Communications Workers Of America Local 6508 AFL-CIO, CLC

• Join Us for CWA's First 2012 Union Hall Phone Call
• CWA to NLRB: Verizon Wireless Subverted Union Election
• Wisconsin Coalition Submits 1 Million-Plus Signatures to Oust Walker
• Environmental Groups, Unions Support Obama's Pipeline Decision
• Activists, House Democrats So Far Stalling Indiana 'Right-to-Work'
• Wrongfully Terminated Workers Maintain Daily Vigil
• CWA Radio Ads Press Anti-Union Lawmakers to Pass FAA Funds

Join Us for CWA's First 2012 Union Hall Phone Call

Make sure to join us next week for our next Union Hall Call for an update on Verizon bargaining and the important work CWA activists are doing all across the country.

Click here to sign up now to join the call on Wednesday, Jan. 25, at 7:30 p.m. EST.

During 2012 we will build on the energy and excitement of 2011 as we gain momentum and strengthen our movement. Together we will stand united against the billionaires, corporate executives, and right-wing politicians who continue to attack our rights.

Make sure you are part of it by joining our call next week.

CWA to NLRB: Verizon Wireless Subverted Union Election

CWA has asked the National Labor Relations Board to throw out a narrow Jan. 6 union election loss for 13 workers at a Verizon Wireless facility in Bloomington, Ill., charging that the company repeatedly violated the law to ensure the vote would go its way.

Widespread support existed for a union last November when the retail sales workers and customer service representatives contacted CWA to assist them in organizing. When workers petitioned for an election, 76 percent supported the union. By the time the election was held two months later, the vote was 7-6 against the union, a result of the company's illegal tactics.

Verizon Wireless planted two "retail sales leads" in the unit to spy on union supporters and thwart the campaign, according to CWA's complaint. The company claimed the workers weren't supervisors, yet both were required to attend management training and management-only anti-union meetings. At least one employee claims to have witnessed or overheard the planted workers reporting on the union campaign to management.

To further intimidate workers, the company also packed the small facility with as many as seven top-level company executives for weeks before the election. They included Verizon Wireless's top HR official, Matt Antonek, who is headquartered in New Jersey, and the presidents of the company's Midwest Area and Illinois/Wisconsin region. Some of the top managers contacted union supporters at their homes, delivering their anti-union message. At least five of the Verizon Wireless officials were on hand at the facility during the election.

In one of the most serious violations, CWA charges that Verizon Wireless illegally offered a member of the workers' organizing committee a promotion to management at another facility, to take place after the election.

Union supporter Tyler Book said the company adopted an "either you're pro-company or pro-union" stance before the election. "That really made us angry that you can't be both pro-union and pro-company," Book said. "We think it's a good way to make our company better."

"The tactics used by Matt Antonek and Verizon Wireless to undermine the organizing effort of 13 workers are reprehensible," said CWA District 4 Organizing Coordinator Curt Hess, who assisted the workers. "Any group, with less courage and determination than that of the Bloomington workers, would have easily crumbled under the company's pressure long before an election could have taken place."

Wisconsin Coalition Submits 1 Million-Plus Signatures to Oust Walker

Activists Fired Up for Election Campaign to Recall Anti-Union Governor

CWA Local 4630 retiree Tim Sager was one of the Wisconsin activists selected to deliver boxes of petitions this week in the campaign to recall Gov. Scott Walker. Local and national media watched as the 1 million-plus signatures were submitted.

Bursting with smiles and pride as the national media watched, Wisconsin activists made history this week as they delivered more than 1 million petition signatures in the campaign to recall Gov. Scott Walker.

"It was snowing and it was cold, but I don't think too many of us felt it," said CWA Local 4630 retiree Tim Sager, one of 140 activists hand-picked to make the Jan. 17 delivery. "I couldn't think of a better way to end the recall signature-gathering process than to actually be able to physically carry a box of the petitions in and present it."

Nearly as many people signed the petitions as the 1.12 million who voted for Walker in 2010. But his popularly began plummeting, even among Republicans, as soon as he took office.

Walker immediately pushed the legislature to strip collective bargaining rights from public workers, something he'd never talked about doing during his campaign. His actions and arrogance set off a firestorm of opposition that escalated as he slashed budgets for education and vital services while championing tax breaks for corporations and the rich. One in every four registered voters signed the petitions supporting his recall.

The United Wisconsin recall campaign needs 540,209 valid signatures to trigger an election that could oust Walker. It would be Wisconsin's first-ever election to attempt to recall a governor, and only the third nationally. Lt. Gov. Rebecca Kleefisch and four Republican state senators are also targeted, and collectively nearly 1 million more signatures were submitted to unseat them.

"Across the state, our CWA local activists have been an important part of not only the million signatures to recall Walker but also the recalls to take back the state Senate," CWA District 4 Vice President Seth Rosen said. "We are ready to continue on to the next phase, the election, and elect a governor and state senate that will bring back good jobs and strong communities in Wisconsin."

When the broad-based United Wisconsin coalition held its first meeting in Madison, Local 4630's Sager and his wife, Genny, signed up to start collecting pledges from people who would support or be involved in the recall campaign. Soon, Sager was appointed as one of two coordinators in Green County, just south of Madison.

"I had absolutely no experience in organizing, other than being a mobilization chair at one point for Local 4630," Sager said. "I started following our (Democratic) state representative around as she did a listening tour. I hung out a United Wisconsin sign and started collecting signatures, pledges, looking for volunteers and that kind of snowballed."

The coalition rewarded Sager and other county coordinators around the state by inviting them to deliver the boxes full of petitions. After a luncheon, they marched around the capitol square toward the Government Accountability Office, where a truck full of boxes was waiting. Fellow activists lined the sidewalks and cheered. The happiness was "infectious," Sager said.

One by one, each member of the delivery team hoisted a box and walked inside the state office building to a small room set up for collecting the petitions. Wearing a yellow CWA retired members' button, Sager can be seen prominently in footage aired Wednesday on MSNBC's The Ed Show and the Rachel Maddow Show.

The million-plus number was supposed to be a secret until a celebration later that night, but it had leaked hours earlier. Even so, Sager said, "it was still impressive at the party when you saw the big signs with that 1 and six zeros."

• CWA National Call Dec. 15 Features Instant Poll on 2012 Election
• American Airlines Agents File Petition for CWA Representation Election
• Law Would Ban Federal Funds for Offshoring Call Center Jobs
• Cohen on 'Ed Show': War on Workers is Fueling 99 Percent Movement
• CWAers Take Verizon/VZW Message to Holiday Shoppers, Football Fans
• Former Alltel Workers at AT&T Mobility Join CWA
• New Guide Rates Restaurants on Employees' Wages, Benefits
• Click Here: A Workers' Roundup of the Web's Best

CWA National Call Dec. 15 Features Instant Poll on 2012 Election

Don't miss your chance to play an active role in next week's national CWA call, when members will be surveyed about their preference for president in the 2012 election.

By using your telephone keypad, you'll be able to indicate whether you support President Obama or a Republican, or are undecided. You can also take the poll online at a new website packed with information about the candidates' stands on job creation, bargaining rights, retirement security and health care. Go to www.cwavotes.org.

The input members provide via the telephone and e-polls will help the CWA Executive Board as officers weigh an endorsement of one of the presidential candidates.

The call begins at 7:30 p.m. EST on Thursday, Dec. 15. To sign up, go to www.cwa-union.org/cwacall.

In addition to the instant poll, CWA leaders and members will discuss political issues, partnerships with allies to stop offshoring, money in politics, voter suppression, the broken Senate rules and more.

American Airlines Agents File Petition for CWA Representation Election

'We Have a Great Opportunity to Get a Voice and the Respect We Deserve'

American Airlines passenger service agents, who are fighting for a voice at work through CWA representation, filed a petition Dec. 7 asking the National Mediation Board to set an election date.

The 9,700 American Airlines airport and reservations agents comprise the only major employee group at the airline that doesn't have union representation.

Dallas-Fort Worth agent Rosemary Capasso.

"Now we have a great opportunity to get a voice and the respect we deserve," said Los Angeles-based agent Evelyn Eng.

Eng is among a determined group of agents who began working with CWA long before American Airlines filed for bankruptcy protection on Nov. 29. Now, agents say it's more important than ever to organize in order to ensure that workers have a voice in the bankruptcy proceedings.

"Getting a union is the only way that we, as unrepresented agents, can limit our losses during what will be a difficult period," Dallas-Fort Worth agent Rosemary Capasso said. "As American's only non-union workgroup, we are tired of being asked to provide 'input' and then have management alter or totally ignore our wishes and impose whatever changes it wants."

Those changes include deep cuts in compensation in 2003 and more recent rollbacks in health care coverage. Meanwhile, new employees are being hired for significantly lower pay, reduced benefits and fewer paid days off.

Despite having $4.1 billion in cash on hand, American Airlines management has indicated that wages, benefits and working conditions will be a major focus of its cost-reduction effort.

That's why a union now is essential, said AFA-CWA member Deb Sutor, pledging that she and fellow American Eagle flight attendants will be supporting the organizing campaign.

"Having a union and bargaining rights during bankruptcy is the strongest protection workers can have," Sutor said. "American Eagle management will have to sit down and bargain with us over any concessions that it wants. It can't just impose conditions as it sees fit."

Law Would Ban Federal Funds for Offshoring Call Center Jobs

Bipartisan Bill Also Provides for Important Consumer Protections

Local 1108's Mike Gendron, carrying an American flag as CWAers march in New York City in November, says 500 of his local's jobs have been lost to outsourcing.

Companies that send U.S. call center jobs overseas would suffer financial consequences and risk their customers' loyalty under the provisions of a bipartisan bill introduced this week in the House of Representatives.

The CWA-supported bill would ban federal grants and loan guarantees for companies that offshore call center jobs, and it would require call center workers to disclose their location to customers upon request.

Exporting call center jobs "is one of the scourges of our economy and one of the reasons we are struggling to knock down the unemployment rate," said Rep. Tim Bishop (D-N.Y.), who introduced the bill with Rep. David McKinley (R-W.Va.).

"It's common sense that we should not be rewarding companies that ship jobs overseas while millions of qualified Americans are looking for work," Bishop said on a conference call with reporters Dec. 7. "Taxpayer dollars should only be used to incentivize good corporate citizens who create American jobs."

In a local TV interview last month, CWA Local 3640 President Vonda Hardy discusses how CWA negotiations led US Airways to return 400 offshored jobs to the United States.

In addition to barring federal loans and grants for companies that send call center jobs overseas, the bill requires overseas workers to tell customers where their call center is located and, if requested, transfer customers back to a call center in the United States.

Ron Collins, CWA chief of staff, said corporate greed was driving the push to send more call center jobs offshore. "CWA members and activists will work hard for passage of this important legislation."

"This bill is exactly what we need now," said Mike Gendron, CWA Local 1108 executive vice president and political coordinator. He told reporters that his local has lost more than 500 jobs to offshoring.

"Our economy needs quality jobs, our community needs quality jobs, working families need quality jobs," Gendron said. "Too many companies like Verizon, which employs many of my local's members, offshore jobs and outsource work to the detriment of workers, consumers and communities."

When companies do the right thing and return jobs, workers, consumers and communities gain, CWA Local 3640 President Vonda Hardy said. Hardy said CWA's contract with US Airways required the return of offshored jobs to the U.S.; last month, another 400 jobs were returned from the Philippines.

"We know that customers are pleased, because they tell us so," Hardy said. "It's good for US Airways, good for quality customer service and good for quality jobs."

Click here to urge Congress to pass the bill and save and restore American call center jobs.