The following is an article from the JOURNEYS
newsletter. I think it has an important message for us all.
MOBILIZATION PAYS OFF FOR BELL ATLANTIC RETIREES Intense mobilization
efforts by retired and active CWA members from District 1 paid off for Bell
Atlantic retirees when the company recently announced a lump-sum pension
increase to workers who retired before February 1, 1995. The one-time payment
will range from $2,500 to $20,000 based on length of retirement and amount of
current pension. “This is long overdue, especially for Bell Atlantic North
retirees who have not had an increase in their pension for nine years,”
stated Ed Creegan, District 1 member of the CWA Retired Members” Council
Executive Board and lead organizer in the struggle with the company. “We
are happy to get this payment, but we won’t stop until we get an increase
in the base pension for our retirees.”
Some of the tactics turned personal when at a rally in Manhattan a giant 20 foot-high rubber rat was decorated with a photograph of company chairman Ivan Siedenberg. When asked by a company official about such attacks and if they will continue, especially at the May stockholders’ meeting, Mr. Creegan replied, “I consider what he is doing to retirees very personal and we will continue them until justice is done.”
In Unionism,
Clay Bowlby
From the presidency to Congress to state legislatures and governors’ races, the November 2000 vote is the most important election in a generation, impassioned CWA and political leaders told participants at this year’s Legislative/Political Conference in Washington , D.C.
“Let’s make November 2000 a turning point in our history: a day when working families finally stood up to the monied interests, the anti-union baiters and the union haters. A day when Americans returned to the values of community spirit and caring for others.,” CWA President Morton Bahr said. “Together we will once again see the American Dream be a reality for our members and all working families.”
The stakes this year include the White House—and the future of the Supreme Court—as well as the opportunity for working families to regain a powerful voice in Congress. Democrats need to pick up six seats in the U.S. Senate and five in the U.S. House to become the majority party.
House Democratic Leader Dick Gephardt (D-Mo.), in a speech that drew several standing ovations, outlined his party’s ambitious agenda to ensure that working families benefit from the new global economy, to bring health insurance to every American and to vastly improve the quality of education at all levels.
“This is your country. Don’t let anybody take it away from you,” he stressed, drawing a sharp distinction between his party’s agenda and that of corporate America. “Get out and vote. Get people to the polls,” he urged. “We’re going to win this election and take this country back.”
“A lot of people will tell you ‘this is the most important election of a lifetime,’” Rep. Patrick Kennedy (D-R.I) said in a fiery speech that brought the crowd to its feet. “This is the most important election of a lifetime.”
No one knows what the future will bring. But there are many things we can do to be better prepared for what reasoning and history tell us is likely. One of the key avenues for preparation for the future is education.
While Qwest may have its own opportunities for employee education, it has yet to be revealed. (However we are working on finding out what they are or may be and will be reporting on those in future.) Something we have had all along to secure an education is PATHWAYS. What is PATHWAYS? Pathways is a benefit offered to eligible USWest employees for exciting and rewarding education and career possibilities. As a joint venture between USWest (Now Qwest) and the Communications Workers of America (CWA), Pathways is a voluntary program in which eligible employees are able to get financial assistance to take courses, workshops, and seminars in diverse subject areas on their own time.
Over the years Pathways has funded courses as diverse as a course in Elementary Transmission Principles to funding a law degree. The choices and opportunities are almost endless. To find out more, contact the PATHWAYS office at 1.800.345.7284.
In 1998, Richard Baker, an incumbent with just a 9 percent voting record in support of working family issues, won his race over the union-backed candidate by 2,700 votes. In that congressional district, more than 7,300 union members were not registered to vote.
Typically, 50% to 55% of eligible union members, and millions more members of union households, are not registered to vote. This untapped voting power could make a Working Families Agenda (see website below) a reality—and today’s unions, working with state federations, central labor council and allied nonpartisan groups, are working to add million of new voters to the rolls.
Don’t miss your opportunity to make your voice heard at the polls. To get registered:
Help sign up friends, co-workers, and neighbors as new voters. Complete an easy form to become part of Labor 2000’s voter registration campaign.
To read more about voting and voting registration as well as to locate the form mentioned above, please visit the AFL-CIO website at www.aflcio.org
“Old Ma Bell must be spinning in her grave,” President Bahr commented. The Wall Street Journal reported that AT&T plans to carry THE HOT NETWORK, a hard-core adult movie channel, on its cable networks. The paper noted that the decision to air sexually explicit pay-per-view shows ($7.95) “comes at a time when the telecommunications company’s cable unit is under pressure to show results for the billions of dollars it has invested to upgrade its networks for digital fare” An official of rival Time Warner sniffed that such programming “doesn’t fit our value standards.”
Anniversaries: Nancy McGinnis, 37 years; Barbara Jennings, 35; Marcia Berger, 34; Daniel Wiemer, 34; Richard Johnson, 34; Thomas Johnson, 34; James Kemp, 34; Gary Merrill, 34; Michael Moran, 33; Ronald Smith, 32; John Frost, 32; Jane Blakely, 32; Dennis Shuler, 32; Mitch Chaput, 32; James Christiansen, 32; John Frost, 32; Lyle Haynes, 31; Gary Henley, 31; Judith Castello, 31; Larry Nelson, 31; Joanne Austin, 28; Henry Knaack, 27; Ronald Devany, 27; Suzanne Schenck, 24; Robert Popek, 23; David Baudin, 22; John Wood II, 22; Christopher Jensen, 22; Dana Totten, 22; Arthur Ehrlich, 22; Jim Trujillo, 21; David Poston, 21; Bryan Pope, 21; Paul Lessing, 20; Daniel Ashford, Sr., 20; Thomas Jaycox, 19; Roy Main, 13; Steve Hockman, 10; James Keith, 9. (Anniversaries under 5 years not noted.)
Retirees: John Farber. Good Luck, John.
New members and resigned: Larry Hogue; James Williams; John Strickler; John O’Neil; Tim McCann; Roger W. Quist.
Despite the enormous cost of repetitive motion injuries, the business lobby is seeking to strangle the freshly-minted ergonomics standard in its crib..
On August 3, 1999, the House of Representatives passed by a vote of 217-209 legislation that would delay application of the ergonomics standard until the National Academy of Sciences completes a study of repetitive motion injuries. This misguided measure is entitled the WORKPLACE PRESERVATION ACT and is designated H.R.987. The sponsor is Congressman Roy Blunt (R-MO).
In the Senate, as noted above, opponents will push for a vote on a similar bill, S. 1070, before adjournment of this Congress.
The strategy of the corporate community is to postpone implementation of the ergonomics standard until 2001. The Chamber of Commerce hopes that Governor George W. Bush, Jr., will then occupy the White House and that he will curtail the ergonomics standard the Clinton-Gore Administration developed.
A disturbing aspect of the attack on the ergonomics standard is that is masks the need to strengthen safety and health protection on the job. In 1998, the last year for which data is available, an estimated 50,000 workers died from occupational diseases and another 6000 workers were killed by traumatic injuries. Despite this situation, there were only 2,145 inspectors employed by OSHA and state agencies that were responsible for enforcing safety and health law at more than 6,000,000 workplaces.
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