. The funding approved this week will pay for a two-year study by the FAA's Civil Aerospace Medical Institute.

AFA-CWA has also been at the forefront of the fight for seniority protections, noting that 3,000 TWA flight attendants were placed at the bottom of the seniority list when American Airlines bought TWA. After the September 11 attacks, all of the former TWA flight attendants lost their jobs at American, even though many had more than 25 years of service. Neither group of workers were represented by AFA-CWA, but the union fought for congressional action to ensure that all flight attendants are protected.

Republicans on Dec. 18 broke their own record for filibusters in the Senate when they forced the 62nd cloture vote of the current legislative session on a portion of the omnibus federal appropriations bill dealing with funding for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

In seeking to tie war funding to timetables for troop withdrawal, Democrats sought a cloture vote to try to end a GOP filibuster, but fell short of the 60 votes needed. The final budget measure eventually passed with $70 billion for continued war funding with no strings attached.

The previous record of 61 cloture votes in a two-year term was set in 2001-2002, the last time the GOP comprised the minority in the Senate. From refusing to allow the Senate to vote on the Employee Free Choice Act, to denying a roll call on a prescription drug bill, to preventing a vote on implementing the recommendations of the 9/11 commission, GOP senators have used the filibuster to block senate votes on pressing problems.

Journalists covering Iraq and other hot spots around the world were killed in near-record numbers in 2007, with 64 job-related deaths reported with two weeks still left in the year, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists.

The only year CPJ has recorded a higher death toll was 1994, when 66 journalists were killed, many in conflicts in Algeria, Bosnia and Rwanda. Last year, 56 journalists were killed around the world. The numbers are even higher when all media workers – including translators and other support staff for journalists in foreign countries – are counted. The International News Safety Institute reports that 173 media workers had been killed as of Dec. 13, 2007.

For the fifth straight year, Iraq was the deadliest country in the world for the media, with 31 victims. Most of them, 24 victims, were targeted and murdered. The other seven died in combat-related crossfire. Almost all were Iraqi nationals working for international news agencies and newspapers, such as the Washington Post.

The deaths are of extreme concern to The Newspaper Guild-CWA, which has members in Iraq and Afghanistan, and many of whom have covered past wars. Journalists say the targeting of media workers today is a new and grave risk in what has always been hazardous work.

Back to top

CWA Local 1062 News Feed

Back to top