Volume 07 NO 49

On Thursday, December 20, 2007, the Direct Sales Representatives of Comcast of Washington, D.C. voted overwhelmingly to have the Communications Workers of America as their exclusive representative. Other than the fact that the workers were extremely pleased with the outcome of this election, further details were not available at press time for this wrap up.

Congratulations to the CWA organizers and the employees of Comcast for this victorious effort.

On Monday, December 17, 2007, CWA Local 2336 members at the McLaughlin Company overwhelmingly ratified a 3-year/4-month contract that enables workers to see in the first year of the contract an 11% increase in their pay checks through a 4% pay raise, a $2,000 bonus, and an average of $1500 savings in lower health care premiums.

The second and third year of the contract calls for a 3% wage increase each year, and a $1,000 and $500 bonus respectively. Tentative agreement on the company’s final proposal was reached just three hours prior to the strike deadline.

Effective January 1, 2008, the U.S. Internal Revenue Service has increased the standard mileage reimbursement rate to 50.5 cents per mile.

What’s right—what’s wrong with utility services in Washington, D.C.? It’s time to let the City Council know about your experiences with Verizon at the scheduled citywide utility quality of service hearings.

On Thursday, February 7, 2007 and Saturday, February 9, 2008 at 10 a.m. on both days, Councilmember Mary Cheh, Chairperson of the Committee on Public Services and Consumer Affairs will hold public hearings on the quality of service provided by Verizon and other utility companies. The hearings will be held at the John A. Wilson Building, 1350 Pennsylvania Avenue NW, Washington, D.C. in the council chamber on the 5^th floor.

Anyone wishing to testify at these hearings should contact Aukima Benjamin at 202 724-8062 or via

email at abenjamin@dccouncil.us.

There were $2.2 billion in online purchases during the first full week of the prime holiday shopping season this year. Be safe this season and throughout the year—your best defense against online fraud and computer viruses is education and discipline.

• Know who you’re dealing with—be suspicious of numerical Web addresses or URLs. A spoof site that uses numerical Web address (or an IP address) or includes a "@" sign within the address could be a tip-off that the site is fraudulent.
• Protect your personal information—only provide credit card or other sensitive personal information to organizations you know and trust. You should never provide your Social Security number or financial information in any email. And you should only provide this personal and financial data on Web sites you confirm are legitimate. And, make sure you use a credit card that provides full fraud coverage and dispute protections.

Find more helpful tips for online security on: http://www.unionvoice.org/ct/r7anqL91cu01/